QJ Motors kept making headlines in 2022. In January alone, the Chinese OEM joined the Moto3 World Championship while parent company Qianjiang inked a production deal with Italian suspension specialists Marzocchi. By April, QJ introduced a host of new models before showing off its latest wares at EICMA 2022. Despite the whirlwind year, QJ Motors has even loftier ambitions in 2023.
According to Cycle World document detective Ben Purvis, those goals include making inroads into the U.S. market. QJ recently submitted regulatory forms to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for several models. The VIN decoder document filed by the firm includes machines between 135cc and 754cc from both QJ Motors and sister company Benelli.
Gallery: QJ Motors Lineup
Starting with QJ, the file lists such models as the SRT750X adventure bike, the parallel-twin-powered SRV550 cruiser, and the V-twin-based SRV300 cruiser. On the sportier side, the SRK400RR arrives as a fully-faired supertwin while the SRK750 roadster is poised to take on the ultra-competitive middleweight naked bike class with 76 ponies in tow. QJ could even send its G2 and Q2 electric scooters stateside in the initial offering.
Benelli already sells a limited lineup in the U.S., but the VIN document hints that the States will receive the twin-cylinder 302R sportbike along with the TRK702 and TRK702X middleweight adventure bikes. Unfortunately, the Benelli TRK800 didn’t make the list, as the up-spec ADV could encroach on the QJ Motors SRT750X’s territory.
Of course, only time will tell if all QJ Motors and Benelli models arrive on U.S. shores in 2023. However, Benelli doesn’t enjoy the firmest foothold in the Colonies, so establishing a reputable dealer network and parts support will be critical to QJ Motors’ U.S. landfall. The brand will also have to combat assumptions of sub-par Chinese production standards. Though, competitor CFMoto’s U.S. arrival in 2022 currently helps to dispel those beliefs.
2022 may have been a coming-out year for QJ Motors, but it's ready to hit the big stage in 2023.