An iconic bike…

I had a good visit with Zongshen last week, and I am just starting to get over the jet lag.  Recovering from the time change when returning to the US is always rugged, and the aftermath of this visit has been no exception.  I can get myself acclimatized to Asia time in one day, but the adjustment coming home always takes at least a couple of weeks.  For a good two weeks, I wake up at 3:00 a.m. every day.  That happened again this morning.  Ah, well, it’s a good time to blog.

On the Zongshen R&D test track with a (redacted) test (redacted).

Let me state the obvious:  I like Zongshen and I like the people who work there.   Zongshen is a modern, exciting company, and I always see fascinating stuff when I visit.  I wish I could tell you about all of it.  I get to see new products and technologies.   Speaking as an engineer, what I see is exciting.   Speaking as a rider, what I see (and get to ride) is exhilarating.

A display inside the inner sanctum…one of the few photos I was allowed to take inside the super-secret Zongshen R&D complex.

Another display of corporate partners on a wall inside the skunk works….recognize any of these names?

A lot of folks think that Chinese companies only copy things.  That may be true for some companies in China (just as it is true for a lot of companies in the rest of the world), but it is not what is going on at Zongshen.  Zongshen’s corporate motto is “Innovate, Don’t Imitate,” and I can tell you that’s what drives the engineers at Zongshen.  The RX3 is but one example of this.

I’ve called the RX3 an iconic bike, and not surprisingly, a few keyboard commandos out in the ether took offense at that term (which is why I now use it so frequently).   Consider where we are today…a Chinese company introduced a fully-equipped 250cc adventure touring motorcycle, and a couple of years later the rest of the industry is struggling to catch up.  Witness the Kawasaki Versys 300, the Honda 250 Africa Twin, and the new BMW 310 (rumored to soon be offered in a GS version).  The motorcycle media has been falling all over itself writing about these new bikes, and that’s cool.   Most of them mentioned that the RX3 arrived first, but one or two did not and I always jab the writers when that happens.  I know all of these guys, and I’m not afraid to call out bias or sloppy journalism when I see it.  I did that with one guy and he took offense.  His parting shot to me was this:  Did I really think the world’s largest motorcycle companies were copying Zongshen? 

Well, yeah.

That’s exactly what I think.

And by the way, Mr. Very Fake News, Zongshen also happens to be one of the world’s largest motorcycle companies.   Consider this:  Zongshen hasn’t had a year in recent history where their production was as low as Harley’s best year.  Think about that:  In their slowest years, Zongshen still sells way more motorcycles than a respected industry leader like Harley-Davidson.   One more thing to consider:  Many of the world’s premier motorcycle and automotive organizations have formed strategic alliances with Zongshen.  Names like BMW, Piaggio, Suzuki, and others aren’t doing so because they want to help Zongshen.   They’re doing it because they want to tap into what Zongshen brings to the party.  Who’d have thought?

At a gas station on the Colombia RX3 adventure ride, this attractive young attendant had but one question: What’s a like to ride a motorcycle this huge?

Zongshen produces something around a half million motorcycles and about a million engines a year (they also make engines for other motorcycle manufacturers).    Zongshen’s principal markets are their domestic market (China), the rest of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America.  Most of their production reflects what the rest of the world wants:  Small bikes, mostly in the 50cc to 125cc range.   Here in America with our predilection for big bikes, we’re the oddballs.  We think a 250 is small.  The rest of the world thinks a 250 is huge.  Me?  I think a 250 is just right.

The RX3 project was something different for Zongshen.   It was a design exercise to implement their “Innovate, Don’t Imitate” corporate philosophy.   They literally had no idea just how successful the RX3 would be.   During my recent visit, one of the Zongshen executives told me they predicted the total worldwide RX3 market might be 3,000 motorcycles.  To date, Zongshen has manufactured about 20,000 RX3s, worldwide sales are accelerating, and the RX3 is now sold all over the world.  If you’re on a round-the-world motorcycle trip, you’d probably be able to find RX3 parts easier than you would if you were on some of the other big bikes commonly used for these kinds of trips.  Think about that.

Anyway, that’s it for now.  I’m going to have another cup of coffee.   A little bit later this morning I’m going to fire up one of the 20,000 iconic RX3s riding the world (my very own iconic orange RX3) and ride over to meet my geezer buddies at the BMW dealership for lunch.   Maybe I’ll get to see to the new 310 Beemer, and if I do, I’ll post a few photos.

Later, my friends.