Electric motorcycles have been stealing headlines lately, but manufacturers aren’t yet done playing around with ICE technology. A car company has a new motorcycle engine and it’s a strange one. Great Wall Motor has unveiled a chunky 2.0-liter 8-cylinder boxer engine. This weirdo is slated to go into the equally massive Great Wall Souo S 2000 ST motorcycle that’s supposed to be China’s answer to the Honda Gold Wing. Not only is that engine large, but it’s also the only one of its kind. What in the world is going over there?
I’ve been following the Chinese motorcycle industry for years, far longer than you’ve seen my byline on any website. It wasn’t even a full decade ago when so many Chinese motorcycles were still cheap rips of popular bikes from Japan. Now, many Chinese motorcycle brands are trying to carve out their own paths. This has been exciting to see. Some brands seem to be digging into the past, scooping up ideas abandoned decades ago by brands like Honda. You can now find tiny V4s putting around China and the old motorcycles of the 1980s have been reborn as modern steeds. For some reason, one brand seems rather enamored by girder forks, or at least the appearance of them.
Lately, some Chinese brands have been seemingly obsessed with motorcycles of a lot of girth. Felo seems to be trying to build the world’s largest production electric motorcycle and now Great Wall Motor wants to build a sizable unit, too. The brand has launched a motorcycle sub-brand, Great Wall Souo, a reference to “soul.” The brand’s launch bike is called the S 2000 ST and it’s like a bizzaro universe Gold Wing, but somehow even bigger.
We’ve written a bit about Great Wall Motor, but it’s worth noting where this is coming from. Great Wall Motor began vehicle production in 1984 with the CC130, a very basic utility truck with a tray on the back. Then came the CC513, an eight-passenger SUV based on what was originally a military design.
Weirdly, GWM’s recounting of its own history begins in 1990. That year, the nephew of founder Wei Deliang, Wei Jianjun “Jack Wei,” became General Manager of the company. GWM says it finally started turning a profit a few years later. Under Jianjun’s early control, GWM made its first car in 1993. The CC1020 rolled out and to many observers it looks like a clone of a Nissan Cedric. Its subsequent early cars would resemble a Toyota Crown and even the Rolls-Royce Silver Spur.
Fast-forward a lot of years and GWM has grown into a large corporation and Jianjun is a billionaire. GWM has splintered itself off as a variety of brands. Haval builds crossovers, Ora makes cute electric cat-themed cars, Wey is the electric luxury brand, Tank is the off-road brand, and GWM is the truck brand.
Some of Great Wall’s modern cars don’t help stereotypes. I mean, the Great Wall Coolbear above seems more than inspired by the first-generation Scion xB.
According to Great Wall, Jianjun had a long interest in motorcycles, but his company has never built any. That appears to be changing this year as the company says it’s taking car technology and is distilling it down to motorcycle size.
The Great Wall Souo company name and patents started appearing last month, now we get to see what’s been brewing.
The S 2000 ST
This news comes to us fresh from contributor Tycho de Feijter, then I found the company’s press release on the bike. Great Wall Motor unveiled this motorcycle on May 17 in China and it’s hot off of the press.
Now, the English version of GWM’s website is a mess and describes the motorcycle as a “Great Wall Soul Station Wagon” and that it represents “Search Own, Unlimited Outlook” and “self-pursuit, unlimited vision.” It’s pretty garbled, but I can parse it out for us.
Great Wall starts off by saying this absolute unit of a motorcycle is equipped with the world’s only horizontally opposed 8-cylinder engine in current production. This part is true. Subaru ended its H6 production in recent years and there’s a boxer six currently in the Honda Gold Wing, but nobody is going as far as making an 8-cylinder boxer. This engine comes in at 2,000cc and it’s a boxer in the true sense. The engine is built with separate crank pins for each piston. The pistons move in the opposite direction of their neighbor on the other side of the engine.
This engine is hooked up to an 8-speed DCT with a reverse gear. It takes on a layout similar to the Gold Wing where the transmission is mounted down low to save on space.
All of this is held up with what Great Wall says is the world’s first three-layer stepped front suspension, which also has a multi-stage adjustable electronic shock absorber. Again, that’s broken English, but it just sounds like the motorcycle has an electrically adjustable suspension on both corners, which is about as you’d expect on a flagship motorcycle like this.
Great Wall also says the motorcycle is built with a welded aluminum frame devoid of any screws. Brembo 4-piston calipers stop the show in the front and the rear.
Saving space was necessary, too. This motorycle already measures 104 inches long with a wheelbase of 71 inches and a seat height of 29.1 inches. To put that into perspective, a Honda Gold Wing is 97 inches long with a wheelbase of 66.7 inches and a seat height of 29.3 inches. Great Wall doesn’t say how heavy the S 2000 ST is, but I wouldn’t expect it to be lighter than a loaded, 847-pound Honda Gold Wing.
As for the design, the S 2000 ST looks a little bit like a Gold Wing, but with far more curves. I’ll just let Great Wall take the mic:
Great Wall Soul Station Wagon draws design inspiration from the “Chinese Lion Dance”, and every detail exudes the charm of Eastern aesthetics, reflecting the aesthetic characteristics of “meaning in things” in Eastern culture. The headlights are designed with “Smart Light Language” as the source of their design. They are smart and spirited, symbolizing wisdom and courage. The posture of the vehicle is based on the design direction of “ready to go” before a lion jumps, and every turn of the side lines of the vehicle is The curves and bends are just right, outlining the visual perception of a low center of gravity, like a crawling lion about to dance, showing a profound understanding of “agility” and “majesty” in Eastern aesthetics, which is powerful and shocking. The through-type taillights echoing the headlights reveal a kind of elegance and sophistication between light and shadow, like a work of art, fully demonstrating the unique taste and pursuit of the car owner.
Like many Chinese products, the Great Wall Sono S 2000 ST is loaded down with tech. There’s a 12.3-inch touch screen controlling the motorcycle that’s powered by a Qualcomm SA8155P Snapdragon SoC. It features over the air updates, but Great Wall otherwise doesn’t talk about everything the screen can do.
What I can tell you is that the motorcycle has an automatic parking brake, electrically adjustable windshield, cruise control, heated grips, an eight-speaker sound system, a heated seat, and what appears to be a navigation system. Of course, like any good touring bike, Great Wall says you get storage cases. The side cases hold 118L each. Some of these functions are carried out through a dial just behind the handlebars. Safety systems include a collision warning system and a blind spot monitoring system.
Great Wall Souo is thus far quiet on exact pricing, sales markets, and the engine’s output. That said, the company expects to get the first S 2000 STs on the road in China soon.
Honestly, I haven’t stopped laughing since I started writing this. Some might say that Great Wall is copying Honda, but I’d say they were more inspired by the likes of Ferdinand Piëch. It seems the theme of this motorcycle is “more is more,” which is exactly how Volkswagen used to be. This motorcycle has a bigger engine than a Gold Wing with a bigger screen and a substantially bigger body. Great Wall’s strategy to beat Honda seems to be “go bigger,” which is just silly when you’re talking about motorcycles.
Maybe I’m a masochist, but I’d love to see maybe just one of these come to America just so I could see what riding a two-wheeled tank would be like. At the very least, that engine sounds pretty awesome. I’m already thinking about the other vehicles I’d love to see it put into. An H8 Golf GTI, anyone?
Images: Great Wall Motor
We already have a better version of this, the legendary Boss Hoss V8.
It’s actually way easier to ride than you’d expect, it was designed by a first time rider and built to be user-friendly! See if you can find one to ride Mercedes, you’d love it.