CFmoto: the road SR-C21 will be made. Is there also a sports naked bike?

Among the most admired motorcycles of Eicma 2021 there was undoubtedly the CFmoto SR-C21 Vision Concept, a prototype of a faired hypersport that the Italian importer Padana Sviluppo brought to Milan to act as an avant-garde for the next developments (stylistic and not only). of the Chinese brand. The Hangzhou-based company, which recently also landed on the Italian market with an entire range of motorcycles, did not want to disclose the technical data of what seems to represent the bridgehead of Chinese manufacturers in the high-performance super sports car sector, but there is what to be confident about, at least as regards its production future: a series version of the prototype seen at Eicma, in fact, is in the pipeline. And with her also a sporty nude, which will be derived from the road version of the SR-C21.

SPORTY COMING

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Precisely during the Milan show, CFmoto unveiled its product plan for the two-year period 2022-2023. In addition to the enlargement of the CL and MT ranges, in the medium-term programs of the Chinese company, there are also two sports cars that in the official infographic issued to Eicma are generically indicated under the generic heading New Racing Bike. Although in the image there is no specific reference to the SR-C21 and the information in this regard is rather confusing, Carles Solsona, a Spanish designer (but transplanted in Italy), who with his Rimini studio Modena 40 was the one to unravel the problem. became the number 1 of the R&D department of the Hangzhou house. In an interview with Official Motors – the full version shortly in line – Solsona has clarified that one of the two sports cars that CFmoto will launch in the next two years is the production version of the prototype seen at Eicma.

TWO VERSIONS

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Obviously, compared to the show bike equipped with Ohlins suspension, Brembo braking system and authentic Superbike components, it is appropriate to expect a reasonable downgrade in terms of components, in order to contain the price and make the Chinese hypersport a competitive product even under the economic profile: “The intention is absolutely to translate this concept into a series product. One of the two sports cars planned for the two-year period 2022-2023 will be derived from the SR-C21, even if it will not be called that – explained the designer – On the prototype we wanted to exaggerate, but many components are already practically definitive, starting from the chassis and the dashboard which basically are already pre-series. refined “.

AVERAGE DISPLACEMENT

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When in mid-October CFmoto unveiled the images of the SR-C21 Vision Concept on its social channels, many speculations were made regarding its technical characteristics. There was talk of a V2 of Ktm origin, the LC8 derived from the “old” 990 that CFmoto mounts on the 1250 TR-G tourer, but also of the 790 parallel twin that the Chinese brand uses on the 800 MT. Others have scaled back expectations, predicting that underneath the muscles of the concept there is actually a smaller engine, a unit of less than 500 cc of displacement. Unfortunately, Eicma did not reserve any news in this sense, with the representatives of CFmoto who in Milan remained buttoned up to say the least about the technical data sheet. Why? “We wanted to focus on design – explained Solsona – We didn’t want to divert attention from the stylistic dimension, although I can assure you that the SR-C21 will raise our stem also from a technical point of view. It is a bike that should be seen a bit like a declaration of intent, a stylistic and technological laboratory but also a sort of flag of the company and its philosophy. The displacement? At the moment I can only say that with the production version of the SR-C21 the SR family will expand towards the high, towards the medium-displacement segment “.

THE NAKED ARRIVES

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The few clues available (and also how much “peeked” at Eicma, assuming it is to be considered indicative) therefore lead us to bet on an engine between 500 and 800 cc: the 790 of Ktm origin therefore remains one of the candidates papabili, even if the feeling is that the estimate regarding the airspace is to be corrected downwards. The arrival of an unprecedented engine cannot be excluded either, but both in Hangzhou and in Rimini the mouths are well sewn and therefore we are in the field of pure speculation. In any case, everything suggests that the new born will in any case enter the lively segment of sporty midsize, a market niche in which motorcycles such as Yamaha R7 and Aprilia RS 660 currently compete. And, just like the two rivals of Iwata and Noale, even the Chinese sports car could soon be joined by a sister without fairings and equipped with high handlebars. In practice, a baby-supernaked derived from the SR-C21, perhaps the New NK that the product plan foresees for 2023: this was precisely one of the inputs that prompted CFmoto and Modena 40 to work on the prototype of a sports car. “We want to make motorbikes with the right criteria – says Solsona – And to create a sports naked the most logical and rational thing to do is to start with a sporty fairing, undressing it. As design director, I pushed hard to follow this path canon “. “Yes, we are working on a sporty nude – he then admitted without hesitation – But first we want to have an adequate technical basis, a chassis that is up to the result we want to achieve: in this sense the SR-C21 is our laboratory”.