Although Chinese manufacturers now have their own design centers, they occasionally fall back into the cliché that defines them as specialists in cheap copies of high-end products. Moxiao, a Chinese company, already had in its range of the 500RR, a pale copy of the Ducati Panigale V2. Now, the brand presents the MX500 and MX650, which mimic the styling of the Panigale V4 and Streetfighter V4.
We talked about the Moxiao 500RR motorcycle in April 2021, when the Chinese manufacturer offered the 500RR model, which very closely resembled the Ducati Panigale V2: from the fairing lines to the design of the headlights to the care in the choice of graphics, the logo and the technical solutions which even include the presence of the single oscillating arm. Under the fairings, we find a 471 cc engine which delivers 47,5 hp, all in a frame close to that of a CB 500.
Furthermore, the company is not resting on its laurels. After Ducati updated its Panigale V4, the Chinese copy received an update, and not the least. The first of the new models is the MX650, which is something of an evolution of Moxiao's previous Panigale copy model, and as such uses a horizontally mounted rear shock like the old Panigale 1199 instead of precisely replicating the design vertical rise of the current Panigale. Beneath the fairings lies a new 650cc parallel-twin engine, made by Moxiao but almost certainly a clone of the one powering the Kawasaki ER-6n, as it shares the same 83mm bore and 60mm stroke. In terms of performance, the MX650 puts out 60 hp, which doesn't compare well to the real Ducati's 211 hp. Weighing 222kg, the Moxiao is around 22kg heavier than the real Ducati, and its top speed of just 120km/h is simply ridiculous. The styling is Ducati, of course, but Moxiao's copy is close enough to fool someone from a distance, including the presence of aerodynamic fins.
But there's worse: the MX500, which is based on the 500RR, notably with the 471 cc engine developing 44 hp. It's priced for the same top speed as the MX650, and, at 198kg, it manages to be heavier than the Ducati it copies, even with less than half the displacement and just over a fifth of the power. Unlike the MX650, it's not even convincing in terms of style. While imitating the shapes of the Streetfighter V4, it barely manages to imitate them, because there is far too much fairing in evidence to hide the very poor engine.
While there is clearly no chance that a customer could be tricked into buying a parallel twin from Moxiao thinking they are getting their hands on a Ducati V4, it is surprising that the Borgo Panigale firm's lawyers have not already put an end to these copies. Presumably the difficulty of enforcing intellectual property rights in China, combined with the fact that Ducati is unlikely to lose sales on these machines, is why they continue to be made.
