I have never been a fan of numbers, and had a serious issue with statistics, but the old saying is that numbers don't lie. I this matter, numbers state that cruiser motorcycle sales are in decline and that the average buyer is more likely to look at the adventure and naked bike segment. Mainstream OEMs, excluding the American v-twin brothers, namely: Harley-Davidson and Indian, have practically stopped development of cruiser motorcycles. New BMW R18 is an exception that confirms the rule. It is not that they do not produce any, they do, but most of them have not had a update in years and the ones that have, kept it minor.
It comes as a surprise to me that the manufacturers from the eastern hemisphere are actually going in this direction, and have a very different approach. Bold looks, smaller displacement and low price seem to be the mantra. We have seen in recent times the Benelli coming out with the 502c, and Royal Enfield extensively testing their 650 twin cruiser/bobber. Do they know something we don't?
And now we have Benda, to the rest of the world quite unknown brand, coming out with a very bold looking, at least from the renders - very well thought out and designed middle weight cruiser. Benda BD700 has low seat height, very powerful stance, fat 310mm-wide rear tire, and looks as an overall well proportioned motorcycle. The oddball here is that it utilizes and inline-4 engine which seems to be largely based in the Honda 650 mill with increased stroke that pushes it up to almost 700cc. It should push out around 97hp, and the top speed will probably be electronically limited to 180km/h. It has a turbine-like headlight which acts as ram-air, and from what we can see in the renders, it is a production-ready design.
Chances are though, that we won't see this bike as it will most likely first be sold on Far East and South Asian markets, but I wouldn't mind taking a closer look at one and trying to understand what this bike is all about.
Is this a modern recipe for a cruiser? Will 21st century highway gangs in leather vests be riding a bunch of 700cc bikes into the sunset? Time will show. Call me skeptical, but I think it's unlikely, then again - I have been wrong in the past
