Souo S2000 Shown at CES

Every January CES in Las Vegas becomes a global showcase for companies looking to wow the world with their technological prowess and it’s notable that one motorcycle making waves at the event was the massive eight-cylinder Souo S2000.

We followed the development and launch of China’s biggest-ever motorcycle last year, but the debut model from the new Souo sub-brand of car maker Great Wall Motor has so far only been offered in small numbers to customers in China. The bike’s appearance at CES—previously called the Consumer Electronics Show, it’s now the Consumer Everything Show and a key place for companies to peacock their technological advancements—illustrates that GWM as a whole, the parent to multiple sub-brands including Souo, is intent on becoming a global force.

Just ahead of the show’s opening the first Souo S2000s were delivered to customers in China. The initial handful were collected during a ceremony at a bespoke delivery site where GWM’s boss Wei Jianjun made an appearance to hand over keys to the first buyers. Nationwide Chinese deliveries of the remaining first-batch bikes started on January 1. That initial run of bikes was limited to 288 examples, which sold out rapidly despite Honda Gold Wing–level pricing.

The Gold Wing is, of course, both the S2000′s inspiration and its target, with Souo using Honda’s range-topper as a benchmark and aiming to beat the Japanese bike in every possible metric. In case you missed our coverage of the bike’s launch last year, the S2000′s stats essentially read like a wish list for a next-generation Gold Wing, with a flat-eight engine instead of a flat six, and eight-speed-plus-reverse DCT semi-auto transmission where the Honda has a seven-speed, 152 hp instead of 125, and a level of technology that puts the Wing firmly in the shade.

Everything on the bike aims to be “biggest” or “best” in one respect or another, from the 12.3-inch touchscreen display—bigger than any other on two wheels—with a Snapdragon 8155 chip that’s faster than any current production bike’s computer, to overall dimensions that make it bigger and heavier than virtually anything else on the market. Other equipment includes a high-end eight-speaker stereo system, voice control for major functions, heated grips and seats, and a rear radar for blind-spot monitoring. On the mechanical front, that huge 2-liter engine is carried in a very Gold Wing–like aluminum chassis, with Hossack-style front suspension that is again like the latest Wing, as well as BMW’s K 1600 six-cylinder models.

Souo has yet to make any specific statements about offering the S2000 on US soil, perhaps unsurprising given the current talk of tariffs on Chinese goods, but the company’s press release from the show confirms that the company’s goal for both its cars and motorcycles—the S2000 is expected to lead to a whole range of Souo bikes, the next being a cruiser using the same engine, with styling reminiscent of the Honda Rune—is for them to be sold all around the globe.