The Honda Rune is Reborn in China
Featuring a two-litre, eight-cylinder boxer engine, this Chinese cruiser will surely be one of the most ridiculous bikes going when it launches
Great Wall Motor has launched itself to the forefront of Chinese motorcycling in recent months with the unveiling of its first bike, the Suou grand tourer. The bike is based on the Honda GL1800 Gold Wing, and GWM is now also planning a cruiser version.
The new cruiser is shown in spy photos as published by Motociclismo and will use the same two-litre, eight-cylinder boxer engine as the tourer, albeit re-engineered slightly to shut off one cylinder bank in certain conditions in order to give a more characterful feeling, compared to the smoothness-above-all philosophy of the engine in its touring-spec.
Using such a large engine means a slightly odd riding position, with the rider sitting a long way from the front wheel.
Connecting the rider to that front wheel is an upside-down front fork, as opposed to the Hossack fork used on the touring version, while the styling takes its inspiration from its Honda equivalent.
In the same way the Gold Wing is very obviously the reference point from which the Suou tourer is built, the cruiser variant is based on the Honda Rune, which was essentially the Honda equivalent of the GWM cruiser.
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The Rune used the same flat-six engine as the Gold Wing when it was produced during the mid-2000s, much in the same way that the GWM cruiser will use the same motor as its tourer. And, in the same way that the tourer took much of its design inspiration from the Gold Wing, the cruiser’s design is very much based on the Rune, with the headlight, fuel tank, and radiator guards all referencing Honda’s cruiser.
There is currently no word on when the GWM cruiser will be available, or officially revealed, and for now, it seems that GWM will market its motorcycles only in China.
