Yet another large capacity Chinese cruiser breaks cover
The Bashan brand has been around for a couple of decades as one of the many Chinese companies churning out small-capacity single-cylinder bike but the company’s latest type-approval application shows a completely different animal: a 1200cc V-twin bobber built around Shineray’s Harley Sportster clone engine.
Shineray, which owns Italian brand SWM, introduced its air-cooled 1200cc engine soon after Harley-Davidson dropped the Sportster 1200 from its range. It’s visually near-identical to the H-D motor and shares the same 88.9mm bore and 96.8mm stroke, as well as similar power and torque figures. It’s currently offered in the SWM Stormbreaker 1200, itself a Sportster-alike, but the same powertrain now appears to be destined for the upcoming Bashan BS1200-G that’s seen here.
The Chinese type-approval document that confirms the bike’s existence shows that the engine is made by Shineray, so it’s not an separate clone, and quotes the same 45kW output that’s seen in the SWM Stormbreaker 1200. That’s much the same performance that you’d get from an old Sportster 1200. The rest of the bike is made by Bashan in Chongqing, and details revealed in the approval include a curb weight of 245kg, a top speed of just 120km/h – probably more than enough for most riders given that this appears to be a real hardtail with no back suspension at all, simply a sprung saddle, and a springer front end that’s unlikely to have much in the way of travel or damping.
The suspension might be archaic but there are some concessions to modernity in the brakes, which uses discs front and rear, each with ABS, while the headlight is an LED unit with built-in DRLs. Both wheels are 16-inch wires, with vintage-style, imperial-sized 5.00-16 tyres at each end.
If the BS1200-G ever gets exported, it’s likely to appear on international markets under a different name, something that’s happened in the past when importers have bought the brand’s bikes and then sold them under their own titles. Could it be a success? We’ve seen copies like Changjiang’s BMW R71 boxer clones gain a cult following in the past, so it’s not impossible to imagine cheap, Chinese bobber with some H-D DNA appealing to some.
