The Honda Gold Wing is unique among production motorcycles in that it uses a massive six-cylinder engine with 1,833cc of displacement. In China, the car manufacturer Great Wall Motor has sensed an opportunity in Honda’s obvious mistake.
The mistake in question? Using only six cylinders, of course. GWM’s rival-in-development to the famous Gold Wing will use a proper number of cylinders: eight, according to patent documents published by Cycle World.
Unfortunately, GWM hasn’t built a V8, but rather a flat-eight, meaning its cylinders are arranged in the same formation as in the Gold Wing’s motor, but the two extra pots are expected to give around an extra 200cc in total compared to the GL1800. A two-litre capacity would still put GWM’s grand tourer in the shade of the Triumph Rocket 3 Storm, at 2,458cc, but it’s still a number indicative of a pretty hefty motor. As well as an increase in cylinders over the Gold Wing, the GWM also doubles up on cams, with a dual-overhead-camshaft layout compared to the Gold Wing’s single overhead cam design.
Like the Gold Wing, GWM’s bike will place the transmission underneath the engine block itself in order to minimise length, and a dual-clutch semi-automatic transmission is also expected, while the cooling solution is similar to the Gold Wing, too, with one radiator for each cylinder bank.
Additionally, Cycle World reports that the GWM machine is similar to the Honda also in the chassis, with a girder fork used at the front and a similar shape to the cast-aluminium frame.
The 2,000cc (or thereabouts) flat-eight is also expected to be used in a cruiser-style bike, although only the tourer has been seen so far in an official capacity, or sort of official, at least: the bike appeared in a semi-covered form in the background of a video posted to the social media channels of Wei Jianjun, who owns GWM and is reportedly the world’s 13th richest billionaire.
GWM’s four-wheeled exploits have so far seen it use different brand names for its different segments. Ora is its brand for electric cars, while its SUVs are given Tank or Haval branding. It seems unlikely, then, that the Gold Wing rival will actually be called a GWM whenever it eventually launches, but the finished-looking bike in the background of the aforementioned social video is surely not too far away from an official reveal.
Find all the latest motorcycle news on Visordown.
