CFMOTO V4 1000 SR-RR puts European and Japanese superbikes on alert

Let us get straight to the point. European manufacturers such as Ducati, BMW and Aprilia took decades to reach the performance standards set by Japanese superbikes. For years, this territory was almost entirely occupied by models whose names everybody knows: GSX-R, YZF-R1, ZX-R Ninja and so on.

A credible response took a long time to arrive. More precisely, it came in 2009, when two genuine European missiles were unveiled: the BMW 1000 RR and the Aprilia RSV4. Today, alongside Ducati, these are the brands setting the pace.

Yet one Chinese manufacturer has completed that journey in only a handful of years: CFMOTO. A year ago, we wrote that the Chinese superbike “was still a long way from production”, but it turns out that it is not.

European and Japanese manufacturers are on alert

CFMOTO returned to EICMA - the most important motorcycle show - with its 90º V4 engine, whose figures raised eyebrows at the Bologna, Hamamatsu and Noale manufacturers in 2024: 209.2 hp at 14,500 rpm and 114 Nm at 12,500 rpm.

So far, there is nothing new. We covered all of this last year. The difference is that the engine has now been joined by a motorcycle.

It is called the CFMOTO V4 1000 SR-RR. The formula is familiar: two large front wings, a raised tail in the style of a modern superbike, twin Akrapovič exhausts and aggressive lower fairing panels.

CFMOTO V4 1000 SR-RR is here to compete

CFMOTO has earned the respect it was missing. The way Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali admired the CFMOTO V4 1000 SR-RR is proof of that.

The Chinese brand is already winning in MotoGP’s intermediate classes - although its chassis and engines are supplied by third parties - and has become a sales success, particularly with the well-known CFMOTO 450 MT.

It is a warning to manufacturers that believed extreme performance was the exclusive domain of their racing departments. It is not.

Although there has been no official confirmation, it would not be wrong to predict that CFMOTO will enter the Superbike World Championship within the next few years.

Miguel Oliveira will compete in that championship for the first time next season, riding a factory BMW M 1000 RR. He brings with him two runner-up finishes in MotoGP’s intermediate categories and five victories in the premier class.

Aggressive pricing and top-level performance

Returning to the market and putting competition aside, in Portugal and across Europe this could mean what it has already meant in other segments: aggressive prices, top-level performance and a fresh cycle of competition that may force European and Japanese manufacturers to reconsider their pricing policies.