GWM’s Next Bike is an Eight-Cylinder Cruiser
Shortly after the Chinese brand revealed its Suou grand touring machine, a naked cruiser using the same engine breaks cover - and it’s eerily familiar
Great Wall Motor Company’s (GWM) second large-capacity bike has been spotted undergoing some on-road testing, and if you were a fan of the Honda Rune, we have good news.
The new model has been seen and like some earlier prototype spy shots we saw of the bike, it’s a big, brash, and exceedingly long cruiser. It follows hot on the heels of the GWM Souo S2000 GL which was revealed last month, and like that bike, it features a humongous 2,000cc flat-eight engine.
The GWM Suou which shares parts with the new bike
Unlike the S2000 GL though, the new bike is much more stripped back, with a more minimalist aesthetic that’s along the lines of Honda’s Rune, right down to the stylised headlight and ginormous trapezoid exhaust outlets.
Little more is known about the new bike other than what you can see in this spy shot, although given that most of this bike’s underpinnings are taken from the existing S2000 GP, we can have a stab at what some of the specs and features will be. Should the engine have the same options as the grand tourer, it’ll be arriving with a dual-clutch transmission (DCT) option, as well as an ‘EPB automatic parking function’ which we guess is some kind of crawler gear to make manual handling of the behemoth that little bit easier.
GWM used some typically Chinese wording to describe the engine of the Suou S2000 GL, saying in the press release that “every time it is started, the deep and deep roar is as shocking as a lion's roar, full of power and majesty; when accelerating, the sound is exciting. Surging, igniting passion and blood”. We wait with bated breath to see how they sum up the latest creation.
Away from the engine, the new cruiser seems to run the same frame and chassis as the S2000 GP, meaning a Hossack front end (as per the class-leading tourer Honda Gold Wing), as well as a level of semi-automatic and electronically adjusted suspension.
Technology on the more minimal cruiser might not be quite as expansive as that found on the tourer, and with less space to mount an infotainment system in the stripped-back cruiser, it’s likely to lose the vast 12.3-inch touchscreen dash of its sibling.
The Rocket 3 R Storm
The new model would be jumping into a tricky space in the market, and one that seems wholly ruled by Triumph’s all-conquering Rocket 3 in recent years. BMW has had a pop at knocking the Hinkley bruiser from its perch with the R18, although sales of that bike have been slow, something Beemer is looking to rectify with the BMW R20 Concept.
The BMW R20 Concept
As with the Suou S2000 GL, it’s still not clear if the bike is destined for a global launch, or if the bike will be ring-fenced to the Chinese or wider Asian market only.
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
