Intended only for the domestic China motorcycle market is the Cyclone RC600 Centennial Legend Commemorative Edition, a middleweight sports bike priced at 28,888 yuan. There willingly be 100 units of the RC600 produced with purchase made online through the Cyclone website. In case you were wondering, Cyclone is a brand under Chinese manufacturing conglomerate Zongshen. Malaysian riders will be familiar with the Cyclone name through importers MForce Bike Holdings with two models currently on sale – the Modern 250 RT2e retro scooter and the RX600 adventure-tourer while those with long memories might recall the KTN RS3 250 cc BMW Motorrad GS look-a-like.
The RC600 takes styling right off the
MotoGP grid and bears a passing resemblance to Aprilia’s RS-GP racing machine.
This is seen in the huge front wings and fairing sides with “shark gills”,
features found on the rather faster machines that live on the racetrack.
Motive power comes from a two-cylinder,
liquid-cooled mill displacing 550 cc. From the Cyclone website, power is
claimed to be 59 hp at 8,500 rpm and 55 Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm. Cyclone
further says the RC600 is able to achieve speeds of “up to 180 km/h”. Equipment
fit out follows normal sportsbike design, with upside-dwon forks in front and
monoshock in the rear.
Braking is done with single hydraulic
discs on the front and rear 17-inch wheels while two-channel ABS is standard
equipment. Other specifications include a 15-litre fuel tank and a TFT-LCD
instrument panel while weight is listed at 186 kg.
