Chinese 800cc V-twin cruiser due this month

CHINA'S motorcycle market is still dominated by low-cost electric scooters and small-engined commuter machines but there are signs of an increasing interest in larger-capacity machines.

A new 800cc V-twin cruiser is intended to enter production this month; surely the largest Chinese-made motorcycle on the market so far.

As is so often the case with Chinese bikes, the bike’s roots are a confusing quagmire. These pictures come from Gaokin Industry, which appears to make the engine. However, the design perfectly matches a concept machine that was shown by Motrac last year. Motrac already makes a Loncin-engined 500cc twin-cylinder adventure bike, the MG500, and it’s likely that the production version of the cruiser will be sold under the Motrac brand in some countries.

In spec terms, the V-twin is a water-cooled, eight-valve, overhead-cam design making a claimed 60hp and 72Nm of torque. Details of the bike are more limited, but it’s got a chain final drive and LED lights. The styling is pretty conventional cruiser fare but better-proportioned than some earlier Chinese attempts, and it’s shown as a bagger in one image.

Whether the bike ever gets sold outside China is an unknown at the moment. Motrac does offer some of its small-capacity bikes in Europe and America, so there’s a possibility provided it can meet all the required type approval rules and the firm has enough production capacity to spare.