Rapidly-growing Chinese brand has type-approved another three intriguing machines
It’s all but impossible to keep up with the speed at which China’s QJMotor brand is launching new bikes – it’s already got a range of over 140 models on its website only five years after unveiling its first bike – and even more have been leaked in the latest batch of Chinese type-approval documents to be published.
These include a heavily revised version of the SRK800RR that currently competes in World Supersport racing, a huge 700cc scooter with a manual transmission, and a production version of the shelved MV Agusta Lucky Explorer 5.5 that was developed with the help of QJMotor’s parent company back in 2021.
The updated SRK800RR features revised styling including all-new bodywork, different headlights, a new fuel tank and a slimmer tail compared to the existing version, and it uses the aluminium beam frame that’s currently offered as an optional extra on the Chinese-market SRK800RR, replacing the pressed steel design of the standard bike.
The approval document shows that its 778cc four-cylinder engine is essentially unchanged, with the same 92kW as the current model, while weight rises by 3kg to 205kg wet – perhaps an indication of a larger fuel capacity, as the bikes are measured with their tanks full. The 1410mm wheelbase is unchanged, as is the claimed top speed of 260km/h.
Second, we have a massive scooter, finished in Gresini-style colours, which might look familiar as it’s identical to the Italjet Dragster 700 that was shown at EICMA last year. Rather than being a copy, it looks like QJMotor’s parent company, Qianjiang, may be behind the Italjet-branded model, as the engine is the Chinese company’s existing 693cc parallel twin that’s already offered in a broad array of bikes under the QJMotor and Benelli brands. Putting out 56kW, it’s tied to a conventional six-speed transmission, so this isn’t a twist-and-go automatic scooter but a real motorcycle that just looks like a scooter thanks to 15-inch wheels front and rear. An ultra-long, 1550mm wheelbase means the engine is positioned under the seat rather than between the rider’s legs. It’s likely that the bike will be Qianjiang-made and offered under the Italjet brand, although a QJMotor-badged version could appear on some markets.
Finally, there’s the machine badged ‘ADV600’ on its sides, which is essentially identical to the 2021 MV Agusta Lucky Explorer 5.5 concept bike. That concept was developed as a joint effort between MV and Qianjiang, using mechanicals from the QJMotor SRT550 but wrapped in styling shared with the three-cylinder MV Lucky Explorer 9.5, which has since reached production as the MV Agusta LXP. MV dropped the smaller, Chinese-made version from its plans after KTM took a stake in the company, but it reappeared at last year’s EICMA show under another guise as the Rieju Xplora 557, using the same 554cc twin used by the Lucky Explorer 5.5 and QJMotor SRK550, and the Xplora 707 with Qianjiang’s larger, 693cc twin, as seen in the Benelli TRK702 and QJMotor SRT700.
The new approvals, and particularly the 700cc scooter and ‘ADV600’, show that Qianjiang is forging ahead with a growing number of cooperations with other brands, essentially using its manufacturing expertise, components and powertrains to build bikes that can be sold under different names around the globe, while still forging ahead with the growth of its own QJMotor range of models sharing many of the same elements.
