It’s clear to see that China is one of the fastest growing motorcycle markets in the world. The country clearly has the capability to become a strong, global producer of two wheelers, and bikes from the likes of CFMoto and QJ Motor are a testament to this.
With that being said, it’s funny that, despite how far China has come in the motorcycle industry, it still resorts to copying not just the design and styling, but the engineering of more established models. It seems that Honda’s bikes are a favorite of Chinese manufacturers to clone when it comes to their engines, while the styling of their bikes tends to be “borrowed” from Italian brands.
Case in point: the Zongshen Cyclone RC 700 R, a retro-themed sportbike with an engine from a Honda CB650R and styling from an MV Agusta Superveloce.
This bike was recently teased over in Zongshen’s home country of China as one of the many new inline-four-powered models of the brand. Thankfully, this thing isn’t in production just yet, as it was presented as merely a rendering and a fairly unrealistic one at that. This should suggest that its production is still quite far away, and that a lot could change when it comes to its final design.
Speaking of design, this thing clearly looked at the MV Agusta Superveloce and said, “Yep, I want to be that bike.” Everything from the single round headlight to the pointy fairing to the bar-end mirrors screams MV styling. The RC 700 R’s design even features some pretty outlandish stuff—stuff that may look cool on a rendering, but will surely be problematic in the real world.
I mean, what’s up with that exhaust-mounted tail light?
As for what lies beneath the surface, it’s an inline-four engine that’s reportedly been reverse-engineered from Honda’s CB650 engine. Here, the engine’s stroke has been increased to 47.8 millimeters by changing the design of the crankshaft. As such, its effective displacement has been increased to 674cc, as opposed to the Honda’s 649. It also claims a slightly higher output of 102 horsepower.
Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that Chinese brands have released blatant photocopies of popular bikes in the past. And it’s more than likely that nothing can really stop a company as big as Zongshen from releasing a bike like this in the not-too-distant future.
Luckily, more often than not, these copycat bikes don’t go too far, usually never making it outside of their home market of China.
