While all the Japanese OEMs have options in the single-cylinder dual sport world, Honda is currently kicking butt on the global market with the CRF300 series. Over in Europe, it is the bike to beat in the single-cylinder ADV/dual sport market. Now it appears that Benelli is looking to grab some of those sales with the new BKX 300 adventure bike and the BKX 300S supermoto.

There is nothing particularly mind-blowing about the new platform. The engine itself is a liquid-cooled 294 cc single-cylinder, with four-valve head and relatively high (for this segment) compression ratio of 12.2:1. It’s supposed to make about 29 hp at 9000 rpm, or roughly 2 hp more than Honda’s CRF300 engine. Max torque is supposed to be 18 lb-ft at 7,000 rpm, also a bump over the CRF’s numbers.

In fact, the Benelli engine’s max power figures are roughly in-line with the Yamaha WR250R. Could the designed-in-Italy, made-in-China machine be the replacement that WR fans have been looking for? Chances are it won’t be built to the same high-end standard as the WR, but the WR was very expensive for a 250, which hurt its sales. A lower-priced machine that’s still made with good fit-and-finish would no doubt be welcome to Euro buyers, at least, who have remained faithful to the Benelli brand despite the changes in ownership over the past two decades.

The new BKX lineup comes with double-cradle steel tube frames, and a USD front end with 41 mm stanchions. Now, let’s take a look at the differences between these bikes.

Benelli BKX 300

This machine has a 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear, and bodywork with an ADV flair.

The front end has 180 mm of travel, and a 280 mm brake disc with ABS included as standard (presumably, ABS is linked to the back end as well). The fuel tank has 3.4-gal capacity, and with a small-bore engine, that should provide plenty of travel range. There’s an LCD gauge and a USB charging port for your phone or other gadgets.

Benelli BKX 300 S

This is the supermoto counterpart to the adventure bike above. Those rims are 17-inch hoops. The front end has 150 mm of travel, but appears to be basically the same suspension otherwise. Aside from those changes, this is basically the same bike, but made for hooning about the urban landscape. Alas, expect it to have the same drawback the old Japanese 250 supermotos had: A gutless lack of grunt. Sorry, dudes, but you need a bit more than sub-20 lb-ft of torque to have a truly hoontastic su-mo.

Photo: Benelli

But this is still a cool idea, and will be a much better bike in the city than most beginner machines.

Neither of these machines has been confirmed for North America at this point/