Journey/touring enduro bikes aren’t frequent in cross-country rallies as a result of their weight and dimension, however that doesn’t imply such marques don’t preserve rally programmes anyway like Yamaha and Harley-Davidson. The GR500 is the newest bike to throw its hat into the rally ring when Vasily Glukhov and Andrey Ryaboshkapov accomplished the Baja Kagan’s Gold in April.
Developed by Chinese language producer Chongqing Zongwo Automobile Trade Co., the GR500 is an journey bike impressed by the Honda Africa Twin, a dual-sport motorbike primarily based on the Honda NXR line that loved success on the Paris–Dakar Rally within the Nineteen Eighties. It incorporates a 500cc twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled four-stroke engine from Loncin Motor Co. that’s modelled after what’s used within the Honda CB500X and powered by Bosch gasoline injection from Bosch and a six-speed guide transmission.
It sports activities two gasoline tanks totalling 39 litres for a genral vary of as much as 900 kilometres. SZC gives a 41-millimetre telescopic fork suspension on the entrance with 200 mm of journey, whereas the central shocks on the rear journey 150 mm. For the race, Glukhov and Ryaboshkapov had wheels from Borilli Off Highway Tire.
The bikes had been ready by Rolling Moto for Kagan’s Gold, the opening spherical of the Russian Rally-Raid Championship‘s motorbike facet. The one modification made to accommodate the rally circumstances was changing the windshield with a navigation tower for the roadbook.
After a thousand kilometres of testing, the race started 20 April with Glukhov ending fourth. He and Ryaboshkapov typically stayed out of hassle all through the rally save for a tyre puncture for Glukhov through the first leg and a wheel drawback for Ryaboshkapov the following day. In any other case, they managed to achieve the end with Glukhov in fourth.
“I’m ready for this GR500 to collapse, for the suspension to piss itself or for the engine to catch a seize up,” wrote Ryaboshkapov after the second leg, “however to my DEEP shock (and just a little incomprehension), it retains going…”
Rally raid bikes are often capped at 450cc for engine displacement, although extra highly effective fashions are additionally rising in reputation. For 2024, the FIM Bajas World Cup launched a Path class to let 600cc twin-cylinder bikes participate.
