This Retro-Looking Cruiser Is Packing a V4 Engine,...

Cruisers are a type of bike segments that simply refuse to die. They’re straightforward to know, straightforward to take a seat on, and straightforward to romanticize. Low seat, lengthy tank, large engine, chill posture. For an enormous chunk of riders world wide, that silhouette is motorcycling. You don’t want to elucidate it. You simply get it.

For a lot of the section’s historical past, cruisers meant V-twins. American manufacturers constructed their identification on them, and the Japanese adopted with their very own spins within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties. It labored, and the formulation caught:  large displacement, plenty of torque, and relaxed vibes. And at any time when somebody broke the principles, it stood out instantly.

Say “V4 cruiser” to anybody who’s been round bikes lengthy sufficient and one title nonetheless pops up first: the Yamaha VMAX. It wasn’t delicate. It wasn’t conventional. It was principally a muscle bike that occurred to take a seat low and look vaguely cruiser-ish. For years, it was a class of 1. At this time, that concept principally lives on by way of the Ducati Diavel V4. Similar core idea, completely totally different execution. It’s high-tech, aggressive, costly, and really happy with the truth that it’s packing a V4. It appears to be like quick standing nonetheless and rides prefer it desires to embarrass sportbikes.

Which is why what Benda is doing is so attention-grabbing.

Benda is a part of a more recent wave of Chinese language bike manufacturers that skipped the small-displacement apprenticeship section. As an alternative of beginning with commuters and dealing up, it went straight for giant engines and area of interest segments. Energy cruisers, inline fours, V4s, and even a weird 250cc hybrid engine. Principally, that is stuff that often comes a lot later in a model’s life cycle.

Now the corporate has gone a step additional with the creation of Benda Moto Europe GmbH, primarily based in Salzburg. That transfer alone says so much, as this isn’t nearly home bragging rights anymore. Europe is clearly within the plan, and as soon as Europe is in play, all the pieces else tends to observe.

At this time, the one mainstream producer producing a V4 cruiser is Ducati, with the Diavel V4. 

Picture by: Ducati

That is the place the Darkish Flag 950 enters the image.

On paper, this cruiser’s specs already look severe. A 950cc V4 making 100 horsepower at 9,000rpm and 62.7 pound-feet of torque at 7,000rpm. It will get ride-by-wire, a slipper clutch, and a low 27.4-inch seat top. It is pretty compact in size at roughly 91.5 inches. However the one factor that actually catches your consideration, aside from the engine, in fact, is the look. Absolutely, given the actual fact the the Darkish Flag 950 is working a V4 engine, you’d assume Benda would’ve gone full on energy cruiser on it. As an alternative, this factor straight-up appears to be like like a basic V-twin cruiser.

Up entrance, it will get a basic spherical headlight and tall bars that recommend a relaxed driving place.

Picture by: Benda

The bike sports activities a protracted tank, low stance, uncovered mechanicals, and pretty conventional proportions. There’s even a leather-based strap working down the middle of the tank for further retro factors. In the event you didn’t know higher, you’d assume it was one other large twin chasing old-school cruiser vibes. And in some ways, that’s the magic trick. The Darkish Flag 950 is a V4-powered cruiser cosplaying as a V-twin. All of the smoothness, rev-happiness, and refinement of a contemporary liter-class V4, wrapped in a form that is acquainted and nostalgic. So no, it doesn’t scream efficiency the way in which the VMAX as soon as did, or the way in which the Diavel presently does. 

That makes it attention-grabbing in a really totally different method. This isn’t a motorbike attempting to intimidate you at a stoplight. It’s a motorbike that lets cruiser riders hold the aesthetics they love, whereas upgrading what’s beneath. The remainder of the {hardware} backs that concept up. Typical entrance forks as an alternative of flashy upside-down items. Twin rear shocks. J.Juan brakes as an alternative of top-tier Brembos. Nothing outrageous or extreme. All of it factors to Benda prioritizing accessibility and real-world pricing over spec-sheet flexing.

The Darkish Flag 950 sports activities low-slung exhaust ideas and basic proportions.

Picture by: Benda

And that’s the place this might matter. So much.

If Benda can ship this bike at a worth that undercuts established European V4 machines by a large margin, the Darkish Flag 950 turns into one thing we haven’t actually had earlier than. A V4 cruiser that doesn’t look wild, doesn’t break the bank, and doesn’t demand you purchase right into a hyper-performance identification. It’s not changing the VMAX. It’s not attempting to out-Ducati the Diavel. It’s doing its personal factor. And in a cruiser section that’s been visually conservative for a very long time, that delicate subversion may be Benda’s strongest transfer but.