The other day, I met Teacher Hu and talked about the domestic motorcycle engine, and he told me a real thing:
A domestic motorcycle factory, once a leading enterprise in the field of motocross, bought a complete set of technical drawings of a foreign 250 off-road vehicle a few years ago, ready to produce this car in China, but just did the sample car The project ended. Later, it was learned that the factory made a significant gap between the incoming car and the prototype car, and neither the performance nor the reliability could reach the design goal of the prototype car.
This thing is not far away, it is a matter of several years.
Those who have played off-road vehicles are probably aware of the difference between domestic 250 off-road vehicles and imported off-road vehicles; the frame suspension is not to mention, the light engine, whether it is weight, power or reliability, is far from the same. At present, so many off-road vehicle manufacturers in China basically still rely on the NC/NT engine of Zongshen Power, which is already the best off-road vehicle engine in China, and the NC engine has been a small decade since its launch.
In a decade, our racing single-cylinder engine has not made much of a breakthrough. In the past ten years, the domestic four-cylinder engine, which is still reliable, also has Qianjiang's four-cylinder engine, and the gap between this four-cylinder engine and the Japanese four-cylinder is also well known.
On January 26th, Kaiyue's four-cylinder ignition - Kaiyue also became the hottest brand at the end of the year - there are optimistic, questionable, encouraging, and eating melons. Of course, since the birth of the Kaiyue brand, there has been no less topic.
Kaiyue did this thing of four cylinders, I knew in June 21, I was very surprised at that time, because the 800 twin-cylinder car has not yet landed, the engine has not been tested by the market, and the strength of the Kaiyue engine is not clear, so the 4-cylinder 400 project really feels incredible.
At that time, I asked the relevant person in charge of Kaiyue a question: Can the current supporting level in China support this project? The other party gave me a positive answer, saying that I had found high-quality supporting resources.
Legend has it that Kaiyue made this four-cylinder in half a year, and as far as I know, this project began to be studied shortly after the 800 twin-cylinder project was established. But even so, it took more than a year to get this engine out and successfully ignite it, which is indeed very fast.
Many people say that Kaiyue's four-cylinder engine hit the face of many big manufacturers, and some people say that Kaiyue got the engine out so quickly and has such strong performance, I am afraid that the joke will be seen later.
I asked Mr. Hu about his views on the Kaiyue four-cylinder, and Lao Hu said: If you look at it purely from a technical point of view, it is impossible to reach the level of Japanese high-performance engines; if you only look at the daily use of consumers, it is possible to succeed in time, but the process will not be so optimistic.
Teacher Hu's views may pour cold water on many optimistic supporters, and you may ask, what qualifications does this old Hu have to evaluate. Teacher Hu is a senior media in the motorcycle industry, skilled in the development history of motorcycle technology at home and abroad, a number of family treasures for the technical path of the world's motorcycles, and a clear understanding of domestic OEMs and supporting standards. Therefore, I agree with his judgment.
For Kaiyue, for Zhang Xue, on the one hand, I am very much in agreement with their fighting spirit of daring to think and dare to do, Zhang Xue's dedication and specialization to motorcycles is also quite admirable to me, on the other hand, I often pour cold water on them, the idea can be very bold, the bull can also be blown at will, but still have to follow the principles of the scientific system, can not be quick to make quick gains, rather than be scolded on the progress slowly, nor can I "wipe my ass" in a hurry, I would rather be conservative in performance and stable and reliable in product quality.
Fortunately, we have seen that Kaiyue's team has been growing, from dozens of people to 100 people, to more than 300 people now, the original small workshop has also been small scale; we also see Kaiyue recruiting talents, hiring a number of technical backbones, rewarding one BMW last year, and rewarding two vehicles this year, which is not a show, but a real technical incentive to pay.
As I said in the article before, it is somewhat irrational to invest in the large-displacement engine and four-cylinder engine project with the current volume of Kaiyue, because Kaiyue's current product line is still small in terms of total sales, and the engine needs continuous investment, and it is not a small number, and it is precisely because of Kaiyue's irrationality that it is admirable and makes the industry look sideways.
Emotionally, we all hope that domestic brands can come up with high-level engines, especially four-cylinder engines, on the one hand, four-cylinder is the complex of most people, on the other hand, high-performance four-cylinder engines do represent the level of a country's motorcycle industry. From the objective reality, we should also clearly understand that the overall level of China's motorcycle industry is not able to cross the distance of decades by relying on a passion, and this gap cannot be bridged overnight.
Qianjiang spent ten years to make the 600 four-cylinder relatively stable, but it was still criticized for the double ECU, weight and performance; although Benda's four-cylinder 700 has recently begun to be delivered, the early delay is more or less related to the engine.
My hope for the Kaiyue four cylinder is that it does not need so good performance parameters, and it is okay to do it more ordinaryly, and the performance is worse, as long as the reliability is not a problem, the running quality is good, and the fuel economy is better. As for the debut of 400RR in 2022, I don't think there is so much need to be in a hurry, it doesn't matter if it is a year and a half late, slowly polishing, the vitality of good things will be very long, not in a hurry.
However, that 250MX can be listed early, the domestic 250 off-road vehicle is mature and reliable, there will be no big problems in the product, the performance is more rational, will not ask too much, everyone wants to be able to get on the card, reduce the threshold of off-road entry.