New brand started by Kove founder makes European debut

There are more than 200 individual motorcycle companies in China, creating products that dominate more than 55 percent of the global market in the form of roughly 37 million units a year. Keeping track of all those can be challenging, but here’s a name that we think will be worth keeping an eye on: ZXMOTO.

The brand was launched late last year, did the standard Chinese ‘run before you can walk’ thing of going through several names (including ZXJC and Zhang Xue Moto), and only made its European debut last week at EICMA.

Yes, a number of its products follow the long-standing Chinese manufacturing trend of being derivative. The brand’s 500F naked motorcycle, for example, couldn’t look more like a 1970s/80s Honda even if it was made by Honda. But we think there’s reason to pay attention to ZXMOTO – due in no small part to the man whose initials give the brand its name: Zhang Xue.

A fascinating backstory

You may or may not recognise Zhang Xue’s name. Off-road enthusiasts are probably a little more familiar with him.

“Yeah, I was the founder of Kove and its CEO,” Zhang told media and attendees last week at ZXMOTO’s EICMA presentation.

Zhang, an off-road enthusiast from childhood, started Kove with five other investors in 2017 and served as the charismatic face of the company as it grew exponentially. These days, it boasts on its website that it is “the No. 4 domestic motorcycle brand in China for models over 300cc.”

What you won’t find on Kove’s website is any mention of Zhang. According to him, Kove achieved a certain level of success, but there was disagreement among shareholders (presumably about future direction), and “then I’m fired as CEO.”

This part of the story had not been told before last week’s EICMA event. All we knew is that Zhang had left rather abruptly and that he popped up a few months later as the founder of a new company.

According to Zhang, he was initially kept on as director of R&D for Kove, “but when there was no right to define the product, I chose to leave the company.”

It's the nature of corporations – Chinese corporations in particular – that the full story of a given action or sequence of events rarely gets told. But clearly there was some bad blood and Zhang left with a chip on his shoulder. 

“I have complete control of this company,” he stated, before turning to a presentation chart showing that ZXMOTO’s first product on the market, the 500RR sportbike, has spent the last year rapidly moving up sales charts in China. 

“I use my initials in the company logo… that means that our brand and my life are bundled together,” Zhang said. “I’m ready to spend the rest of my life taking ZXMOTO to a very high level.”

Nine models coming in 2026

“From the racetrack to the wild, every ZXMOTO motorcycle embodies precision engineering, racing heritage, and a fearless pursuit of performance,” claims a media release from the company. “[The brand is] a true reflection of Zhang Xue’s belief that great machines are born from passion, refined through engineering, and proven on the road.”

A number of details remain unknown at this point – such as whether any of these bikes will make their way to the UK in particular – but Zhang says that all of the following models will be coming to the European market in 2026:

500RR – This is the machine that has already proven to be wildly popular in China, with ZXMOTO claiming to have sold more than 10,000 units there since March. Driven by an inline four, the midsize sportbike is “crafted for riders who crave speed, precision, and the adrenaline rush.” Boasting 83 hp, the 168kg bike claims a top speed of 146 mph.

500F – Almost indistinguishable from Honda’s recently announced CB500 Speed Four, the 500F claims to be a “rebirth of the classic naked bike, blending the elegant silhouette of 1980s/1990s UJMs with [modern] performance.” It uses the same inline four as the 500RR but has been detuned to 73 hp for the sake of delivering more torque earlier in the rev range.

820RR – Powered by an 819cc three-cylinder engine that ZXMOTO says was “100-percent developed in-house,” the 820RR claims 133 hp and is ”engineered for unparalleled power and torque delivery in its class.” 

ZXMOTO has also developed a race-focused 820RR-R (more on that below) which it says can outgun a Yamaha R1, Ducati Panigale V2, and Kawasaki ZX6R in terms of 20-120km/h acceleration. Peak power on this one is 143 hp. And the limited-edition 820RR-RS claims 147 hp.

Zhang spent a lot of time talking about the 820RR/820RR-R/820RR-RS in his presentation, and one aspect that stood out to us was the pride he took in how easy the bike is to work on. Apparently you don’t need tools to change the air filter. That’s better than my Kawasaki, which requires that you remove the fairing, lift the tank, and fiddle with multiple screws.

820R – Effectively a naked version of the 820RR, the 820R is pitched as “a lightweight triple-cylinder streetfighter that balances agility with comfort.” The bike is more focused on low- to mid-rpm performance, according to Zhang, and as such very much a street-focused machine.

820ADV – Built around the same triple that powers the other 820 bikes, the 820ADV joins the very, very crowded adventure bike class with a machine that is more adventure-touring than old-school dual-sport adventure.

“It takes into account daily motorcycle travel,” Zhang explained. “However, it also has certain off-road functions. And it’s very, very electronic.”

As is common amongst Chinese ADVs, it has an impressive suite of rider aids, including cornering ABS and traction control, bidirectional quickshifter, adaptive cruise control, electronically adjustable suspension, front and rear cameras, and a few features that we’re not certain about, including an “electronic clutch” (like Honda’s E-Clutch, perhaps?), an “electronic lock” and an “electronic throttle.”

MX250 / MX450 – Moving more to Zhang’s traditional bread and butter, these two motocross bikes are “built for professional performance,” according to ZXMOTO. “From power delivery to suspension tuning, every element is engineered for victory on the toughest tracks.”

450 Rally – Carrying forward the off-roading theme, Zhang has a lot of experience in Dakar. He was the driving force behind Kove’s surprising and admirable Dakar efforts from 2022-2025. ZXMOTO says that the 450 Rally comes from the same engineering team behind those efforts (So, it wasn’t just Zhang who left Kove?), and that “it embodies pure competitive DNA, with every component tuned for one goal: to conquer and win.”

That said, Zhang says ZXMOTO won’t be going to Dakar in 2026. He wants the focus first on achieving success with the 820RR-R in WorldSSP (World Supersport), after that the goal is to return to Dakar and win the thing outright.

600V Cruiser – Finally, there is, of course, a cruiser. But with a claimed wet weight of 179 kg, ZXMOTO’s 600V definitely stands out against far heavier competitors. Also unique to the middleweight cruiser class is the presence of rear cylinder deactivation.

Big ambitions

You’d think that delivering a full line-up in such a short period of time would be enough, but Zhang has very big aims. For example: as mentioned above, ZXMOTO says that it plans to pit its bikes against the best in global competition. The 820RR-R is going to be competing in the WorldSSP championship in 2026 through a partnership with the Evan Bros Racing Team. The team will initially consist of riders Federico Caricasulo and Valentin Debise.

On top of that, ZXMOTO says it is working on developing two enduro models: the ZX300 and ZX350. Both apparently two-strokes.

AND, the company says it is hard at work at perfecting a 1000cc boxer twin-cylinder engine, set to appear in bikes as soon as 2027.

“At ZXMOTO, we aim not just to replicate past success but to exceed it,” said Zhang “Our philosophy is simple: let technology drive performance, and let passion guide every machine we create.”

Literal red flags

Now, if you’re one for conspiracy theories you might observe that elements of the Chinese flag feature prominently on a number of bikes, such as the 820RR-R. It stands out a little because we’re used to many Chinese manufacturers hiding or at least blurring their national connections. 

But flying the flag of your country isn’t suspicious in and of itself. Pretty much every brand with even a tenuous connection to the UK slaps a Union flag on its products. Ducati is very happy to adorn its models with the Italian il Tricolore. Japanese manufacturers have done similar things over the years, too.

But how does a company that started so recently come up with all the money and resources to develop nine new models – including at least one that was “100-percent developed in-house” – rocket toward the top of domestic sales, and turn its attention to the lucrative European market all in the space of roughly a year?

Who’s behind all that money and resource? Does that money and resource even actually exist?

“The optimist's take could be that Zhang is the overly passionate mad genius type of guy that’s just doing all this crazy stuff… with unending amounts of money somehow,” observed Logan of the YammieNoob YouTube channel. “Or it could be another grift.”

ZXMOTO seems to be alert to this sort of scepticism. To this end, at his EICMA presentation Zhang addressed something you don’t often hear much about from Chinese manufacturers: after-sales.

“We have learned that not everyone is happy with the efficiency of aftersales service,” he said. “So, we have come up with a five-point plan.”

That plan includes:

• A Europe-based parts warehouse that can deliver to European dealers within three days. No more waiting a fortnight for an alternator to show up.
• Ensuring that dealers keep a good stock of common spare parts, such as brake and clutch levers.
• A warranty that’s on par with “top tier brands” (though Zhang did not actually say how long the warranty would be).
• Guaranteed times on repairs. “For example, a shock absorber breaks,” explained Zhang. “If it is not replaced within [the promised amount of time], then we will compensate the rider for every day that we exceed that time – even to the point of the repair being free of charge.”
• Lastly, Zhang says he will be hosting a weekly live broadcast. Within that, there will be an opportunity to directly address issues to the company CEO. “That is, myself,” said Zhang. “Then I will follow up on it myself.” 

Certainly it all sounds good, and, again embracing the optimist’s view, it may be that Zhang is doing all this to shake off the negative or uncertain impressions that many Western riders have about Chinese motorcycles. At the end of his presentation, Zhang spoke very proudly of the concept of ‘Made in China.’

Only time will tell what actually comes of all this. But as we say, ZXMOTO has our attention. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on what it manages to deliver.

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