Great Wall’s 8-Cylinder Souo Motorcycle Is Flat-Out Crazy, But Also Kind Of Brilliant

What the hell is a flat-8 engine doing in a touring bike, and why is it being produced in a country that doesn’t allow motorcycles on many of its highways? Well, Great Wall’s new motorcycle sub-brand, Souo, has a clever—or bizarre, depending on how you view it—answer to those questions.

The Chinese brand revealed its flagship luxury touring bike at the Beijing International Motorcycle Exhibition earlier today, and it’s powered by the only 2.0-liter flat-8 motorcycle engine in the world right now.

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Unfortunately, Great Wall hasn’t released performance specs for the engine yet, but flat engines are preferred in big bikes (hello BMW) because they keep the center of gravity low, offer better stability, and are easier to lift up. This is an 882-pound (400 kg) bike, after all.

This gargantuan (for a bike) engine is hooked up to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. It’s said to have been designed to make it easier for riders to take off from a stop, and adds to the luxurious riding experience when the rider is on the open road.

Speaking of luxury, the Souo touring bike comes with a heated seat, a windshield that rises at the touch of a button, blind spot monitoring, and a 12.3-inch touchscreen powered by an automotive-grade 8155 chip with over-the-air update support, and voice control.

Surprisingly, the wildest thing about this bike is not the engine, but that it comes from China, where motorcycles aren’t allowed on many highways, and where they are permitted, are normally limited to 50 mph (80 km/h). As a result, it only really has two domestic competitors, both of which are powered by comparatively smaller 1.2-liter engines.

That means this is a massive bike with a weird engine produced in a country where the riders can’t really or always use its full potential. So why make it? At the presentation for the motorcycle, Great Wall’s chairman, Wei Jianjun, said that he just loves bikes, and this was a passion project for him.

While that’s cool, there may also be a business argument for the Souo touring bike, which can be interpreted as the motorcycle equivalent to the Bugatti Veyron. VW chairman Ferdinand Piech commissioned that car, which features a massive (and weird) engine, and has more performance than anyone can really use on a day-to-day basis. But it also got a lot of attention for Bugatti and became one of the all-time bedroom wall poster cars.

Gaining attention and establishing engineering credibility is particularly crucial for Great Wall as it endeavors to penetrate the motorcycle segment, largely dominated by a few Japanese brands. The Chinese brand appears to have strategized that a significant technological showcase could boost its brand recognition. If it manages to appeal to some Honda Goldwing (and BMW) customers, all the better.