ZXMoto V5 Superbike for 2028: What Is Confirmed and What Is Not

• Confirmed: V5 engine with around 1,000 cc, target year 2028
• Not confirmed: output, supercharger, model name, dimensions
• Figures in circulation: 253 hp (186 kW) at 13,500 rpm, 137.5 Nm (101 lb-ft)

It is rare for a motorcycle manufacturer to announce a layout that has been all but absent since the Honda RC211V bowed out. That is exactly what Zhang Xue, founder of the young Chinese brand ZXMoto, has done. He is working on a five-cylinder in a V configuration. Within a few days of that announcement, very specific figures appeared that the manufacturer itself never quoted. Anyone wanting to assess the project has to keep the two apart.

What has ZXMoto confirmed about the new V5 engine?

Little has been confirmed so far: Zhang Xue announced via social media that he is working on a new five-cylinder in a V configuration with roughly 1,000 cc. His stated goal is a high-performance production motorcycle, with the engine going racing first, targeted for 2028.

Official communication goes no further than that. Zhang Xue has not quoted a power figure, nor the final dimensions of the engine or the name of the motorcycle it is eventually meant to power. There is no technical data sheet. That makes the engine a development project, not a product.

A first image of the unit is already circulating. The arrangement of the five cylinders is clearly visible: three angled forwards, two backwards. The angle between the two cylinder banks cannot be determined reliably from the oblique shot, but it appears to be close to 90 degrees.

What technical data is circulating about the ZXMoto V5?

Two different sets of figures are circulating in media reports and Chinese networks, and they contradict one another. Neither has been confirmed by the manufacturer.

One set quotes a displacement of around 1,000 cc, forced induction via a supercharger combined with fuel injection, 253 hp (186 kW) at 13,500 rpm, 137.5 Nm (101 lb-ft) of torque and an engine weight of 55 kg (121 lbs). In line with that comes the claim that the finished motorcycle will reach 310 km/h and receive road approval. Model names are already doing the rounds too: ZXMoto 1000 RR for the road version, ZXMoto 1000 RR-R for racing. Both would fit the brand’s naming logic to date.

The other set comes from Chinese reports and speaks of around 1,100 cc and more than 210 hp (154 kW). Those figures are explicitly labelled as speculation.

One point stands out above all: the supercharger appears so far in only a single strand of the coverage. It does not feature in the international reports on the project. As long as ZXMoto publishes no figures of its own, forced induction remains an unconfirmed claim rather than a technical specification.

Why is ZXMoto building a five-cylinder instead of a V4?

There is no technical necessity. Modern four-cylinder engines comfortably deliver more than 200 hp, and the V4 has long proven itself both on the road and on the track.

Ducati has made the V4 the hallmark of its sports models, while BMW and Kawasaki continue to extract a great deal from the classic inline four. Five cylinders are therefore not the easiest route to big power.

Even so, there is a logic behind it. An additional cylinder opens up new options for firing intervals, meaning the timing sequence of the combustion events, and with them the way the power is delivered. Vibrations and the spatial arrangement of the engine can also be laid out differently. The price is complexity: more components, a more elaborate crankshaft and a far more difficult layout for cooling, intake and exhaust sides as well as the valve train.

Then there is the practical hurdle. Such an engine has to run reliably, be economical to build and meet the applicable emissions rules. With five cylinders, that is no small task.

Will 2028 bring a production model or a race bike first?

According to Zhang Xue, 2028 is initially about racing, not about the market launch. The production motorcycle comes after that, and no date has been set for it.

In places, 2028 is also quoted as the launch year for the finished superbike. That is not confirmed, and the difference is considerable. Racing allows special rules and small production runs. A production model with road approval requires homologation, emissions certification and a functioning series production line.

It is also unclear which racing series the engine could even enter. The Superbike World Championship restricts displacement significantly for engines with more than four cylinders, so a five-cylinder with 1,000 cc does not fit the regulations there.

The comparison with the Honda RC211V

A look at the cylinder arrangement inevitably leads to the Honda RC211V. It entered the four-stroke era of MotoGP from 2002 with a 1,000 cc V5 and won there with Valentino Rossi. It too had three cylinders angled forwards and two backwards, with a cylinder bank angle of 75.5 degrees.

The similarity in the first image is obvious. The decisive difference lies elsewhere, though: the RC211V was a pure race bike. ZXMoto, by contrast, is talking about a production model for the road. A road-legal V5 would be something that has not existed before.

How solid is ZXMoto’s track record so far?

The record suggests that Zhang Xue sees projects through. With the ZXMoto 820 RR-R and its in-house inline triple producing around 150 hp (110 kW), the brand entered the Supersport World Championship and stands at six wins there in the 2026 season.

For a brand that has only existed for a few years, that is an unusual debut. The leap from a middleweight triple to a forced-induction litre-class five-cylinder is a completely different order of magnitude in engineering terms. The 820 proves that ZXMoto can develop an engine of its own and compete with it. It does not prove that the V5 will be running in four years.

Which other manufacturers are working on unusual engines?

The V5 does not stand alone. Several manufacturers are currently working on engine concepts that depart from the usual inline four or V4.

CFMoto is developing a superbike with a V4 engine in China, the V4 SR-RR with 997 cc and more than 210 hp. On 15 June 2026 it recorded 315.82 km/h at a test facility in Shangrao, certified by a notary. The production model is expected for 2027.

MV Agusta showed a five-cylinder called Cinque Cilindri at the end of 2025, though not as a V5 but with closely offset cylinder rows following the VR principle. Displacement is said to be scalable between 800 and 1,150 cc, with more than 240 hp (176 kW) at 16,000 rpm and 135 Nm (100 lb-ft) at 8,500 rpm mooted for the strongest state of tune.

Honda, meanwhile, is combining a V layout with forced induction. The V3R 900 E-Compressor was first seen as a concept at EICMA 2024, with the prototype following in November 2025. Its liquid-cooled V3 with around 900 cc and a 75-degree cylinder angle is assisted by an electrically driven compressor that works independently of engine speed. Honda states that this achieves the performance of a 1,200 cc machine. The production version is expected for 2027.

The pattern behind all of this is the same: extract more power from less displacement without breaching emissions limits. ZXMoto takes that route via cylinder count, Honda via forced induction, MV Agusta via a new layout. Among the new machines of the coming model years, the V5 is therefore less an outlier than the most eye-catching representative of a broader trend.

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