Zongshen and Norton to build the next small Aprilia adventure bike?

Michelle Liew

April 20, 2020

Will we be able to see a new bike this year?

Zongshen | Photo credits: Motopinas

Chinese motorcycle manufacturer, Zongshen, will be building the next small Aprilia adventure bike. The brand has entered into an agreement with Norton Motorcycles UK Limited for a 650cc engine.

Based in Chongqing, China, the manufacturer was founded in 1992 and has since come out with a plethora of motorcycles, including quad bikes, generators and also engines. According to Motopinas, before Norton became insolvent and was acquired by TVS, the company had signed a design and license agreement with Zongshen. The agreement was to develop a 650cc twin-cylinder engine. The engine was jointly engineered and developed in 2017 by Norton and Ricardo, an Italian design and consultancy firm.

“Norton and Zongshen have entered into a 20-year Design and License agreement over an all-new 650cc twin engine. The 650cc engine has been specifically designed to the requirements of Zongshen and will be Euro 4 compliant. This enables Zongshen to meet current and future emissions regulations, clearly an important step for Zongshen and enables them to continue their phenomenal growth in the global motorcycle market,” says Norton via press release.

Zongshen rolled out its new 650cc motorcycles at the 17th annual China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition in Chongqing last year. The new models are namely the Cyclone RK6 and the Cyclone RX6. The RK6 is a tourer and the RX6 is an adventure bike. The new bikes might enter production later this year to become 2021 models.