Ayup everyone,
I have been asked many questions about what is happening at MV Agusta and what the future holds for them and to be clear, that isn’t really the subject of this video, but as you will see, what I am talking about here will have a knock on effect.
Timur Sardarov the owner of MV Agusta said a new 4 cylinder engine to replace the F4 would take until at least 2027 to finish, so when the new “Rush” model came along with over 200HP I was intrigued.
Well, what this video is about is a very under publicised deal that was made a few years ago which is now starting to have an effect across the motorcycle marketplace.
You see you might remember a few years ago, before the supposed buyout of MV Agusta by KTM. That QJ Motors won the contract to build what was to become the ill fated 5.5 Adventure bike that was never built.
It should have been in theory an affordable 500cc MV Agusta Adventure bike built by the people behind the Benelli brand.
Part of that agreement initially was that QJ Motors would have access to the MV Agusta F4 tech, but it was expanded to include all the tech MV Agusta had at that time, so the F3, F4 and various Brutale platforms.
The first of the bikes based on those designs are now coming through to us, and QJ Motors now has their own F4 based Superbike in the form of the QJ Motors SRK 1000RR, a Supernaked called the SRK 1000 Raw and also a bike called the SU9.
Contrary to what you may see in many videos these are definitely NOT a V4 design. They are all across the frame 4’s.
The engine is a re worked version of the Brutale 920 engine which itself came from the F4.
These are their first big 4 cylinder designs, and for the SU9, they have gone with the looks of the MV Agusta Superveloce, but with a much detuned 900cc 4 cylinder power plant, rather than the highly tuned 3 cylinder engine of the MV Agusta.
They have kept the crank design and the 55mm stroke length, but instead of the 76mm bores of the MV F4, it is sleeved down to 73mm, giving a total capacity of 921cc.
Instead of the 200HP 1000cc Brutale engine where the power is produced high at 13,000 rpm, in the SU9 we get a softer tune with a maximum output of 130HP at just 10,000rpm, with max torque of 93Nm or just under 70Ft/lbs coming in down at 8,000 rpm.
That will never make it competitive with the MV, but it is comparable to many big four pots on the market, and the SRK 1000 Raw, a supernaked based on the MV Agusta Rush design, and an SRK 1000RR which is an F4 derived sports bike do push the power further.
All are using the same 921cc engine in various states of tune. Claimed power on the SRK1000 is 144HP and on the SRK 1000RR they initially announced 161HP, although the latest specs seem to show significantly less than that.
These might not be close to class leading performance yet, but given time we will see.
This is yet another big step for the Chinese motorcycle industry, but I do get fed up of bikes being announced 2 or even 3 years before they are available.
That is an industry issue though, with Triumph and BMW probably the biggest culprits there.
Having access to all of the MV designs back to the glory days of Cagiva could mean that QJ Motors may even have the drawings from the Mito and Elefant as well as the original 750 F4 and that is some catalogue.
Chinese manufacturers regularly throw a spanner into the works of the more well-established motorcycle manufacturers, and these attempts have often been met with varying degrees of ridicule and laughter from the historic manufacturers, as well as from a sector of the public not yet ready for the awakening of the Chinese industry.
But that is changing.
The success of bikes like the CF Moto 450 and Kove 800 have made them take the new wave of Chinese bikes more seriously.
QJ Motors are big players, and when you realise that the brand is owned by the all-powerful GEELY group, who also own Volvo cars, Lynk & Co, ZEEKR, Polestar, Lotus, Farizon and more, you have to take notice.
In the manufacturer’s own words, the SRK 1000 roadster is ” a motorcycle designed to impress the market “.
Known for working with an Italian styling agency, QJ’s roadster is undoubtedly a muscular looking motorcycle.
You could describe the styling of the SRK simply as aggressive, somewhere between a Ducati Monster and an MV-Agusta Brutale.
Two big air ducts underline the shape of the fuel tank, but they are there to conceal the radiator, and turn what could have easily been an eyesore into an aesthetically pleasing, if a little bloated profile.
The rear is very minimal and the ultimately uselessly small, high mounted rear seat is cradled by 2 fins that run underneath and make the seat look like it is floating above the rear frame.
The twin exhausts are pushed up high, under the seat, to give a clear view of the single-sided swingarm and they do tidy up the look of the back end.
The creation of these 3 machines has been made possible by what has now become a full on joint venture.
This allows QJ Motors to exploit all the Varese brand’s engines and cycle parts, and what’s more, many former MV Agusta employees now work directly for QJMotors.
The trellis style frame and alloy sideplates gives it the look of the illegitimate child of Ducati and Aprilia, and to be fair, it is at least, better looking than the latest range of Ducati Monster’s.
It has Marzocchi adjustable upside-down front forks and a centrally mounted multi-link rear suspension, and it also has Brembo brakes.
You get twin 320 mm front discs, complete with Stylema 4-piston calipers, and a single 260 mm disc on the back. So they haven’t scrimped when it comes to the running gear.
They even entered the MotoGP arena, albeit only as a sponsor for the Gresini Moto 2 team, but it all went a bit pear shaped.
Gresini Racing’s Moto2 team had a sponsorship agreement with QJ Motor, but a controversy arose when rider Manuel González wore a hachimaki, which is a Japanese headband, during a race weekend in Japan.
QJ Motor’s saw this as offensive, why is a long story for a different channel, but it led to them requesting that Gresini drop González, but Gresini instead removed QJ Motor’s branding from their Moto2 bikes for the rest of the 2024 season in solidarity with the rider.
So there is a long way to go yet before we are likely to see a genuine QJ Motors factory team in MotoGP or World Superbikes, but I am sure that time will come.
Kove and I guess you could say CF Moto are leading that charge at the moment.
For now, we have 3 new models coming to market that are effectively Chinese built MV Agusta’s. More will follow I am sure, and you can see from this how Zhang Xue might have got his hands on the F3 800 triple engine he has been developing since leaving Kove.
The difference being, he has taken the engine forward in terms of absolute power, instead of dialling it back.
The most powerful MV Agusta 800cc F3, the F3RR, only manages to put out 147HP, and the ZXJC 820RR is hitting over 150HP stock. Top speed of the MV Agusta F3RR is around 150 mph or 240 kph, but the aim of the ZXJC project is 299kph or almost 186mph.
That is a huge jump, and until the bike arrives we won’t really know for certain, but you can be sure that there will be some very muscular, high powered bikes, rolling off certain production lines in China and into showrooms in your locality soon.
What do you think about the fact MV Agusta signed up to a joint venture with QJ Motors?
Will you consider looking at the new high powered Chinese motorcycles that are coming to take on the western markets?
How long will it be before the likes of QJ Motors etc. can compete in World Superbikes or MotoGP?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
