Chongqing - A mass-produced motorcycle from Chongqing took on one of the world’s toughest hard enduro races this summer, giving its manufacturer real-world performance data as the city works to upgrade its high-end motorcycle industry.
The 23rd Red Bull Romaniacs hard enduro event began July 28 in Sibiu, Romania, drawing more than 2,000 riders from 58 countries to terrain that included rocky sections, mud and steep mountain slopes in the Carpathians.
The 23rd Red Bull Romaniacs event in Romania. (Photo/Dazhu District)
Among the competitors was the Chongqing-made TAIMU S300R, which entered the race in its standard production form rather than with specialized racing upgrades. Shi Jian, head of Chongqing Quzai Technology and team leader, said the team had originally planned to use the finalized S300R 2.0 model, but shipping delays prevented it from arriving on time.
The TAIMU S300R on the Red Bull Romaniacs race course. (Photo/Dazhu District)
The team instead obtained an earlier S300R from its Romanian dealer. Shi described the bike as a “0.5 version,” the first unit to roll off the production line, which was originally prepared for a motorcycle exhibition in Milan before later performance upgrades were completed.
"We were not simply trying to compete for rankings," Shi said. "We wanted to see how far a mass-produced Chinese motorcycle could go under the most extreme conditions."
A TAIMU S300R takes part in the 23rd Red Bull Romaniacs event. (Photo/Dazhu District)
Chinese rider Yang Songyi, who has competed in nearly 50 domestic off-road events, reached the fourth day before crashing into a ravine around the 80-kilometer mark. He later withdrew due to physical exhaustion. GPS data showed him ranked 50th in his category at the time, according to the team.
"The handling and power of the bike exceeded my expectations," Yang said. "Especially on difficult lower-altitude sections, it allowed me to overtake riders ahead several times."
For the company, the race also served as a real-world product development test. Shi said laboratory testing can reproduce controlled conditions but cannot fully simulate high-altitude environments, prolonged riding, or the interaction between rider and machine.
The team said it will apply data collected during the event to more than 10 gasoline and electric off-road motorcycle models. After the race, engineers began work on suspension tuning and engine calibration, while planning to replace carburetors with electronic fuel injection across the product line and adjust frame dimensions to better suit Asian riders.
The race comes as Chongqing develops its motorcycle industry as part of the city's "33618" modern manufacturing cluster system. High-end motorcycles are among six distinctive industrial clusters targeted for large-scale development.
Chongqing has 51 major motorcycle manufacturers and more than 410 major parts producers, with more than 80% of gasoline motorcycle components sourced locally.
In 2025, the city produced 7.857 million motorcycles, accounting for 35.5% of China's total output, while exports reached 6.109 million units.