QJMotor SRK 1000 RC – a Chinese superbike

Are you ready for the countdown? Yes, because the arrival of a true Chinese Superbike is, in our opinion, a matter of time. One of the most concrete and credible warnings came at EICMA 2023, when the Chinese group QJMotor (remember that the company is part of the giant Geely group) presented its SRK 1000 RC worldwide. Although Chinese manufacturers often take advantage of national shows (such as CIMA) or events in their homeland to reveal their novelties and only then bring them to Europe, the fact that the SRK 1000 RC had its baptism in Italy says a lot about the presentation and intentions of QJMotor to bring its 1078 cc sports bike (whose signs had already been visible for some time) to the attention of the Western public. Significant fact number two: the bike is designed by the Italian design center C-Creative, where Adrian Morton and Paolo Bianchi stand out as co-founders. It is by no means the first time that a Chinese brand has decided to trust a European design/engineering center, and this is also a sign of the desire to create motorcycles on a global level, like the Ten_78 project behind the SRK 1000 RC presented at the Milan Motor Show.

In terms of design, the Chinese sports bike has a very sophisticated and non-trivial appearance. The fairings are also very specific, with an intriguing integration of dynamic air intakes, and there is a very interesting feature of printing QR codes on certain parts of the bike to convey information about the part or the bike to dealers, owners, or simple observers of the bike. The dual exhaust system passes through the air between the seat and the swingarm, while the fairing extends far back, almost hugging the rear wheel.

Just from the name of the project (Ten_78) one can deduce the derivation of the 1,078 cc engine from the sports and naked MV Agusta motorcycles from previous generations (now the Schiranna bikes have a 998 cc engine) and partly – at least aesthetically – one can detect inspiration from the Brutale or F4 in the form of the mixed aluminum/steel frame or the swingarm.

The 1078 cc inline four-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine delivers a maximum power of 106 kW (144 hp) and a maximum torque of 112 Nm, equipped with a hydraulically operated clutch and a six-speed gearbox, while the declared dry weight is 198 kg. The suspension uses an adjustable Marzocchi USD fork and a simple rear shock absorber with multilink. The fuel tank capacity is 19 liters, the seat height is 840 mm from the ground, and the wheelbase is 1425 mm.

The braking system, equipped with ABS, is from Brembo and consists of a dual 320 mm disc at the front and a single 260 mm disc at the back; the equipment includes a fully LED lighting system and TFT instrumentation, as well as QuickShift and front and rear cameras, which we assume are present to implement driving aids.