Benda BD700 nearing production

WE first covered the Benda BD700 cruiser back in April this year after some grainy teaser images showed the outline of the new machine.

Now it looks as though the machine is edging closer to full production as these detailed patent images from China seem to show a fairly complete production version of the machine.

The bike is something of a revolution from the Chinese motorcycle industry, in that the bike uses an inline four-cylinder engine, something of an oddity in the current Chinese motorcycle landscape, For the most part, bikes built in China use parallel twin-cylinder engines of triples, like seen in the QJ-built Benelli machines. The only current inline four-cylinder unit to come out of China is QJ-built inline-four seen in the Benelli 600cc naked.

The Benda though sees the four-cylinder configuration used in a cruiser type motorcycle, an oddity in itself for any global motorcycle builder.

The unit itself if visually similar to that of the Honda CB650R’s engine, with comparable looking casings, barrels and rocker covers in use.

One major change from the teaser image we showed back in April is the location of the radiator, which on the original image wasn’t visible, giving us a nice view of what looked like a four-into-one exhaust system. The latest patent images show the completed bike featuring a large radiator located in the conventional place behind the front wheel. As such, the handsome looking exhausts are now covered from view.

The rest of the bikes styling queues are fairly easy to identify, with some obvious influences in the bike’s stance being taken from Ducati’s Diavel and XDiavel machines. One element of the Ducati that Benda have not borrowed is the trellis frame, instead, they have opted for a cast item that supports the engine, steering head, and seat. The forward-mounted controls and swept-back handlebars give the appearance of a fairly comfortable machine to ride, although as with most bikes with forward controls, ground clearance may be an issue!

When might the Benda BD700 be launched?

With no official word on the launch of the machine, the latest images seem to point to a motorcycle that is fairly close to hitting the road for the first time. While a 2020 launch would be exciting, it’s likely the builders will hold back on an official event until 2021, hopefully ensuring that COVID-19 can’t have a negative impact on the launch of what could be China’s most interesting new motorcycle to date.