Upcoming release of Chinese motorcycles with eight cylinders.

Imagine being a giant established in the global automotive industry and wanting to spread your four-wheeled brand to two wheels. How do you make a splash? In the case of the Chinese group GWM (Great Wall Motor), the answer is to build a set of eight-cylinder motorcycles that can surpass even the pinnacle of luxury on two wheels, the Honda Gold Wing.

Last year, rumors and test images of a pair of eight-cylinder motorcycles began circulating in China, one resembling the Gold Wing and the other a cruiser reminiscent of the old Honda Rune. But now we have had the first semi-official contact with the machine, through a video posted on social media by GWM’s president, billionaire Wei Jianjun. In the footage, he shows his research and development team a new electric car Xiaomi S7 that was given to him (Xiaomi, the smartphone brand, now focusing on automobiles). But in the background – carefully positioned to be filmed and with the cover partially pulled back – is a finished example of the future eight-cylinder tourer. Around the same time, Jianjun posted a clip of the engine sound on social media that was interpreted as belonging to the motorcycle. With the start of the Beijing Auto Show on April 25 and this increase in publicity, it is not a big leap to suggest that the first GWM motorcycle could make its debut at the event.

It is unlikely that the motorcycle itself will be used under the GWM brand, which already has several domains. The GWM name is used on pick-up trucks, while the company uses the Haval and Tank brands on its SUVs, the Ora brand on its electric cars, and the Wey brand on its luxury people carriers. It is expected that the motorcycles will have their own distinct brand name when officially launched.

Of course, with the new eight-cylinder machines now practically confirmed for production, we went to investigate the patent records to see what information exists. It turns out that Great Wall has filed several patent applications for elements of the motorcycles. The images accompanying the patents clearly show the eight-cylinder engine, with a design inspired by the Honda Gold Wing, but raising the bar in several areas. It is believed that the engine capacity is around 2,000 cc, slightly more than the current Wing’s 1,833 cc, and of course it has two extra cylinders, but the layout – with the transmission mounted underneath the engine to keep the overall length shorter than it would otherwise be – is practically the same. Like Honda, GWM intends to use a semi-automatic dual-clutch gearbox on the bike with a shaft final drive. We will watch with interest the direction of GWM’s plans for motorcycles. It is a company that is not short of funds (Wei himself is listed by Forbes as the 13th richest billionaire in China, with a fortune of $12.2 billion) and has huge R&D and manufacturing resources. Although the huge eight-cylinder flat tourers and cruisers may not be very popular, they are an ideal product range and instantly outperform rival Chinese companies, many of which are just starting to launch their first four-cylinder motorcycles.

Source: https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-news/great-wall-motor-eight-cylinder-motorcycles-coming-soon/

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