QJMotor SRK 1000 RC – the Chinese superbike

Are you ready for the countdown? Yes, because the arrival of a real Chinese Superbike is, in our opinion, only 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 to the world.

Although Chinese manufacturers often take advantage of national shows (CIMA, for example) or events in their homeland to unveil their novelties and only then take them to Europe, the fact that the SRK 1000 RC had its baptism in Italy says a lot about the presentation and QJMotor’s intentions to bring its 1078 cc sports bike (signs of which had been visible for some time) to the attention of the Western public.

Second significant fact: 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 rely on a European design/engineering center, and this is also a sign of the desire to create bikes 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 looks very sophisticated and not at all ordinary. The fairings are also very specific, with an intriguing job of integrating dynamic air intakes, and there is a very interesting feature of printing QR codes on certain parts of the bike to transmit information about the part or the bike to dealers, owners or simple observers of the bike. The dual exhaust system passes mid-air between the seat and the swingarm, while the fairing extends far back, almost hugging the rear wheel.

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

The liquid-cooled 1078 cc in-line four-cylinder 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 single rear shock absorber with multilink. The fuel tank is 19 liters, the seat is 840 mm from the ground and the wheelbase is 1425 mm.

The brake system, equipped with ABS, is from Brembo and consists of a 320 mm double disc at the front and a 260 mm single disc at the rear; the equipment includes an all-LED lighting system and TFT instrumentation, as well as QuickShift and front and rear cameras, which we assume are there to implement driving aids.

O conteúdo QJMotor SRK 1000 RC – the Chinese superbike aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.