Zongshen 650
 

I do not post often but I found this article and thought it may be of interest.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2...rcycle-engine/

This engine would have the potential to make a very nice mid sized bike.

If Zong spent "millions", they should have gotten an engine from Honda or Yamaha.....or
design their own engine.....

jb

This is actually very interesting news, and is a similar deal to the one that brought us the 250 in the RX3.

Zongshen iterate quickly and I would not be surprised if they bin the 450 and go straight to this.

Imagine a Versys 650 competitor at aggressive pricing, and no dealers premium to pay.

The key is it was developed by Ricardo not Norton, it is common for all the big car and bike manufacturers to contract out the works development and it will bring the engine to market quicker and better technology.

So am I the only one that would be more worried about a British engine in our CBs than a Chinese one?

Good Point
 

No, I owned an early model BSA Shooting Star, learn a lot about the mechanicals, whether I wanted to or not! :doh:

Nice hunting 2 strokecycle

The Norton announcement is there on the Norton web page...so it's legit. To my untrained eye there is a great deal of similarity between the 650 and our 250 lump...cylinders canted fwd, water pump in the same position, etc. That exposed oil filter might bother some but I like the accessibility and the fact that it's probably available at my local auto parts store. The deep sump might be an issue, too early to tell.

Jumping from 250 to 650, without a 450 in between, sounds like too much for a company whose bread and butter is small engines. Thus, I'd expect them to test the waters with the 450 for the world market and later bring out the 650 for Europe and North America.

Peter Y.

I think they'll do both the 450 and 650. Zong is massive and has tons of cash, engineering and available workers.

I like this idea. They're one of the few Chinese companies that just aren't pumping out CG Hondoids by the millions. I like the idea that they seem to be taking the 2 wheeled world very seriously on the global stage.

That´s a very interesting point!
On my region dealers doesn´t adds anything else than extra cost to the vehicles and patethical after sales mandatory services.:grr:

Yes it is a jump from 400 to a 650 but I have to believe that in the overall scheme of things it would make more sence. The 600 cc engines IMHO seem to hit that Goldilocks spot for power and fuel economy.

It is easy to think in terms of our local (national) demands. I'm trying to think in terms of the international market. With that in mind I'd question how many 650 bikes Zong could sell in, say, China, Colombia or Argentina. Those markets are huge but will they support a 650 twin? The folks at Zongshen are smart so I'm sure whatever they decide it will have a high probability of success. It's very interesting that they have dropped big bucks into a 20 year agreement.

I think @2LZ is correct, I doubt it will actually change much of Zongshen's plans, and it's likely entirely focused on the European and North American market (which has a couple of 650 competitors, like Benelli).

I'd love to see a 450, but I know it's not an easy size to get right.

As an interesting aside, I learnt that the GS 650 thumper is assembled in China. Still cast in Europe, but assembly is handled by a subcontractor in china. Interesting, right? A very well-regarded BMW donk.

Interesting times.

I thought that I read recently that the BMW G650GS would no longer be made for American importing in 2018?:shrug: