China is making some of the most interesting vehicles in the world right now—and I don’t mean just cars. Yes, the Yangwang U9 and its 308-mph top speed are cool, but you know what’s even cooler? Great Wall Motor’s eight-cylinder motorcycle.
The GWM Souo S2000 (no relation to the Honda roadster) is a giant cruiser bike that’s been on sale in mainland China for just over one year. Its main draw – for me, anyway – is the 2.0-liter boxer eight-cylinder (yes, eight cylinders in a production motorcycle), connected to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that has its own reverse gear.
Great Wall has no product presence in America right now, since import duties make it prohibitively expensive to sell vehicles here. Despite that, the company still had a booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, seeing as how CES is a pretty global event with lots of foreign attendees. While checking out the Souo S2000 in person, a representative confirmed to me the bike will eventually make its way Stateside. And I’m hyped.
I’m Not Even Into Bikes, And I’d Own One Of These
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the authority on motorcycles here at The Autopian—that crown goes to Mercedes. But when there’s something particularly weird going on in the bike world, I tend to pay attention. The Souo S2000 has been on my radar since it went into production, simply because I couldn’t believe it existed at all. China’s modern transportation products are virtually all EVs or hybrids, with the hybrids powered by tiny, forgettable four-cylinders. So to see a Chinese production vehicle with an eight-cylinder—much less a boxer-8 with no electric assistance to speak of—seemed absolutely ridiculous (and still does). It sounds pretty awesome, which shouldn’t be a surprise:
The 2.0-liter engine, which makes 154 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque, isn’t the only interesting part about this bike. At 1,016 pounds, it’s absolutely loaded with tech and other useful stuff. Getting power to the rear wheel is an eight-speed dual-clutch with its own reverse gear, which a GWM representative told me allows you to travel up to 3 km/h (just under 2 mph) in reverse, which is nice for such a heavy bike.
There’s also all the equipment. From Mercedes’s piece back in 2024:
The S2000 comes with a 12.3-inch instrument panel, a Qualcomm SA8155P Snapdragon SoC, heated handlebars, heated seats, OTA upgrades, and rear parking sensors. Other goodies include an automatic parking brake, an electrically adjustable windshield, cruise control, and an eight-speaker sound system. All of this is wrapped in a bolt-free welded aluminum frame and stopped with Brembo 4-piston calipers on both ends.
Those who know bikes will be seeing some fairly obvious similarities between the Souo and the Honda Goldwing, its closest competitor. The Gold Wing is also a large cruiser with an unusual, opposed-cylinder engine layout featuring a high number of cylinders (six, in Honda’s case). Specs-wise, the S2000 has the Honda beat on power (the Gold Wing makes 125 horses and 130 lb-ft) and top speed (130 mph for the Souo, and just 111 mph for the Honda). The Honda is nearly 200 pounds lighter, though.
Great Wall brought an updated version of the bike, revealed in October, to this year’s CES, which is the one I got a close look at. While the general configuration is the same as before, this “CL” cruiser model has an updated fairing and new covers for the cooling setup ahead of the engine. In place of the huge screen from the original bike is a new 4-inch circular display. Virtually every piece of metal on this bike was a blinding chrome, which I don’t think would help when riding on sunny days, but it did look awesome. I’m just 5’9”, but I was able to fit on it just fine:
What got me about this bike in person was just how huge it was. It wasn’t just the size, but the length. The wheelbase is 71.3 inches, about a foot longer than the BMW Isetta’s. It’s a large machine that would probably need a regular-ass parking spot in most situations. It’s totally and completely unapologetic about its over-the-topness, and I dig it.
Ok, So When Will It Show Up? And How Much Will It Cost?
The Great Wall representative told me over the course of our short conversation that it plans to expand the Souo brand into places like Australia and Europe throughout 2026, before moving to South America and, eventually, North America in 2027.
When I asked how much the S2000 would cost when it arrived Stateside, the rep told me it’d be about $30,000, which is roughly in line with the bike’s starting price of 189,800 yuan in China. How Great Wall will be able to keep the price down with America’s significant import tariffs in place is unknown. It’s entirely possible the rep misheard my question and simply told me how much the bike cost in China.
At $30,000, the S2000 would be a bit more expensive than the Honda Gold Wing, which currently starts at $25,200 in its cheapest configuration. That price is also more than a lot of whole-ass cars you can buy in America right now, including the Honda Accord, the Hyundai Tucson, and the Chevy Equinox. In reality, the S2000 could be quite a bit more expensive once you factor in tariff charges.
It’s important to note that while all of those cars have five seats, an enclosed cabin, and ample luggage space, none of them have naturally aspirated flat-8 engines that sound like sports cars. So which is the better value, really?
Top graphic images: Brian Silvestro; Griffin Riley
2l flat 6 would be a better choice. 6cyl is balanced. 4cyl has a ton of 3rd order imbalance. 8cyl i don’t know and don’t want to find out.
8 cylinder flat is perfectly balanced on the primary and secondary balance, but due to the size and number of cylinders there would still be 3rd order balance issues to deal with that a counter rotating balance shaft might be required. If they wanted more performance I suppose.
Do 8 cylinder boxers use a flat plane crank? I would assume you would use a cross plane, minus the heavy counterweights since the opposing piston provides the balancing force.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad someone built a boxer 8 and shoved it in a bike. So, kudos for the unique insanity.
But for the price, can’t go wrong with a Triumph Rocket 3 GT. Granted, it’s not as much a touring bike, but you can make it one. And at $5,000 cheaper and 300 LB lighter, you have headroom.
I would just like Yamaha to bring back the VMax 1700 V4. V Boost is something everyone with a penchant for speed to experience, and with just an exhaust upgrade they sound like badass Baby V8’s
Definitely the ur-example of the power or muscle cruiser, at least the original 1200. But yeah the 1700 is the one to have. They made em for quite awhile, maybe I’ll see what’s out there. Haven’t owned a cruiser since my ’03 Honda Magna, coincidentally also a V4…. can’t go wrong with a V4.
200 lbs heavier than a Goldwing is nuts. Yeah the chrome is shiny I guess, but this is not a bike I’d ever want to ride on a regular basis.
For $30K (minimum) i want to spend my time riding, not polishing …
I’ve never ridden a thousand pound bike but I’ll probably hate it.
I think Harleys at least have the good sense to give those 3 wheels.
meh, the motor is flat and therefore low for the center of gravity. Can’t be much worse than a Boss Hoss and they are not too bad to hold up or deal with when going slow.
I guess the idea was to one up the Gold Wing with more cylinders. I have ridden a GL1800 and it’s surprisingly nimble and quick but half ton motorcycles are abominations. That’s why my ideal touring bike is still a BMW R1200RT, and in my luddite moments an R100RT
One thousand pounds? A THOUSAND pounds?
Just build the rest of the car already.
BMW R18 Base is 760 lbs, add in the bags and windshield and music on the Transcontinental version and it tops out at almost 950 lbs.
Just for reference.
Too much. 760 is already north of what I would put up with.