Where is Maxtra Racing’s MotoGP Bike?
Haojue / Maxtra Racing 125cc MotoGP Bike
One month until Qatar MotoGP opener. Anyone notice Maxtra Racing’s website is password protected? It has been that way for a few weeks. No email updates from Maxtra lately. The most recent email update was February 15 2009, about 1 month ago. In December and January we were getting emails every few weeks. I was looking forward to seeing China’s first entry into MotoGP, I hope all is good with progress on the 125cc two stroke machine.
Want To Buy a Maxtra 125cc GP Racer?
Looks like the team at Maxtra Racing is considering a production version of their 125cc MotoGP race bike. Chinese company Haojue has teamed up with racing legends John Sutrees, Gary Taylor and others to build a motorcycle from the ground up and race it in the 125cc class of motoGP. Obviously the project is generating a lot of interest for the Maxtra brand.
This is a drastic departure from most Chinese motorcycle manufactures approach to entering markets outside of China. While Zongshen and Lifan aim at low cost, low cc market Haojue decided to shoot for the elite segment of one off race motorcycles and work backwards from there. So far it was a good call. The Maxtra name will be associated with racing before it ever reaches showroom floors. An image of quality will be baked in to the name.
So when can I buy a Maxtra?
2008 Shineray XY250GY Motorcross
Image Credit: MyChinaMoto.com
This may be the coolest display I have ever seen at a motorcycle show. The 2008 Shineray XY250GY with all it’s parts suspended as if it just exploded. The XY250GY also looks great put together. In fact, I would not be surprised if this motorcycle changed the way Americans look at Chinese motorcycles. It has the looks and the specs. The price is good. If the quality is close this may be a winner.
Check out MyChinaMoto.com for more information. While your there be sure to scroll down and check out the Shineray XY200GY-7. It is a dualsport with big racks, front and back, and a 5 gallon tank. It has a nice utility look to it. The wave rotor on the front looks a little out of place but I will let that slide. Besides MyChinaMoto, check out Shineray Owners Forum to get more information from Shineray owners.
Asiawing 2008 Lineup
Asiawing recently redesigned their website and has some details on new models. Their home page claims 2008 will bring some large capacity motorcycles to the market. At the time of writing this there were still some dead links so it looks to be a work in progress.
The site shows the Spark 500 single cylinder street bike. The picture is an artists sketch which makes it hard to believe it will be available this year. The bike has high handle bars, inverted forks, dual front disk brakes, a stacked halogen headlight and futuristic styling. It has a dry weight of 368 lbs. This bike looks to have a lot of great features and not many models to compete against it.
A 450cc aluminum framed dirtbike is also displayed. There are no details on the bike, only a thumbnail picture that looks a lot like a Honda cr450X. I will have to keep checking back to see if they post anymore information.
Finnaly, Asiawing’s site displays a UTV and an ATV powered by 500cc engines. Again, only small thumbnails are displayed. No model names. Bummer.
I will keep everyone posted on any more information I can find. If anyone has any more information on these machines please leave a comment below.
Soruce: Asiawing
Vento Announces 400cc Triple for 2008
Vento announced development of a 3 cylinder, air/oil cooled 400cc engine that marks a departure from importing their engines from China. It will appear in 2008 model ATV’s and Motorcycles. The idea is to create a versatile engine that can be used in many motorcycles and to have greater control of its quality and power characteristics.
This news is a double edged sword for Vento. In a way it acknowledges engine quality is lacking in bikes they currently sell. This is not a huge deal and probably wont’ have a big impact on sales. It does set them apart from American importers who simply rebadge inexpensive motorcycles from China, Korea or Taiwan. It is great to see they went with a unique engine configuration. This combined with its versatility and compact design should give them a lot of options for unique models.
The Kneeslider mentions Bienville Studios is the design team involved in creating the engine. These are the same guys who designed the Confederate Hellcat and Wraith. Sketches of prototype Ventos place the rear shock under the engine displaying how compact the design really is. I am excited to see what Vento releases in 2008.
