Zeths ZFR500R By Ben Purvis
The relentless surge of new Chinese bikes and brands shows no sign of slowing, and there's a growing confidence shining through in their design. Where recently we saw little more than poorly-proportioned knock-offs of European or Japanese machines, China's bike companies are now producing their own styling that's often a match for anything that the established brands can achieve.
This, the Zeths ZFR500R, is an example. A name that's little known outside China, and not a major player even there, Zeths has been churning out V-twin cruisers for the last few years, but the ZFR500R represents a shift in focus; a good-looking, mid-sized sports bike with styling that draws on 1970s endurance racers and 1980s sports bikes.
If the styling grabs the attention, the ZFR500R continues to impress with its engineering. Under that all-enveloping skin, there's an aluminium beam frame, not the usual steel tube chassis that most Chinese companies adopt, bolted to a single-sided swingarm and USD forks. Brembo brakes and a colour TFT dash show that while the styling is retro, the equipment is up-to-date.
The engine is one of the stalwarts of the Chinese market, a 494 cc parallel twin that's all but identical to the Loncin motor used in the Voge range of '525' models. It's essentially a clone of the Honda CB500 twin, albeit with a capacity increase from the Japanese version's 471 cc, but Zeths is making the engine itself rather than buying it in from one of the various Chinese companies that already manufacture variations of the same design.
With those specs, the ZFR500R's performance isn't going to be jaw-dropping. The 494 cc engine makes 39.6 kW (53 hp) and including a tank of fuel, the bike weighs 194 kg. What's unclear at the moment is whether Zeths will be able to sell the ZFR500R outside its homeland.
It's easy to imagine some global demand for a bike like this, particularly at the sort of low price associated with Chinese manufacturing, but Zeths is still a relatively small operation, and with the vast Chinese market in front of it, there may not be the incentive to offer the bike elsewhere.
