Chinese motorcycle manufacturer, Zongshen, has been striking some very profitable deals lately. First of all, they will be building the next small Aprilia adventure bike. They've also entered into an agreement with Norton Motorcycles UK Limited for a 650cc engine.
Before Norton went bankrupt and was eventually bought by TVS, the company had signed a design and license agreement with Zongshen to develop a 650cc twin-cylinder engine. Under the agreement, the two companies will share rights to an all-new 650cc twin-engine, which was jointly engineered and developed by Norton and Ricardo, an Italian design and consultancy firm. That was in 2017.
“Norton and Zongshen have entered into a 20-year Design and License agreement over an all-new 650cc twin engine. The 650cc twin engine jointly engineered and developed by Norton and Ricardo has been specifically designed to the requirements of Zongshen and will be Euro 4 compliant. This enables Zongshen to meet current and future emissions regulations, clearly an important step for Zongshen and enables them to continue their phenomenal growth in the global motorcycle market,” said Norton via press release.
Just last year, Zongshen revealed its lineup of flagship 650cc motorcycles at the 17th annual China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition in Chongqing. The new models are based on the Norton V4 and Atlas, and named the Cyclone RK6 and the Cyclone RX6. Like the Nortons they're based on, the RK6 is a tourer and the RX6 is an adventure bike.
Philippine market Motorstar RX3
These new bikes might enter production later this year to become 2021 models, as suggested by new patents filed by Zongshen. If that's the case, we might finally see big brothers of the Motorstar RX3, which is essentially a Zongshen, distributed in the Philippines by Motorstar.
