Colove Cobra 321RR Unveiled For the Chinese Market

The supersport packs a reverse-engineered Yamaha R3 engine and draws design inspiration from the Honda CBR250RR

Colove Moto, a Chinese two-wheeler brand, is all set to launch its first supersport in its domestic market. The Colove (or Kove) Cobra 321RR is the fully faired sibling of the Colove 321R, also sold as the Excelle 321R in select foreign markets. Just like its sibling, the supersport draws inspiration from other bikes, in this case, the Honda CBR250RR and Yamaha YZF-R3.

There’s no going around the fact that the Colove Cobra 321RR’s design has been largely inspired by the CBR250RR. The twin-LED DRL and headlamp on the Chinese bike seem to be a slightly sleeker version of Honda’s supersport. For the side fairing, Colove seems to have taken a few cues from the older-generation Yamaha YZF-R3.

The similarities with Yamaha’s bike aren’t limited to the design. Colove’s 322cc, liquid-cooled parallel-twin design is tuned to produce 40PS, a wee bit less than what the R3 churns from its 321cc, twin-cylinder engine. While the Cobra 321RR’s torque figure hasn’t been revealed yet, it is claimed to achieve a top speed of 170kmph, which is, interestingly, 10kmph less than the claimed top speed of its naked sibling.

The design and the engine may not be completely original, but there’s no denying that the Colove 321RR flaunts decent hardware. The bike has been equipped with a single-sided swingarm, which gives it a premium, and almost-Italian touch. Colove has deployed USD fork and a monoshock to handle suspension duties, while braking is taken care of by disc brakes at both ends. The hardware is shared with its naked sibling, the 321R.

The Colove Cobra 321RR is expected to go on sale soon, carrying a price tag of CNY 24,680 (Rs 2.81 lakh roughly). This supersports joins the long list of Chinese bikes that have amused us, from the Chimalayan, right to the Pan China. But while the world mocks these bikemakers, we should reiterate that China also has the likes of Benda Motorcycle who strive to introduce original products.