Loncin get ambitious with 300cc sportsbike

Loncin might not be a brand that gets much exposure over here – it’s too focussed on selling millions of bikes in China to worry about little markets like ours – but its recent machines have proved worth a look.

Just last year we saw the company’s impressive-looking new 650 adventure bike and its latest 500cc parallel twin naked roadster. We also caught sight of some upcoming models including a retro 500 twin and an adventure machine using the same engine.

Now it’s marketing a new 300cc sports bike that, on both styling and spec, would appear to be a decent alternative to the more mainstream offerings from Japan in that market. If it was available here, that is.

The new GP300 features a four-stroke, water-cooled, 292.4cc DOHC single making 29hp at 8500rpm. That’s not a million miles from the likes of BMW’s G310R, which offers 34hp at 9500rpm, and roughly on a par with Honda’s now-discontinued CBR300R.

Torque, 25Nm at 7000rpm, is again right on the money when compared to similarly-sized singles from established European and Japanese brands.

That motor is chucked into a trellis frame and mated to a six-speed transmission before being wrapped in some good looking bodywork.

It all weighs a respectable 153kg (dry) and features kit including LED lighting, including the headlight, LCD instruments and upside-down forks. Don’t be fooled by the aluminium-look swingarm, though – it’s actually made of pressed steel, but still looks pretty good. 

Build quality should be good, too; Loncin has been used as a contractor to make engines for the likes of BMW in the past.

At the moment there’s no sign of the bike going on sale here, but it’s another indication of Chinese machines becoming increasingly capable.