Asiawing are part of a much larger enterprise, and they seem very keen and professional to be as good as they can be, they also seem to have a passion for bikes and a genuine eye for detail, this sets them apart somewhat from regular Chinese manufacturers. The factory, or possibly should we say assembly plant is well equipped, proper air tool torque wrenches and even a dyno machine. Compared with the Suzuki/Qingqi plants in Jinan this place is tiny, but they had a massive dirt track out the back, with big scary jumps, (sadly I'm not a competent dirt biker so couldn't take advantage of this :frump:) and they let me try both bikes in their own habitat (many other Chinese manufacturers won't even take the plastic off the seat and hell would freeze over before you can hear the engine! :lol8:). They also seemed very interested in my suggestions, so the first small spring-like new shoots of properly made Chinese motorcycles seems to be starting....
Some other things are...Cagiva technology? Perhaps, but not authorized by Cagiva. :lol8: Although I think some of them have had some connection with Cagiva in the past. What it seemed like to me was Asiawing are basically some of the best from Qingqi Suzuki in Jinan, plus other engineers from elsewhere, whilst still having friends at Qingqi and other places, want 'to go it alone', and have the financial backing to do so, and are to an extent capable of some design of their own and good assembly standards.
The engines are, I suspect are probably someone else's technology, this is because there is a current crop of quads being made in China these days, which are mostly joint venture bikes, these are often 400-500cc single engines. (So expect to see more Chinese bikes with these engines in the future as these larger displacement single cylinder engines trickle down into the rest of the market).
The guys seemed very proud of this..their LX450, water-cooled dirt bike and seemed very positive about the engine. This bike is available now, they are happy to put dual sport tires and lights on it according to customer requirements. They say the street version of the bike can be registered in China, certainly in the same city as the factory. :thumbsup:
The next bike was the bike that I had really come to see. I was impressed with the Spark 500, but it was only a prototype and still being refined. Some of the delay I think is because they need a fuel injected bike to pass EEC/EPA emission standards, as yet they haven't been able to get hold of a suitable injector as yet, but there are plenty of other countries that do not have such exact emission standards, so I'm sure they will continue the development regardless. The guys seemed slightly less enthusiastic about the 500cc engine in this bike, than the 450 in the LX. I enjoyed riding the Spark and it had smooth power delivery for a 500 single with plenty of low-end torque and high-end power, it seemed pretty typical for its displacement and size in this regard, in no way did it feel gutless at any part of the power delivery, it wasn't as exciting as a multiple cylinder bike of the same displacement, but it is large enough for some serious fun. It seemed that Asiawing have a basically dirt bike philosophy, this I like as this keeps stupid unnecessary heavyweight bling off the bike..this attitude really good for a Chinese manufacturer, shows there is engineering thought not 'make it look pretty to sell it' attitude that is so common in the rest of the Chinese motorcycle industry.
I'll wait a few months and see what happens.........I really want a spark, just because I'm bored with only 10KW from my own 150cc bike, and I'm not exactly swooning over with the possibility of having 13-15KW from a Chinese 250 either. Now maybe if they put the 450 in the Spark hmm...... If I can't get a Spark I might end up with a dual sport LX anyway!
Asiawing......fingers crossed.......will be the start of something good in the Chinese motorcycle industry.
I did mention that they might want to provide spares warranties and demo bikes in the west......
