600cc Inline 4's from China???

:eekers: Whoa! Not sure how I missed this one guys but according to MotorcycleNews.com Jialing, Loncin and Zongshen have produced 600cc inline 4 cylinder engines and stuck them on naked platforms (at least in artwork).

If this actually happens, we could see a dramatic change in the world-wide moto-landscape. What do you think?

Full link: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne...?&R=EPI-102366


http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload...JL%20600-4.jpg

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload...%20600%204.jpg


http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload...aked%20600.jpg

I've never had much faith in artists impressions. Most "concepts" never make it into production, as realities of production and costs kick in. I wish they were real though.

Like one of the comments in that page:

Just cheap shit , you get what you pay for, (except with Harleys they are expensive and shit)

It's a picture, not a promise.

So much of all design starts from "impressions" as does the essence of every creative art (which includes engineering). When or whether that "mere" impression will become a widely manufactured tangible product for thousands less than their Japanese and European counterparts depends on many complicated things like cost of production and whether or not this absurd attitude of "cheap shit" continues to makes sense to narrow minded people.

Every country has produced it's pure and utter garbage. No single country can claim to have always produced nothing but the finest machines in the world. Look at the past 20 years of GM...almost entirely garbage and today is the proof. What's even better, my tax money is paying for it! Look at the unfortunate demise of the British automobile industry...a country that at one time produced some of the finest and fastest cars in the world. But of course, it's totaly reasonable that all of this tragedy pales in comaprison to an artists impression of a modern looking chinese made motorcycle?

Is the idea of a chinese built inline 4 so shocking or impossilbe? They already make outboard engines for boats (QingQi makes parts for Mercury) and cars both of which are inline 4's. Loncin is making engines for BMW. The technology and machinery are there but perhaps not the market. Either way, everything has to start somewhere and to even see it stylized into clearly photoshopped bikes with lens flares at the bottom of the wheels I think is a small but postitive step in the right direction.

Most of the people I've heard make "cheap shit" comments like that one poster end up being motorcycle snobs who are doing nothing but spouting some totally unsubstantiated, mindless, snide, bandwagon remarks. The attitude itself is :bs: and smacks of nationalistic, racial, and in some cases industrial arrogance. :bs::bs::bs:

The test of the bike is the test of the rider. He who speaks poorly of lesser things, speaks only lesser of himself.

CC

I think there impressive even if they are artist make ups it means there(the companies) are thinking about it.

China's motorcycle industry will get there its just a matter of when.

Remember what they said about Japanese motorcycles and cars when they first came out.

Have a look on the XJmoto site and look at what they are riding all big bore stuff.
It looks like they have the money to splurge on those expensive bikes.

I think they look sweet.

Well at least they're actually different bikes, and not the same image of the same bike with different colors and badges. :lol8:

There seems to be some Kawasaki ER-6 and Suzuki Gladius styling going on here. Does that make any sense? :confused1:

CC

Maybe we should email the companies involved and tell them how impressed we are by the bikes and tell them we are keen to see/acquire one in real life.

Each time I see a Chinese new model come out I see something in the design stages that I would like better.:icon10:But I have to keep on waiting.

My wife said I can have the Jialing. Unfortunately she knows that it will probably take them a few years before they hit the roads.

BigD,

That would be a good idea but they may very well not listen or, if they do, they may give it next to nothing in terms of weight. From what I can reckon, the amount of bureaucracy inside the organizations is extremely high and introducing any idea which was not in their road map 2 or three years ago is quite difficult. Also, I'm not quite sure who to contact at these companies... if anyone has info on who to send comments to, it would be greatly appreciated!

That said, at least there are some images of something we haven't seen before and doesn't look like a totally "borrowed" Japanese bike design. :thumbsup:

CC

There is a certain inspiration Jialing may have taken from the 2009 Honda Hornet 600F however...........

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload...JL%20600-4.jpg
http://www.bikez.com/pictures/honda/...0-%20Honda.jpg

I saw these a while back and thought...the really encouraging news here is that they WANT to move forward, grow, and produce better bikes. They have no chance at becoming industry leaders if they are content to copy designs and ignore investments in racing. 'Cuz what wins on Sunday - sells on Monday. (what's up with Maxtra?)

Also, since three top Chinese companies are working together on this project, the expense and risk is spread out in a cooperative way. Suzuki and Kawasaki have been sharing designs for years. I think Zongshen is privately owned, I don't know about the others. But if they are also private then this co-op project would be an excellent way to differentiate themselves from state owned producers. If it's a mix of ownerships, then both will still benefit from the others strengths.

PJ

Living in China, before such a bike becomes common, China needs to build a recreational motorcycle culture. With large cities banning bikes, bikes not allowed on tollways and similar, it makes little sense for the average middle class Chinese person to aquire a bike.

I talk to my students, what are all middle to upper class shanghaiese. "But Mr, you are a rich loawai, why don't you buy a Mercedes?" I tell them i am not rich and i like my bike. They laugh. They think I am trying to be a peasant.

Until this attitude changes in China, there will be no bikes like this.

I would bet that the CEO of Loncin, Jialing and Qinqi don't even know how to ride a bike.

Very true iamcanjim, the success of the Japanese couldn't have happened without the massive internal market they had in the 50-60's. This enabled them to go on and conquer the world.

I have this feeling that the Chinese are not really serious about making two-wheelers in the long term...

It's like the Koreans. We know Korea can make great products, but Hyosung has been falling over. They don't ride recreationally (like the Chinese, 'bikes are for peasants' and so have no idea what the consumer is looking for. So you get something like the Hyosung GV650 cruiser, a bike that is a good bike no one would want.

If their GT650 wasn't a copy of a SV650, who knows what they would make.

The market is wide open for niche bikes and they can't see to see it.

The Chinese should be going after the open niches.

The Kawasaki KLR650 is a perennially top seller, but it's outmoded and heavy. It would be easy to make a competitor to steal the market.

The same goes for the Suzuki Vstrom, the big BMW boxers, the supermoto crowd, the trials crowd, etc. Hit em where they ain't" said Patton. Instead, it seems the Chinese are thinking about taking on the Japanese head to head.

The Japanese didn't become the dominant carmakers by going head to head with the BIG3, but by going around them.

True enough, you have to produce what's in demand. I think you can see the effect Chinese bikes are having on the world moto market by looking at the 250cc motards available by Honda, Yamaha and Kawi. To my memory, they haven't been around that long and generally only existed in the bigger displacement engines. I'm guessing they may be following the Chinese on this as motards and dirt bikes seem to sell relatively well for the Chinese on a world-wide scale. Supermotards are great for cities with poor roads and countries which are not as restrictive to motorcyclists.

I think the Chinese manufacturers are doing the best they know how to do considering their past and present situations. The issue of riding culture is a great one and no doubt a major issue. I suppose it's possible if the government changes some of their policies and attitudes about motorcycle and other two wheeled transporation but who knows if that will happen. It would be difficult, but anything can happen.

CC

an affordable 200 cc air cooled trials bike would sell well i would think . for some one who just wants to play rather than compete .

Plenty of bigbore jap and Euro bikes up here I saw a 1800cc yamaha a couple of weeks ago.

Well there was until the crackdown then they all just disappeared off the streets.

There would be a instant market for them up here.Gansu to by the look of it.

They ask me how fast have you been on a motorcycle. There shocked when I tell them probally around 80klms an hour.I very rarley ride on tar back home.

They have all done upwards of 250klm an hour.

Plenty of people with the cash to buy them too.

I can get a road legal yamaha R1 from the local Yamaha dealer.I said can he get me a yamaha WR450 he said no .I said why he said because "this is China"I have a nice moto scooter over here for you???

I hope that we get to see a chinese inline-4 road bike in the near future

with inline 4 power , brakes would have to be on par with japan or europe

Some Chinese bikes actually have quite effective brakes... I think it's just a matter of picking the right units off the shelf. But it's not uncommon for simple things to become mysteriously complicated.

CC

this may not be great news regarding these lovely concepts.

the guy who drew these is an italian who has also made dozens of other 'proposals' for a host of different brands. portfolio here:
http://www.coroflot.com/public/indiv...set_id=261143&
i think these pics may just be have been nice concepts he drew, which then got found by some bike journalist who made up a story to go with them. i wouldn't be surprised anyway.

according to this french website, the pics were submitted to their 'photoshop a bike' contest, and the bikes aren't even built around the same engine. the jialing would be based on a hornet 600 and the zongshen on a GSR600.
http://www.motorevue.com/site/les-pr...urs-34204.html

what do you guys make of? reckon these pics even had anything to do with the manufacturers written on them?

Before they get ideas to build modern sportsbikes and nominate themselves the Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki of China, they need to get off their asses, do some actual research and development and make a 250 or 500 single up to the level of a 90s Jap bike.

http://www.motoplanete.com/honda/CB-500-96.jpg

IMHO if they could copy a mid 90's CB500 or similar, but use a single cylinder engine, utilizing the technology they already have, for the commuter market in the west, and the higher end market for developing countries, they might have a winner. But even that is very difficult as there are not even motorcycle tires good enough for the power of a 500cc bike manufactured in China, and they don't have fuel injection for these engines either, so they'd be unable to sell to the developed world.

They really need to stop dreaming using photoshop and just go make the best bikes they can.

This is the bike to beat...

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photo...250f-small.jpg

Nothing too unreasonable either considering their manufacturing capabilities. I think this has to be one of the most successful and capable 250's of recent history... if not ever.

A guy just finished 12th in the IBA Ralley for 2009 on a Ninja 250. That's 11,000 miles in 11 days for those of you not familiar with the event. Check out this bad ass long distance baby Ninja!

http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...r_ex250_03.jpg

If it's good enough for an Iron Butt Rally, it's good enough for me!

:riding:
CC

I shoulda known that was Oberdan's work. He sure is good. The Chinese should hire that guy. He could design beautiful bikes for the entire industry there. He has cranked out many inspired designs.

And, I totally agree that the 250 Ninja and the CB500 are great bikes to beat (or at least match).

PJ

GPJ,

I honestly don't know much about him. Got any info/references/lnks handy I could check out?

Paz,
CC

Sure CC, If you check out the link that Felix posted you'll see these websites listed as Oberdan's blog:

http://motosketches.blogspot.com/

http://scooterdesign.blogspot.com/


Of course, it's in Italian...but, the pictures are the prize. He drew a few NEW Lambretta designs a while back that had the classic scooter scene buzzing. Check out this design for a Zongshen electric cub. It's solid. I think he has a good grasp of both classic and modern bike styles and makes good eye-catching designs.

http://scooterdesign.blogspot.com/20...a-marcata.html

Carl, on a different note...for a daily dose of beautiful custom-made bikes go to this website:

http://www.bikeexif.com/


PJ

My best wishes are with the Chinese producers .
There are millions of Riders world wide , who dont have the money for a Japanese or other expensive proooof machine. How ever as Crazy Carl said , its not just about the machine , its about the RIDER ... I hope these COncepts hit the market and they come Prooof sooon !!
I love the Chinese for what they are doing , trying to fulfill human demand , which is so necessary and so vital !
Not all dream ,need to die when you wake .

CHEERS !!!