Weisenke

Weisenke 800 cc four-cylinder revealed
By Ben Purvis

China's bike industry is accelerating at breakneck speed at the moment with hordes of little-known brands launching surprisingly ambitious and increasingly large-capacity models.
The latest is Weisenke - which has patented designs for a new 800 cc four-cylinder machine under the 'Viselike' brand name. The bike itself is clearly a close copy of Honda's CB650R, but with a larger engine than its Japanese inspiration.

The engine itself first appeared in patents two years ago, before being shown in the metal last year. It's a 796 cc four that obviously owes a lot to the Honda CB650's motor in terms of its layout and general design, but has been substantially reworked to offer more capacity and performance. Power is rated at 86 kW (115 hp), compared 70 kW (94 hp) for the smaller Honda engine, and is reached at 11,500 rpm. Peak torque is 93 Nm (69 lb-ft) at 9,500 rpm.
Called the VESK800, the new bike that the engine is destined for uses a frame that's shaped almost exactly like the CB650R's as well as a near-identical swingarm, while the exhaust also blatantly copies the Honda's design, with four parallel pipes slanting from the engine in tribute to the original CB400's system, before merging into a single, under-engine collector.
The styling is again a close copy of the Honda's, with a neo-retro look from a circular headlamp and almost identical proportions to the Japanese bike that it copies.
Given the ambition of the Viselike 800 cc engine, and its relatively high performance, it's a shame to see that the bike it is intended for is such an unimaginative clone of an existing design, particularly given that rival upstart companies from China (notably Benda) have recently unveiled much more distinctive-looking bikes in the same category.