Kawasaki and Benelli are two brands in the Indian bike market that never took off in the country. While one of them had to contend with disjointed partnership with Bajaj, the other had issues with its previous partner, owing to financial constraints.
But this week, when Benelli launched its 500cc adventure bike in the country, that too at an appealing price point of Rs 5.40 lakh, it not only got our attention, but intrigued us to compare it with the Kawasaki Versys 650 which costs Rs 6.69 lakh (ex-showroom).
The adventure biking segment is surely seeing a lot of demand and these two will surely make it to most of consumer’s buying list. But which one of these is worth spending the big bucks on? Let’s find out.
The Butchy Look
The Versys 650 gets an aggressive touch with the front part raised higher to complement the low-height seating which is partitioned into two for the rider and pillion.
The eagle-eyed headlamps shows its imposing stature, with the wind protector acting as the pivot between riding short and long distances.
It has proper adventure tourer styling, fitted with 50-mm upside down forks and a trellis frame that makes it rugged for cross-country use. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Benelli has kind of gone with Ducati’s Multistrada for design inspiration, and clearly, for its price, the TRK 502X has all the attributes to be off-road winner.
Between the two, with a seat height of 840mm, the Benelli seems to have taller stance than the Versys 650, which was crying out for competition, and we’re glad to have one now.
Hard to Compare the Power
Even though both are adventure bikes, they do carry a different engine specs, resulting in power and torque figures that would be unfair for a comparison.
The Benelli TRK 502X is a mid-capacity motorcycle, powered by 500cc, two-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that develop 46.8HP of power at 8,500 rpm and 46 Nm of peak torque at 6,000 rpm. It gets a six-speed transmission.
The Kawasaki packs the Versys 650 with a 649cc parallel twin engine. With this, the Versys 650 throws out 69HP of power, and 64NM of torque, mated to a 6-speed gearbox as well.
It’s good to see that ABS is a standard on both the bikes, however, Benelli has surprised us by offering switchable ABS, something that even Kawasaki has found it hard to offer.
Benelli TRK 502X is offered with twin 320 mm disc brakes at the front and a single-piston 260 mm disc at the rear. Versys 650 gets a 300mm (front) and 250mm (back) disc brake setup.
These are marginally different and unlikely to bear any effect while riding. Safe to say, both these bikes have capable safety features fitted in.
Want to Know More?
Kawasaki somehow is using 17-inch wheels on both the sides of the Versys 650, whereas Benelli realises that going for 19-inch on the front and 17-inch at the back is best suited for touring and off-road riding needs.
Kawasaki is offering a 21-litre fuel tank on the Versys 650, while Benelli TRK 502X gets a 20-litre tank for petrol. These are adequate enough for an adventure tourer, preventing you from making regular halts at the petrol station.
Having said that the Benelli TRK 502X is more electronic-friendly than the Versys 650.
There’s also the curiosity around which of these brands has a wider service support reach across the country. After all, you can’t end up buying a bike, just because you like its feature set, and not something which can be fixed by mechanics in dire situations.
Kawasaki’s expansive service support in the country has been scarce, ever since it parted ways from Bajaj. Kawasaki has around 30 showrooms across India and presumably these sites host service stations for Kawasaki as well.
This is where even Benelli will have its work cut out as it needs to expand its service base which currently stands at 10 right now with no presence in the northern side of India.
The Better Deal?
So, there you have it. Benelli and Kawasaki are strong bikes, costing much less than what you’d pay for a Ducati or a Triumph. These are mid-capacity adventure bikes, and finally people have options in this price range, and yes, the Versys 650 has a competitor close by.
Benelli’s is a 500cc bike, Versys is a 650cc unit. There’s no direction comparison here but given a choice, and if feature set do matter a lot for you as a bike enthusiast, the TRK 502X might not be a good option to start with.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)