Upcoming V4 superbike contender sculpted in Pininfarina’s engineering facility
We’re getting ever closer to the full release of China’s first clean-sheet-designed, V4-powered superbike and with every new drip of information it looks like CFMoto’s V4SR-RR will be a genuine contender in the upper echelons of motorcycling performance.
The latest is a brief video from the company depicting a prototype undergoing wind tunnel testing at Pininfarina’s facility near Turin, Italy. It shows the bike undergoing tests both in a straight line and banked over, with a dummy onboard to reflect the rider’s influence on the airflow.
It’s particularly important for the V4SR-RR, not only because it’s expected to be CFMoto’s contender in the World Superbike championship in the near future, but also because it’s at the forefront of a new breed of motorcycles with active aerodynamics in the form of large, movable winglets either side of the nose. While the new video doesn’t show those wings in action, it’s clear that the moving mechanism that was displayed on the prototype that debuted at EICMA last November has been retained. In theory, the ability to move the wings on each side independently has the potential to help the bike tip into corners, to increase downforce and to divert airflow to help pull the front into corners.
The Pininfarina wind tunnel already has a special place in motorcycling history. It’s where, in 1975, BMW developed the prototype that would become the 1977 R100RS as the world’s first mass-produced, roadgoing motorcycle to feature a full, fixed fairing in the pursuit of reduced drag and improved rider comfort.
CFMoto is expected to launch the final version of the V4SR-RR in the latter part of this year, probably either at September’s CIMA show in China or at November’s EICMA event in Milan. The brand is also believed to be actively pursuing an entry to the WSBK series, possibly as soon as 2027, with the new bike. Recently the company demonstrated a prototype hitting a top speed in excess of 315km/h at the Shangrao Proving Ground to become the fastest Chinese-made motorcycle yet.
