I’ll bet you thought you were looking at a Gold Wing when you opened this blog.
Wow, the world is full of surprises. On my first foray into the Chinese motorcycle industry (a trip to Zongshen’s giant manufacturing campus in Chongqing), I was blown away by the size and sophistication of that company. Since then, I’ve been to China many times (including a visit to the Canton Fair, China’s significant motorcycle industry trade show). I thought I’d seen it all, and then I found this email from good buddy Fan in my inbox:
Hi Joe:
How are you, friend?
I’d like to share a news to you, of course it’s still about motorcycles/
A motorcycle exhibition was held in Beijing from May 17th to 20th.
Most of the products were still unremarkable to me, but one motorcycle sparked interest. This is a cruiser developed by Great Wall Motors, a Chinese automobile company. Its appearance may remind you of the Honda Gold Wing. At first, I thought this was another simple imitation of another motorcycle, but when I understood its structure and parameters, I found that it was not that simple. This cruiser is named SOUO and is equipped with a 2000cc engine with 8 cylinders, while the Honda Gold Wing is 1600cc with 6 cylinders only.
The price of this motorcycle has not yet been announced, but it is said that it will start accepting reservations in August. I guess the retail price should be 250,000 yuan, about 35,000 US dollars.
For your reference.
Best regards!
Fan
Whoa! 2000cc! Eight cylinders! An 8-speed dual clutch transmission! Talk about overkill!
I wonder what it weighs.
I tried to find what SOUO translates to in English, but it doesn’t translate to anything. What I found online is that SOUO is an acronym (you know, an abbreviation that forms a word). SOUO means “Search Own, Unlimited Outlook.”
This is a huge step in the Chinese motorcycle world. How Great Wall Motors markets the bike will be interesting to watch. I would think one of their principal markets has to be the United States (where else could it be?), but I have to wonder how many they think they are going to sell. Assuming the motorcycle could meet U.S. Department of Transportation and EPA emissions requirements (it most likely would, as the bikes I assisted in guiding through U.S. certification requirements all did), and assuming someone steps up to pay the roughly $50K associated with going through the certification process, how many people are willing to drop $35K on a new Chinese motorcycle? That’s more than what a new Gold Wing, a new BMW, or a new Harley costs. It’s a steep sales hill and it will require a significant marketing effort. I think the issues are the small size of the target market, the target market’s willingness to go with a new and unproven Chinese product (instead of a Gold Wing, a BMW, or a Harley), the price, and questions about Chinese motorcycle reliability and parts availability.
No one has asked for my advice on this, but that’s never slowed me down before. Here’s what I’d do:
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- Lower the price dramatically to bring new folks to the table. The RX3’s initial price was a scant $2895 and none of the other manufacturers could touch that price. CSC didn’t make money on those bikes, but we more than made up for that with future sales, accessory sales, and building a loyal customer base.
- Do something similar to what we did at CSC to convince people the RX3 was a superbly reliable motorcycle. CSC sponsored a series of adventure tours to demonstrate the RX3’s reliability. Zongshen sponsored the 5000-mile Western America Adventure ride, and CSC sponsored a series of Baja rides. These events served us well. With the SOUO motorcycle, I’d think they might consider working a deal with the Southern California Motorcycle Club and the Iron Butt Association and run several of their bikes in their events, to include a Four Corners Ride (a ride that hits all four geographic corners of the U.S.), the Three Flags Ride (a rally from Mexico through the U.S. to Canada), and an Iron Butt ride (a run that covers 11,000 miles in 11 days). On top of that, I’d offer a 10-year warranty, kind of like Hyundai did with its cars.
- Bring in a huge spare parts inventory and brag about it. Folks will naturally worry about spares. Bring in enough to build complete bikes and let everyone know it. It’s what CSC did and it blew away any concerns about parts availability.
- Build a U.S. manufacturing facility. Boy, this could get complicated fast. But Great Wall Motors needs to address the U.S. disdain for Chinese products and the ongoing U.S./China trade war. Doing so is above my pay grade, but I would think making this bike in America would get around a lot of issues.
- Go balls out on a product placement campaign. The U.S. motorcycle market for big touring machines is primarily old guys, and we are dying off. One way to attract new blood is to get the bike featured in movies and streaming TV shows. You know, like BMW and Triumph have done in the Bond and Mission Impossible franchises. (“Balls out” is not an obscene anatomical reference to moving at great speed; the phrase actually comes from the old mechanical centrifugal governors used on steam and internal combustion engines.)
This motorcycle is an interesting development. I don’t think we’ll see SOUO motorcycles here in the U.S. any time soon, but I’d sure like to. In the meantime, here are a few more photos.
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Chinese automobile companies have very strong funds. It is said that Great Wall Motors invested 700 million yuan (equivalent to 98 million US dollars) in research and development funds for SOUO, which is tantamount to a huge sum of money for an ordinary motorcycle company.
In recent years, some Chinese auto companies have keenly discovered that the profit margin of motorcycles is actually much higher than that of cars. Of course, neither the United States nor China can compare with the total sales volume of motorcycles, but this still makes many Chinese Car companies plan to enter the motorcycle segment.
I think that the entry of auto companies into the motorcycle industry will push the Chinese government change some of its discriminatory policies against motorcycles, such as the ban on traffic, mandatory scrapping in 13 years of registration, etc. Who is willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to buy a motorcycle but can only Legally owned for 13 years? After 13 years, regardless of the condition of the motorcycle, it will be sent to the recycling bin. Automobile companies have a much stronger power than motorcycle companies, and they will definitely put pressure on the government to change this policy.
As for whether SOUO can enter the U.S., there may also be some political factors involved. Although the U. S。 has not imposed excessive tariffs on Chinese motorcycles today, we don’t know how it will develop in the future. let us wait and see.
New York is planning to implement a graduated registration fee approach to reduce traffic in New York City. Here in California, the government is exploring the feasibility of imposing a tax based on miles driven. We used to prohibit motorcycles certain roads (I don’t know if that is still the case).
This SOUO is an interesting development. It will be interesting to see how it sells and what the marketing approach is. It is hard to imagine navigating through city traffic in places like Chengdu, Lanzhou, and the other big cities we rode through on the RX3s and RX1s.
We are living in interesting times, Fan. Thanks for sending the photos and info to me.
I am disgusted !
China has Taiwan surrounded . They have been firing off all kinds of stuff , including simulated attack on Taiwan to intimidate its people. Navy , Airforce , you name it .
And yet here you guys continue to push Chinese products that ultimately find their policy of world domination .
Not to mention the Chinese partnership with Russia and iran . Yes Iran . The world sponsor of terrorism . As Israel is bringing home the bodies of its dead citizens you guys are backing a partnership to destroy Jews and cripple America.
Do you really believe a shiny plastic example of pure moto extravagance is excuse enuff to ignore the underlying reality ?
I still believe in “never again “
It sucks many of you don’t.
You are making my point, Hack. They have a huge marketing challenge to overcome. It will be interesting to see how they do.
I guess you are right .
Have a great Memorial Day
Always nice to see new models the 24 Goldwing list for 29 five just show me a qualified service tech and I might consider getting one. The headlights in the front end remind me of the Yamaha venture that came out with several years ago. Good day 😊
I didn’t realize the Gold Wings were so much. I have no interest in either bike, other than as blog fodder. Might be time to visit a Honda dealer.
Thanks for commenting.
It’s one thing to sell an inexpensive Chinese bike to new riders who have no brand loyalty but quite another thing to sell to people who are fanatical about their bikes which have been so blatantly copied. All the while adding a higher price tag! Eight cylinder or no, I doubt one Gold Wing owner would even consider buying one. Then there’s the reliability issue which LD tourers cherish among all else. And by the time this monstrosity were to get off the ground… never mind. Motorcycle sales have been declining. Too much way too late.
You are hitting all the right notes, Marcus. Hard to see how this one is going to make it. We sure had fun on the RX3.
I was reading about this bike on one of the MC web sites recently.
It was written that Souo meant “Soul”. Don’t know how accurate that is or not.
I’ve got no interest in a monster like this. Great Wall has no MC engineering or manufacturing experience, but I’ve seen many of their cars. They don’t look too good after just a few years in service.
Cheers,
Dan K.
Thanks for commenting, Dan. Good to hear from you.
Two wheeled car.
Yessiree. Bikes are like people. We keep getting fatter and fatter.
I wonder what it weighs? Hard enough holding up an Ultra Classic.
I had the same thought, Larry. On the other hand, I sat on a 2500cc Triumph Triple today, and it lifted off the sidestand remarkably easily. Watch for photos here on the blog.
Hack’s emotional response tying Israel and the Middle East situation to a gigantic Chinese Goldwing shows how simply reporting the facts in the USA is controversial. Today’s ever more nationalist, super sensitive world is looking for any excuse to fight.
It’s going to be a long hard slog to become a rational nation again. It might take a few generations.
The Chinese Goldwing looks fairly complex. I wouldn’t want to work on it and I like fixing stuff. The bike will need a trained dealer network. Some of CSC’s latest offerings are beyond the backyard mechanic/rider (unlike the RX3, TT350)
The bike doesn’t interest me but not many new bikes are desirable anyway and I’m not the market.
Behemoth of a motorcycle. I wonder if changing the alternator will involve pulling the engine, or if a dealer is required to change the rear tire. For once, I’m with Hacksaw on not purchasing one, not a fan of the Chinese government and their support of Russia and Iran. That being said, I prefer something more simple in execution, anyway.
Agreed, simple is better. Watch for our upcoming blogs on Royal Enfield and Triumph.