Kinetic To Launch FB Mondial HPS 300 In India Next Month

The bike will be locally assembled at Kinetic-owned Motoroyale’s Ahmednagar facility

FB Mondial, one of the oldest Italian motorcycle manufacturers, is set to enter the Indian market via Kinetic-owned Motoroyale. The very first offering from the manufacturer will be a 300cc motorcycle which will be launched mid-September. What’s more? The bike will take the CKD route and will be assembled locally at Motoroyale’s Ahmednagar facility to keep costs in check.

FB Mondial is a relatively unknown brand, but it still is one of the oldest motorcycle manufacturers in Italy. It was founded by the Boselli brothers -- Luigi, Carlo, Ettore and Ada -- back in 1929. And just in case you were wondering, FB stands for ‘Fratelli Boselli,’ which translates to Fratelli Brothers. The company competed in a niche market segment and built around 1,000 to 2,000 units annually while manufacturers like MV Agusta and Ducati focused on reaching out to the masses by building affordable bikes. Like most Italian brands out there, FB Mondial gained recognition through its racing heritage between 1949-57 and even won a couple of them. In fact, they won both rider and constructors championships (five each), in addition to three titles in the famous Isle of Man TT. If that’s not enough to impress you, Soichiro Honda considered Mondial’s race bikes as the benchmark and even owned a few them back in 1957.

Unfortunately, due to the exorbitant costs of racing, the brand quit racing along with some other well-known manufacturers such as Moto Guzzi and Gilera. Since racing was a crucial part of the company’s heritage, sales soon took a hit and FB Mondial was knee deep in debts. Soon after, in 1979, the company shut stop. 

After 20 years, the firm was revived in 1999 by Italian businessman Roberto Ziletti, who purchased the rights to the brand and launched the litre-class Mondial Piega superbike. Their story was short lived though, as the company once again shut down due to financial issues. In 2014, Pier Luigi Boselli and Cesare Galli resurrected the company once again, but unlike before they played it smart. Instead of targeting a niche market the firm decided to reach out to the masses by building small-capacity bikes.

The first bike to roll out of the manufacturing plant was called the HPS 125 while the HPS 300 was unveiled last year, along with the 125cc Sports Classic. 

The FB Mondial HPS 300 is based on the smaller Hipster 125cc, which was first showcased at EICMA 2017. It’s a bit odd that a 250cc bike is called the ‘HPS 300’, but that’s how they roll, I guess. Although the bike looks like a mix between a cafe racer and a scrambler, they’ve managed to strike just the right balance in terms of design, and the result is quite appealing. For starters, the firm will only launch the FB Mondial HPS 300 and not the smaller HPS 125.

The HPS 300 draws power from a Piaggio-sourced 249cc, liquid-cooled engine. The single-cylinder, fuel-injected mill produces 25PS at 9,000rpm and peak torque of 22Nm at 7,000rpm. A 6-speed transmission transfer power to the rear wheel via chain drive.

41mm USD forks and dual shock absorbers at the rear take care of suspensions duties. Braking is taken care of by a 280mm disc with 4-piston radial-mounted calipers up front and a single 220mm disc coupled with a single-piston caliper. ABS comes as standard. Its spoked tyres are wrapped in 110/90 18 tyre at the front and a 130/70 17 tyre at the rear. Seat height is measured in at 785mm, perfect for vertically challenged riders, and it weighs just 135kg (dry).

Expected to be priced around Rs 3 lakh, the FB Mondial HPS 300 will compete with the BMW G 310 R, KTM 390 Duke and the soon-to-be launched Cleveland Misfit. FB Mondial says it has future plans of launching larger-displacement bikes for the Indian market. At the moment, Kinetic-owned Motoroyale has five brands under its roof, which include MV Agusta, Norton, Hyosung, SWM and now FB Mondial.

 

Source: Autocar India

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