From lightweight adventurers to V4 cruisers, new arrivals from BSA and Benda are set to turn up the heat in one of Australia’s most hotly contested segments
Heritage brand BSA and Chinese upstart Benda are about to broaden the LAMS market with upcoming models. BSA, which launched here in March and already has Bantam 350 demo bikes available at some dealers, will release its Thunderbolt 350 later this year.
Benda, which opened its first Australian store in Melbourne a few weeks ago with Brisbane and Adelaide to open soon, is taking orders for a range of LAMS cruisers.
The entry of these two new brands, backed by large corporate owners, confirms how the LAMS market is under-pinning motorcycle road sales in Australia.
BSA is owned by a subsidiary of multinational Indian automotive manufacturer Mahindra Group. Benda is owned by Hangzhou Saturn Power Technology Co., Ltd., a Chinese tech enterprise. It has engineering facilities in China and Austria and, unlike most other Chinese motorcycle brands, designs and builds its engines completely in-house.
BSA’s Thunderbolt, which revives a famous model name from the original 1960s British company, is a pretty serious adventure bike. It has long-travel suspension and 21in/17in spoked wheels running dirt-focused tyres. Powered by the same single-cylinder as the Bantam 350, the Thunderbolt has a large (for this sized engine) 15.5-litre petrol tank and a dry weight of 185kg.
Electronics include traction control and Rain, Road and Off-Road riding modes.
BSA’s Bantam 350 is priced very competitively at $7590 ride away. While the much higher-spec Thunderbolt is expected to cost more than this, indications so far from BSA is that pricing will be very keen. See our LAMS ADV bike guide on Page 56 for typical pricing in this hotly contested market segment.
Benda is attacking the cruiser end of the LAMS market with a very unusual model. Its Dark Flag 500 Commander is powered by a 496cc V4. Benda says it delivers “exceptional smoothness, strong acceleration, and an unmistakable intake and exhaust noise”.
The Commander has electronic air suspension, claimed to adjust automatically to riding conditions, and cruise and traction control. It’s priced at $12,990 ride away.
Benda also offers three V-twin LAMS models, the Napoleonbob 250, Napoleonbob 500 and Chinchilla 500. They are priced from $8990 to $11,990.
Both Napoleonbob models feature what Benda calls a ‘multi-link’ front suspension that looks like a neo-girder design. Benda claims it reduces front-end dive on what is a lowrider model.
