Benelli Parent Patents Second KTM Engine

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Qianjiang’s new patents show a V-twin motor that nearly mirrors the “1290″ unit seen in KTM’s Super Duke R and Super Adventure R models. (Qianjiang/)

Back in January patents emerged for a new 799cc parallel-twin engine that bore the Benelli ‘“TNT” logo on its cylinder head and came from that company’s parent firm, Qianjiang, but otherwise looked nearly identical to KTM’s LC8c design. Now a second KTM look-alike engine has followed the same route, as Qianjiang has put forward designs for a large V-twin just like KTM’s 1,301cc Super Duke R motor. Visually, the design patents—intended to protect the intellectual property of the engine’s external appearance—show barely any differences to the KTM motor, and from the limited information surrounding the design we can tell it’s internally similar as well.

Related: A Future Benelli V-twin on the Way?

As well as having the same 1,301cc displacement with the same bore, it looks outwardly the same. (Qianjiang/)

The patents show the engine goes under the internal code name “QJ2V108MYL.” Catchy, huh? That title follows a convention that applies to all bike engines manufactured in China and can be decoded to offer more information on the design. The first two places represent the engine manufacturer code, in this case “QJ” for Qianjiang. As well as owning Benelli, Qianjiang markets bikes under the QJmotor brand, as well as supplying machines in various territories under the Keeway and KSR Moto brands. Qianjiang itself is majority owned by the Geely Holding Group, better known as parent to marques including Volvo, Polestar, Smart, and Lotus. In other words, these aren’t fly-by-night, bit players in the automotive market.

The next part of the engine’s code, “2V,” is simply a descriptor of its layout. It’s a V-twin. That’s followed by the most significant element of the code, “108,” which relates to the engine’s bore—108mm. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that’s exactly the bore used on KTM’s 1,301cc “1290″ engine, as used in the Super Duke R and Super Adventure R, which is also visually identical to this design. The last three letters, “MYL,” appear to be an internal code, allowing different engines with the same manufacturer, layout, and bore to be differentiated.

Qianjiang already has several agreements with Western brands, and KTM has also licensed some designs in China. (Qianjiang/)

Although there’s a long history of Chinese brands shamelessly copying designs from other manufacturers, that isn’t necessarily happening here. It’s possible, even likely, that Qianjiang has either established or is negotiating a license to manufacture the engine. The company already has several agreements with Western brands, including a deal to develop and manufacture future small-capacity Harley-Davidsons for the Asian market, and an arrangement with MV Agusta to provide small to midsized bikes, starting with the recently revealed Lucky Explorer 5.5. The company also has a KTM connection already since it’s campaigning KTM-made machinery in this year’s Moto3 World Championship under the QJmotor brand with the Avintia team.

Beyond that, KTM already has several of its engines manufactured in China thanks to a deal with CFMoto, which makes the “790″ and “890″ parallel-twin engines for KTM as well as building entire bikes including Chinese-market versions of the 790 Duke. It also makes its own versions of the KTM 790 engine for the newly launched CFMoto 800MT adventure bike and has developed a 1,279cc version of KTM’s older LC8 V-twin to use in the biggest CFMoto model of all, the 1250TR-G tourer, which is already sold in China and widely tipped to be getting a global launch later this year.

If this V-twin is ever produced, it’s very likely to find a home in a Benelli model. (Qianjiang/)

If Qianjiang is to manufacture a version of the KTM V-twin, as this patent suggests, it’s likely to be destined for a Benelli-branded model. At the moment, the biggest Benelli is the 1200GT, a Chinese-market tourer rivaling the CFMoto 1250TR-G and using an upsized version of the old Tornado 1130 triple. The company also reintroduced the Benelli TNT 899 recently, again using the old Benelli triple. In late 2020, Benelli promised a future range that would include 250cc, 380cc, and 530cc singles; 400cc, 700cc, and 900cc parallel twins; 900cc and 1,200cc triples; and 650cc and 1,000cc four-cylinder bikes. The last of those is due to use MV Agusta’s four-cylinder engine. How the 799cc and 1,301cc KTM-based twins will fit into that plan remains to be seen.

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