The Benelli 1200GT Makes Its Debut In China

Benelli has been rolling out new models in its home country of China left and right. After recently unveiling an impressive roster of new and updated small to mid-capacity machines, the Chinese-owned Italian company has brought out the big guns with the 1200GT. Finally unveiled in the Chinese market, the Benelli 1200GT is the biggest, most tech-packed motorcycle to roll out of Benelli’s assembly line. Let’s take a closer look. 

One of the key highlights of the new 1200GT is its massive engine. Displacing a total of 1,209 cubes, this inline three-cylinder engine was built to cover miles on end, and do so without breaking a sweat. It churns out a rather healthy 134 horsepower at 9,000 RPM, as well as gobs of torque—89 ft-lbs, to be exact. While these power figures may not seem too impressive, considering the bike’s engine displacement, the 1200GT is meant to cruise the highways in comfort. Besides, a top speed of over 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour) isn’t too shabby. 

The Benelli 1200GT holds the title as the largest Chinese-made motorcycle currently in production. That being said, Benelli has decided to go big on the feature front, too. The 1200GT gets a whole host of features such as an electronically adjustable windscreen, folding side mirrors, and an in-built tire pressure monitoring system. It comes outfitted with a massive 15-inch, full-color, GPS-equipped TFT display. For reference, that’s bigger than an iPad. As expected, you can do a whole lot with this bike’s built-in tablet of an instrument cluster. For starters, you can view live feeds from the bike’s front and rear-mounted cameras.

To keep this behemoth of a machine composed at speed and in corners, the bike gets a set of radially mounted ABS-equipped Brembo brakes, an inverted front fork, and an adjustable rear mono-shock. The Benelli 1200GT has been priced at CNY 99,800, or roughly $15,426 USD. Not bad, considering the amount of tech and comfort features you get from this machine. If and when Benelli decides to introduce the 1200GT to the global market, it’ll lock horns with the likes of the BMW R 1250 RT and the Kawasaki Concours 14.