After several years developing its new three-cylinder engine, the Chinese brand Zontes presented its adventure bike 703F and its sport bike 703RR at last year’s EICMA show. At the time, they were still prototypes and technical information was very limited. But now the 703F is being delivered to customers in China, with sales for export expected in the coming months, while the 703RR has just been homologated to reveal the look of the production version and show some of its key specifications.
Although Zontes has not yet made an official announcement, the homologation documents for the 703RR confirm some important differences compared to the 703F and the company’s claims when the prototypes were presented at EICMA. At the time, Zontes said that the adventure bike would have 100 hp at 9,000 rpm, while the sport bike would have 110 hp at 11,000 rpm, but when the 703F was officially revealed in production form, its peak power dropped slightly to 96 hp and reached 1,000 rpm above the planned, at 10,000 rpm. The new homologation documents also suggest that the claim of 110 hp for the 703RR was slightly ambitious, as it has a maximum approved power of 101 hp in the official documentation. However, the values for both bikes may change when the export models are launched, given the variation in emission limits worldwide.Other details revealed in the homologation documentation include a certified maximum speed of 230 km/h for the 703RR, which seems correct and puts it on par with rivals like Honda’s CBR650R. In terms of power and performance, Zontes should certainly be ahead of the Yamaha R7 twin-cylinder and very close to models like the Aprilia RS 660 and the Triumph Daytona 660 – the only other three-cylinder bike in this part of the market, at least until the CFMOTO 675SR goes into production.
Source:https://www.cycleworld.com
The engine is based on a cast aluminum frame with two bars, in front of a swingarm made of the same material, and the suspension is expected to come from Marzocchi, which already supplies components for the 703F. The main frame dimensions include a wheelbase of 57 inches, which matches the measurement of the CBR650R, along with a weight of 195.9 kg. The homologation documentation presents two versions of the bike, which differ only in the specification of the brake calipers they are equipped with, which appear to be components of Chinese origin.
Visually, the bike has evolved slightly since the original version made its debut at EICMA last November. The most obvious change is in the headlights, which are unusually positioned on both sides of the fairing instead of on the nose. In the production model, the light units are still located under the top plane of the side wings, but while the conceptual bike had four separate lamps that visibly protruded in front of the leading edge of the wing, the display version seems to have a more subtle design, with light units purposefully made for the effect, placed further back.
There are still lights on the front, including a V-shaped LED strip along the front edge and additional lights underneath. The overall look is sharp, though a bit cluttered, and the subtle paint of the bikes photographed for homologation seems to match the bikes at the EICMA show, albeit without some graphics and with the red highlights of the original bike and the rims swapped for blue.
The real question that remains for Zontes is whether the new three-cylinder bikes are enough to satisfy the needs of their customers. In China, the company has been criticized for only offering single-cylinder bikes so far, in a market where two cylinders have become the expected norm. By skipping the twin-cylinders and jumping straight to the three cylinders, Zontes aims to maintain a distinct identity and offer something that their rivals cannot achieve, although the prolonged development of the three-cylinder means there are now a growing number of four-cylinder options in the market in the same class, not to mention the upcoming CFMOTO 675SR three-cylinder that will be a direct competitor.
We just need to find out if the Zontes 703RR will reach the European market when it is officially launched.
