Great Wall Motor is the eighth largest automaker in China, selling over a million vehicles per year and owning several sub-brands. This month, it also becomes a motorcycle manufacturer, with the launch of its new company, Great Wall Souo, and its eight-cylinder touring motorcycle, which is said to be superior to Honda’s Gold Wing.
This is a bold initiative, but it is in line with Great Wall’s character. Led by charismatic billionaire Wei Jianjun, the company started out manufacturing trucks in the 1980s, but has rapidly expanded in recent years, branching out into various brands. Its current lineup includes the Haval brand, which produces road SUVs, the appropriately named Tank brand, which makes more rugged off-road vehicles, and two exclusively electric ranges (Ora and Wey), as well as GWM trucks.
Souo is Great Wall’s first motorcycle venture, but it reflects Wei’s long-term interest in two-wheelers and, unlike most Chinese motorcycle companies, it is aiming directly for the top end of the market, rather than starting with cheap single-cylinder machines. It’s not a twin-cylinder motorcycle, not a four-cylinder motorcycle, not even a six-cylinder motorcycle, Souo’s first-ever motorcycle is also the world’s only eight-cylinder production motorcycle. And it’s not an automobile engine placed in a motorcycle frame, but an eight-cylinder engine inspired by the six-cylinder engine of the Honda Gold Wing.
Last month, we revealed patents showing the engine and now the actual power unit has been shown in Beijing, and Souo has revealed the outlines of the bike itself, as well as a glimpse of its front end. The final machine is expected to be revealed on May 17, but images of the finished bike are already circulating on Chinese social media, after it was seen, without any disguise, during what appears to be footage for a promotional video, with Wei Jianjun himself driving it.
