Zonsen 150 cc minibikes take aim at CFMoto By Ben Purvis
For the last decade, Honda's MSX125 Grom has demonstrated that there's a thriving market for small-wheeled minibikes with a focus on fun, and rivals are starting to emerge as other brands try to muscle in on the scene.
CFMoto's Papio was an early one and the same company's retro-styled XO Papio Racer and XO Papio trail raise the bar. Now Zonsen is aiming to take slice of the action with a pair of new ZS150 models.
Europe doesn't currently get the CFMoto machines as both XO Papio models come in at 126 cc - just missing out on the learner-legal limit. But in the U.S. market, where they're called the Papio SS and Papio CL, they're proving popular thanks to low pricing and retro looks that have more contemporary styling than the more expensive Honda Grom.
Zonsen's new ZS150-A and ZS150-B models have been revealed in Chinese type-approvals, but the company supplies bikes to markets all over the world under a variety of brands. By the time these models reach showrooms, they're sure to have better names; Papio, for instance, is derived from the Chinese term for baboon - clearly a spin on Honda's Monkey and Gorilla models - and the CFMoto ZS150 machines have pandas on their fuel tank badges, suggesting they might carry a panda-related title.
Like the XO Papio models, the ZS150s are set to come in two variants, a faired model and a trail version. Just as the XO Papio models both share distinctive twin headlights, the ZS150s make sure they're immediately recognisable thanks to an unusual headlamp design. A ring of LEDs forms a daytime running light, which isn't odd in itself, but becomes distinctive here because there's nothing in the centre of the hoop - the air passes straight through it. The main headlight is housed in a small lozenge-shaped section that bisects the bottom half of that ring.
Spec-wise, the bikes each use a 149 cc air-cooled single, so like the XO Papio models won't be suited to European learner limits unless additional, sub-125 cc versions are created. The engines make 7.8 kW (10.5 hp), a fraction up on the 7 kW (9.4 hp) of the Papios and the 7.4 kW (9.9 hp) that the Grom can muster.
Like their rivals, they run on 12-inch wheels and use upside-down forks. The Chinese approval documents show the naked 'A' version weighs 120 kg, while the 'B' model is 121 kg, both a fraction heavier than the 114 kg CFMoto XO Papio machines and substantially more than the 103 kg Grom. Top speed is listed as 95 km/h (59 mph).
Although the 149 cc engine in the Chinese-marked version of the bikes makes them unsuited to European markets, Zongshen has a wide array of engines in its armoury including 125 cc air-cooled singles, so making Euro-suited versions of the new models would be relatively simple if the company decides there's enough demand.
