CES is a show full of wondrous electric cars and improbable autonomous vehicles, but I managed to wander through its halls and find a gas-powered motorcycle with eight whole ass cylinders. It’s the first bike from Great Wall Motor’s new Souo moto brand, the S2000, and I love it.
I missed the news when Great Wall launched the S2000 back in November, but I’m glad I caught it at CES because it’s a genuinely interesting machine. It has a two-liter flat-eight engine mounted to an eight-speed dual clutch transmission, running out via shaft drive to the rear wheel. Souo claims that powertrain is good for 154 horsepower, which ought to get any bike out of its own way.
Sitting on the S2000GL, the top-trim top-case version of the bike, I felt the same way I imagine Andy does in a V8-powered Mopar product. This bike may not be empirically better than its competition — I’d be shocked if it had every bell and whistle of the benchmark Goldwing — but there’s something that just feels good about being atop a vehicle that’s a little absurd. Who needs eight cylinders on a motorcycle? No one, but I’m so glad it’s an option.
Great Wall, if you’re listening, bring Souo and the S2000 to the North American market. We love big tourers and eight-cylinder vehicles here, and you’ve managed to put the two together in a way that speaks to at least one American (me.) Give us the big dumb bike, please.
