Shineray are back with more uncanny designs. Releasing their V1200 v-twin which looks and sounds a lot like a Harley-Davidson Evolution 1200... Words: The Bear.
Shineray, love them or hate them they seem like they’re here to stay. There is no hiding the fact that some of their motorcycle range takes serious inspiration from a number of European and Japanese models. Now they’re back with A Shineray Sportster… I mean V1200.
Shineray, the giant Chinese engineering firm, says that the engine was “completely independently developed” in Italy, but side-by-side with a Harley 1200 Evolution twin, the badges are the only obvious visual difference.
One fine day in late 2013, the Italian Financial Police – the Guardia di Finanza – descended on the 71st International Motorcycle Exhibition (EICMA) in Milan. They seized 11 scooters from the stands of seven different Chinese exhibitors. The scooters, according to Piaggio Group which makes Vespas, were “shameless” copies of the iconic Italian wasp-waisted shape, which the exhibitors had brought to a motorcycle show in Italy.
“The Piaggio Group considers the initiative of the Guardia di Finanza to be of great significance in the defense of industrial property rights,” the manufacturer said in a statement. “As in every other country where Piaggio has taken specific action against counterfeits, the action of the Italian police is a further element for protection of companies that compete lawfully on world markets.”
That was only one incident in a series that included entire container-loads of Vespa lookalikes being crushed by Italian Customs a few years later. One stand at EICMA was empty except for local talent; the displays had been impounded and the Chinese staff, I was told, were in gaol. Piaggio fights its corner. The French government fights for its entire luxury industry by crushing, burning or otherwise cheerfully destroying Chinese fakes. And now we have this Sportster Evolution lookalike engine.
Shineray, the giant Chinese engineering firm, says that the engine was “completely independently developed” in Italy, but side-by-side with a Harley 1200 Evolution twin, the badges are the only obvious visual difference. As for the sound, with a 45-degree V-angle and presumably the same crankshaft arrangement used by Harley, a similar note was inevitable.
Harley-Davidson is reducing its reliance on this engine as it moves to its all-new, water-cooled Sportster range, and there has been speculation that Shineray might have bought a licence to make the engine rather than simply copying it, using its own facilities to modify the design to earn the ‘developed independently’ tag. MOTORRAD magazine in Germany doesn’t think so: “Shineray will certainly not have bought a license from Harley, but simply copied the engine. Because Harley continues to build the air-cooled engine for the home market.”
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Shineray owns Italian firm SWM, based in the old Husqvarna factory in Lombardia. It might have used SWM’s facilities if the engine really was designed in Italy, although the factory makes bikes that are derived from old, pre-KTM-era Husqvarnas and has never made a v-twin, never mind one as large as this. Shineray’s claim that the Evolution clone was designed by SWM makes neither technical nor legal sense. Legally, because SWM is bound by existing copyrights in Europe, even though that is of no interest to anyone in China. Technically, the parent company should have greater resources to develop such a unit than a small, old-fashioned factory in Italy.
Shineray owns Italian firm SWM, based in the old Husqvarna factory in Lombardia. SWM’s engineering expertise is not conspicuous in the v-twin game.
But I suppose that the similarity to the Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Evolution engine is so striking that any development work – possibly to bring the engine up to Euro 5 level — would have been minimal. There is no suggestion of a licensing agreement from either Milwaukee or Chongquing. And see my opening comments about Vespa.
Shineray says that to make the engine it’s set up a new machining centre with accuracy of up to 0.01mm, as well as assembly facilities to ensure it can meet demand and have consistent quality. It also claims to have improved the crankshaft rigidity and strength (from what, if not the Evolution engine?), boosting durability by 25% under high load conditions, and improved heat dissipation by 10% thanks to better cylinder head heat sinks and oil circulation. Strengthened pistons, cooled by oil jets from underneath, add reliability and longevity.
Like Harley’s 1200 engine, the Shineray ‘V1200’ has four camshafts in the cylinder block, each driving a pushrod to open a rocker-operated valve. That layout gives the signature look of parallel pushrod tubes running up the right-hand side of the cylinders. An ancient design, to be kind, and hardly what you would expect from a completely independent development.
So apart from it being huge, what do we know about Shineray? Well, on its website it describes its “Mission” as being to “Create Materialistic, Intellectual And Spiritual Wealth And Share With Employees, Customers And The Society”. Its “Vision” is to “Devote Efforts To Building A Trusted And Respected Enterprise”, and “Shineray Value” is apparently a combination of “Customer First, Humble Introspection, Excellence, Dedication, Collaboration And Innovation, Integrity, Care And Gratitude.”
V1200 Launch Video: Sounds Identical To An Evolution 1200
Interestingly, the website also has a category called “Honor”. The firm’s understanding of the term is, however, somewhat at odds with Western interpretations. It lists such things as “2006 Famous Chinese Trademark”, “2018 One of Top 500 Private Enterprises of Chongqing 2018”, and “2020 One of Top 10 Private Enterprises in Chongqing Manufacturing Industry,” not to forget “2014 One of Top 100 Creditworthy Brands of China.”
The bikes equipped with the new V1200 engine are due to be revealed in the Chongqing Expo in September this year. British insurance company Bennett’s thinks that “Given that the engine is developed in Europe – and the changes compared to its H-D inspiration could well be to meet modern emissions limits – there’s a good chance that something carrying the V1200 could be sold over here,” a somewhat ingenuous comment presumably meaning the UK.
Getting back to Harley for a moment, it is worth remembering that firms like S&S have been making engines that resembled Milwaukee’s to the point that they were straight drop-ins. Vee twins made by companies that traded on similarity with Harley engines but did not have any license agreement are nothing new. You could say that Shineray has done nothing (much) that American firms haven’t done for years.
And yet, I can’t help but wonder if H-D is going to have the British equivalent of the Guardia di Finanza waiting on the docks when the first shipment of Shineray V1200s is due.
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