Are Chinese Manufacturers Bringing Back the Inline-4 Middleweight Sportbike?

The Voge RR660S is just another addition to the growing number of i4-powered sportbikes from China.

Photo by: Voge Motorcycles

By: Enrico Punsalang

Feb 19, at 11:14am ET

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Just a few years ago, some of the most desirable sportbikes were top-tier machines like the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, or perhaps the razor-sharp BMW S 1000 RR. And while these bikes are well and truly bedroom wall poster material, consumer preferences have shifted to smaller, more sensible machines.

These days, bikes in the 650cc to 900cc range are all the rage. And it’s easy to see why. Both novice and intermediate riders can appreciate bikes in this displacement bracket thanks to their balance of performance, affordability, and daily usability. And indeed, manufacturers have taken note, and we've seen a wave of fresh models like the Aprilia RS 660, Yamaha YZF-R7, and Triumph Daytona 660 enter the scene.

And here’s the thing—these bikes are rocking punchy parallel-twin engines or soulful triples, and not the good old inline-four. It’s really just the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R and Honda CBR650R (as well as the immortal GSX-R 600 and 750) that are still powered by inline-fours, and let’s be real: these bikes are getting seriously long in the tooth.

But recent entrants from the Middle Kingdom seem to want to give the good old i4 a renaissance. Case in point is the RR660S from Chinese manufacturer Voge.

Photo by: Voge Motorcycles

The RR660S is clearly inspired by bigger, more premium European sportbikes.

Voge, a brand under Chinese giant Loncin, has been rolling out new bikes left and right, and has had its sights set on the European market for quite some time now. The RR660S is particularly interesting, as it’s a full-on sportbike rocking a 662.8cc four-banger. The specs and features aren’t too different from other bikes in its class. You know the drill, around 100 ponies, 74 pound-feet of torque, and tons of tech that most riders won’t even bother fiddling with.

Styling-wise, it’s also pretty vanilla. In fact, it almost looks like Voge took the current-generation S 1000 RR and tweaked the styling a bit in the hopes that no one would think it copied its homework from BMW.

Nevertheless, if and when this bike goes to market in Europe (and possibly in the US, too), it’ll more than likely appeal to beginner to intermediate riders with an appetite for new “experimental” machines, or those looking for a budget brand-new machine.

Photo by: Voge Motorcycles

It boasts quite a lot of features, but nothing that really stands out in the segment.

But after so many new inline-four-powered sportbikes from a bunch of Chinese manufacturers, I can’t help but wonder—is the inline-four engine really set for a resurgence?

Indeed, on one hand, bikes like the Voge RR660S and QJ Motor SRK 800 could be seen as an attempt to revive the classic inline-four formula. There’s an undeniable allure to a four-cylinder sportbike—the smoothness, the top-end rush, the soundtrack, and yes, the nostalgia.

But on the other hand, this move could be more about accessibility than nostalgia. Many Chinese manufacturers have been revisiting inline-four technology recently, possibly because the engineering blueprints and tooling for these engines are widely available. Bluntly put, Japanese four-banger sportbikes are easy to deconstruct, replicate, and manufacture.

That raises an interesting question: is the inline-four resurgence simply a case of manufacturers capitalizing on existing tech, or is there a genuine demand for this engine configuration? The fact of the matter is simply that we motorcyclists are a stubborn opinionated bunch—some love the grunt of a twin, others swear by the screaming four-banger, while some prefer the unique balance of a triple.

What about you? Are you team twin-cylinder, team inline-four, or somewhere in between like an inline-triple? Share your thoughts in the comments below.