Budget friendly Ducati Panigale & Streetfighter | Attack of the Chinese clones
Where we’re going, we don’t need power, just style - said no-one, ever. Chinese manufacturer Moxiao clone the Ducati V4 Panigale & Streetfighter models.
At this point we’re no longer surprised to see range-topping models cloned in China, more just disappointed. Latest to be carbon-copied is the Ducati Panigale V4 & Streetfighter V4, with Chinese manufacturer Moxiao crafting ‘their own’ renditions.
Moxiao is well known to keep the Ducati catalogue thumbed, having previously crafted a Panigale copy in the ‘500RR’with a 471cc parallel-twin with 47 bhp.
The latest updated attempt is the MX650, and adds the famed Panigale V4 wings and 2022 style, along with a new 650cc parallel-twin with 60 bhp on tap and a 74 mph top speed. Frightening in more ways than one.
If sports bikes aren’t your style, perhaps Moxiao can tempt you with the Streetfighter clone, with the MX500. Where the V4 Streetfighter is menacing and imposing, the MX500 is a plastic-y damp squib. Powering you along would be the 471cc twin with 44bhp and a 74 mph top speed, as found in the original Panigale copy.
Where the Panigale factory value sleek style, refined power & light weight, the Moxiao is happy with a 222 kg machine. How is the clone so much heavier?!
Stylistically, they do try their best - and from a distance, you would be forgiven for being temporarily fooled by the faux-Italian identity. That is until the sewing machine motor starts up from within.
You have to commend the copycat attempt, Moxiao has gone as far as to craft fake Ohlins shocks, copycat Brembo calipers and twin discs, even simple-sided swingarms. If you’re looking to impress someone with next to no knowledge of motorcycles, this is a valiant effort. Sort of.
Thanks to the lax Chinese intellectual property rights, Ducati can’t really do anything about it - if they could even be bothered to. No doubt they’ve considered action, but realised it’s probably more akin to whack-a-mole; somehow shut down one copycat manufacturer, and another one (or two!) will pop up in its place.
You just have to marvel at the sheer audacity to roll these out of a factory somewhere in China. But they aren’t the first, and they almost certainly won’t be the last.
I'll leave you with a Ducati Streetfighter V4 S to marvel at in comparison.
Want more Chinese copycat attempts?
- Here's a Panigale scooter - yes, I know.
- 10 shamelessly dodgy Chinese copycats
- And... 8 Chinese motorcycles that DO deserve your consideration. It's not all bad!
Sources: Cycle World, Motorrad
