Hyosung Aquila GV250 vs Benelli Imperiale 400

Touring is becoming a fashion among Indian motoring enthusiasts. And why should it not? We have vast expanse of open lands, biodiversity worth experiencing and some really good roads that are connected by many miserable ones with the difficulty level equivalent of playing Ping Pong with a Chinese national, giving riders a sense of achievement like no other.  Royal Enfield and Harley-Davidson have been capitalising on this pretty well for a while now and it is time that few others get to ride the wave, even if that won’t dent the sales of the big two. Hyosung is the front runner among the alternative premium motorcycle brands for cruisers and this time we test their new entry-level model, the Aquila 250.

The Benelli Imperiale 400 was nearing the end of its tenure in the BikeWale Long Term fleet and I wanted to ride it for a longer distance before handing it back. So, just like most other memorable road trips, my road trip with the Benelli Imperiale 400 was (mostly) unplanned. With just the thought of spending the weekend in Goa and a backpack with the essentials, I left home before the break of dawn. 

We've been riding the Benelli Imperiale400 for a while now- around 2000km if we talk numbers. And the majority of those kilometres have been clocked riding in the city. While my commute mostly consists of open stretches of road and fast-moving traffic, there were more than a few times I found myself with the Imperiale in the chaos of Mumbai’s dreaded traffic. And the experience wasn't a particularly wholesome one.

While we have ridden the Imperiale before, it was only for a couple of days. This time the modern retro stays with us for a healthy 180 days through which I will be riding it in and around the city, doing some intercity commutes, and a couple of long-distance rides too. So, before the beginning of its journey in BikeWale’s long-term fleet, let me introduce the Benelli Imperiale 400 to you.