After several years developing its new three-cylinder engine, the Chinese brand Zontes presented its 703F adventure bike and 703RR sports bike at last year’s EICMA show. At the time, they were still prototypes and technical information was very limited. But now the 703F is being delivered to customers in China, with export sales planned for the coming months, while the 703RR has just been homologated to reveal what the production version will look like and show some of its main specifications.

Although Zontes has yet to make an official announcement, the 703RR homologation documents confirm some important differences from the 703F and the company’s own claims when the prototypes were presented at EICMA. At the time, Zontes said that the adventure bike would have 100 hp at 9,000 rpm, while the sports bike would have 110 hp at 11,000 rpm, but when the 703F was officially unveiled in production form, its peak power dropped a fraction to 96 hp and came in 1,000 rpm higher than planned, at 10,000 rpm. The new homologation documents also suggest that the claim of 110 hp for the 703RR was slightly ambitious, as it has a homologated maximum power of 101 hp in the official documentation. However, the figures for both bikes could change when the export models are launched, given the varying emissions limits around the world.

Other details revealed in the homologation documentation include a certified top speed of 230 km/h for the 703RR, which seems about right and puts it on a par with rivals such as Honda’s CBR650R. In terms of power and performance, the Zontes should certainly be ahead of the twin-cylinder Yamaha R7 and very close to models like Aprilia’s RS 660 and Triumph’s Daytona 660 – the only other three-cylinder bike in this part of the market, at least until CFMOTO’s 675SR goes into production.

The engine sits in a cast aluminum frame with two bars, in front of a swingarm made of the same material, and the suspension should come from Marzocchi, which already supplies the components for the 703F. The main dimensions of the frame include a 57-inch wheelbase that matches the measurement of the CBR650R, along with a weight of 195.9 kg. The homologation documentation shows two versions of the bike, which differ only in the specification of the brake calipers they are fitted with, which appear to be components of Chinese origin.

Visually, the bike has evolved slightly since the original version made its debut at EICMA last November. The most obvious change is to the headlights, which are unusually positioned on either side of the fairing rather than on the nose. On the production model, the light units are still located under the upper plane of the side wings, but while the concept bike had four separate lamps, which protruded visibly in front of the leading edge of the wing, the show version seems to have a more subtle design, with purpose-made light units placed further back.

There are still lights at the front, including a V-shaped LED strip along the leading edge and additional lights underneath. The overall look is sharp, albeit a little cluttered, and the subtle paintwork of the bikes photographed for the homologation seems to match the bikes at the EICMA show, albeit without some of the graphics and with the original bike’s red highlights and rims swapped for blue.

The real question that remains for Zontes is whether the new three-cylinder bikes are enough to satisfy the needs of its customers. In China, the company has been criticized for only offering single-cylinder bikes until now, in a market where two-cylinders have become the expected norm. By skipping the two-cylinders and jumping straight to three-cylinders, Zontes aims to maintain a distinct identity and offer something that its rivals can’t achieve, although the prolonged development of the three-cylinder means that there are now an increasing number of four-cylinder options on the market in the same class, not to mention the forthcoming three-cylinder CFMOTO 675SR which will be a direct competitor.

All that remains to be seen is whether the Zontes 703RR will reach the European market when it is officially launched.

Source:https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-news/zontes-703rr-coming-soon/