Zhang Xue's motorcycles are selling like hotcakes, and the delivery will take three months.

Zhang Xue's dream of becoming a champion has finally come true.

From March 28th to 29th, at the Portimão Circuit in Portugal, on the track of the FIM Superbike World Championship (hereinafter referred to as "WSBK"), French rider Valentin Debise, driving the 820RR - RS racing motorcycle of Zhang Xue Motorcycle, won the championship in two consecutive rounds. This is the first time a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer has topped the WSBK top - level event, breaking the decades - long monopoly of international brands such as Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki in this category.

Zhang Xue, the 39 - year - old founder of Zhang Xue Motorcycle, had red eyes beside the track. Before the competition, Zhang Xue set a three - year goal: "To be on the podium in the first year, win a race in the second year, and win the championship in the third year." Now, this goal has been achieved ahead of schedule.

The racing motorcycles participating in WSBK must be modified based on mass - produced models, and generally, the mass - production scale is required to exceed 2,000 units. In the view of industry insiders, winning the championship in this event means that the engine's ultimate performance, frame rigidity, and electronic control tuning ability of the mass - produced vehicles have reached the world's top level.

Just half a year ago, Zhang Xue said in an interview: "I can't be an excellent rider myself, but the racing motorcycles I make allow excellent riders to ride and win championships. In fact, it's the same as me winning the championship."

From a motorcycle repair apprentice to the behind - the - scenes creator of a world champion, Zhang Xue has staged a real - life version of *The Rapide* on the world's top - level tracks with a Chinese racing motorcycle.

01

The founder has a junior high school education and was once a motorcycle repairman in a county town

The slogan of Zhang Xue Motorcycle is "Extreme Passion". And Zhang Xue himself is the most real portrayal of this slogan.

In 1987, Zhang Xue was born in a remote mountain village in Huaihua, Hunan. He was obsessed with motorcycles since childhood. Due to his poor family, he had to "achieve his goal indirectly" and gradually get closer to his dream of becoming a racing rider. After graduating from junior high school in 2003, he first became an apprentice in a motorcycle repair shop. At the age of 17, he opened his own motorcycle repair shop.

"Just take a little of your time." In 2006, in a video of the *Evening News* program on Hunan TV, 19 - year - old Zhang Xue stopped a reporter and pleaded for a chance to be on TV. After being rejected, he straddled his 20 - year - old Honda, which he bought for more than a thousand yuan, and chased the program team's car on the hundred - kilometer mountain road from Huaihua to Mayang.

When he arrived in Mayang, he was covered in mud. Facing the reporter's doubts, he said: "Being on TV is not important. It's important for me to join a racing team." In front of the camera, he tried his best to persuade the program team: "Whether a person fails or succeeds, if he doesn't do something when he is young, he will definitely regret it when he is old. If he does it when he is young, even if he fails when he is old, he won't regret it."

Unfortunately, due to his immature skills, Zhang Xue didn't show very good riding skills during this attempt to be on TV. But his persistence touched people. In 2007, he successfully entered a professional motorcycle team to learn, under the guidance of a professional rider. At that time, Zhang Xue was not an official member, and all his expenses and training fees still had to be borne by himself. In his words, those two years were "all about giving, with no income".

19 - year - old Zhang Xue. Screenshot from the *Evening News* program on Hunan TV

In 2009, Zhang Xue, who was at the end of his rope, left the racing team. "I can't become a very excellent professional racing rider myself. I have to earn money to support myself. Every time I watch a program about athletes on CCTV5, I cry while watching." After that, Zhang Xue worked at Zhejiang Apollo Motorcycle Company for three years.

In 2013, with 20,000 yuan in his pocket, Zhang Xue came alone to Chongqing, known as the "motorcycle kitchen", and started his business of "making motorcycles". At first, he posted messages on various automobile forums every day and gradually gained popularity in the circle. Then he bought parts from the market and modified motorcycles by himself. In the following years, he earned his first pot of gold by selling assembled motorcycles to motorcycle enthusiasts - this was also his real start - up capital for entrepreneurship.

In 2017, he co - founded Tibet Zhufeng Kaiyue Industrial Co., Ltd. with two partners and created the brand "Kaiyue Motorcycle", successively launching heavy - weight models such as the 450RR and 500X. In August 2018, the first model of Kaiyue Motorcycle was launched, with a sales volume of about 800 units in the first year; the sales volume reached 3,000 units the next year. "After that, it was 20,000 units and 30,000 units." Zhang Xue recalled in an interview in 2025.

At the beginning of the business, Zhang Xue insisted on independently developing the engine; otherwise, he would definitely be "held back". But for a start - up company, the investment of tens of millions of yuan was too risky, and the partners were reluctant to take the risk. So Zhang Xue borrowed money from the company in his personal name and independently promoted the engine development. Finally, he spent 30 million yuan to develop a mass - producible large - displacement self - developed engine.

In March 2024, Zhang Xue left the company he founded. He admitted in an interview that he left because he insisted on making a heavy investment in engine development, which seriously differed from his partners' opinions. Before leaving, he had been removed from the position of general manager. After failing to persuade his partners to invest for the last time, he reluctantly chose to leave.

In April of the same year, Chongqing Zhang Xue Motorcycle Industry Co., Ltd. was established - that is, the current Zhang Xue Motorcycle. As for why it's called "Zhang Xue Motorcycle"? He said: "It's like putting myself all in."

02

Zhang Xue Motorcycle is selling like hotcakes, and the delivery takes 3 months

The outstanding performance of Zhang Xue Motorcycle in international competitions has also boosted the terminal market.

"There have been a lot of inquiries in the past two days, and 20 motorcycles have been ordered." On March 30th, the store manager of a Zhang Xue Motorcycle store in a certain city told *Times Finance*. She revealed that before the championship in the competition, the store's sales had already been good, "stably selling 40 to 50 units every month."

So far, Zhang Xue Motorcycle has not launched many models. The brand's official website shows that Zhang Xue Motorcycle has only launched three models: the 500RR, 820RR, and 500F, with prices ranging from 29,900 yuan to 43,800 yuan.

Wen Qing (pseudonym) is a franchisee of Zhang Xue Motorcycle. He told *Times Finance*: "We motorcycle dealers have known Zhang Xue for a long time. He is very famous in the circle - from the beginning of making Huanghe Freedom, to co - founding Kaiyue Motorcycle, and now creating the Zhang Xue brand, he has always been highly concerned. When he was at Kaiyue, the sales of Kaiyue motorcycles were very good in the market. Now, the overall configuration of Zhang Xue Motorcycle is comparable to that of foreign brands, but the pricing is still at the level of domestic motorcycles. I thought it was worth doing at that time."

The first batch of 500RR motorcycles delivered by Zhang Xue Motorcycle. Image source: Zhang Xue Motorcycle official website

In September 2024, at the 22nd China International Motorcycle Expo, Zhang Xue Motorcycle officially launched its first model, the four - cylinder sports bike 500RR. Wen Qing recalled that Zhang Xue's personal IP was very appealing. "At that time, the first model was only unveiled at the auto show. Not long after the auto show, Zhang Xue Motorcycle already had its first batch of dealers, and there were no ready - to - deliver motorcycles at that time. I'm in the second batch of the brand's dealers."

In April 2025, after observing for a period of time, Wen Qing opened his first Zhang Xue Motorcycle store in his hometown. "I sold 20 units in the first month." He admitted that he didn't expect the sales to be so good. Only six months after the opening of Wen Qing's first Zhang Xue Motorcycle store, his second store opened in another city, and the monthly sales of the new store quickly stabilized at around 50 units.

As a senior motorcycle dealer, Wen Qing said that he hasn't seen any obvious shortcomings of Zhang Xue Motorcycle in the market yet, but brand building still takes time.

"Most of the people who come to buy motorcycles are young people. The older generation trusts more the motorcycles of joint - venture brands between Japanese companies like Suzuki and Honda and Chinese local enterprises. They think that many domestic motorcycles used to rely on low prices to increase sales, and their quality is not as good as these joint - venture brands. But now, young people are more willing to try new brands and are also willing to recommend them to their friends if they think they are good."

He believes that motorcycles are not fast - moving consumer goods, and the brand development and performance growth highly depend on word - of - mouth and product competitiveness. Against the background of the long - standing dominance of international brands, Zhang Xue Motorcycle still faces many challenges in quickly expanding its market share, but its long - term development trend is positive.

According to him, the overall sales of Zhang Xue Motorcycle are rising rapidly. "The sales volume of our store has increased by 20% to 30% in the past two days. I can't see the data of other stores, but from the order - booking system, I can see that the delivery cycle of orders that used to be delivered in one month has now been extended to 2 - 3 months."

03

170 stores opened in 9 months, and it plans to enter the European market this year

Zhang Xue's racing dream has attracted close attention from the capital market.

According to Tianyancha, in July 2024, Zhang Xue Motorcycle completed its angel - round financing. The investor was Shanghai Gaoxin Lingzhi Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership), a private equity fund under Gaoxin Capital. The latter has a registered capital of 51 million yuan, and Zhou Jiansu, as an individual limited partner, subscribed for 50 million yuan of capital.

Therefore, Zhou Jiansu is considered by the outside world to be the first "mentor" Zhang Xue met when creating his personal brand. However, there is little public information about Zhou Jiansu. Tianyancha shows that Zhou Jiansu is also a shareholder of Moxing Yingchuang (Shanghai) Industrial Design Co., Ltd.

Even though it has won the favor of investors, the development of Zhang Xue Motorcycle has not been smooth sailing on the surface.

Zhang Xue recalled in a media interview that during the seed - round financing, the investor invested 20 million yuan for a 20% stake. He also privately borrowed 10 million yuan from the investor. Coupled with the money he got after leaving Kaiyue, he raised more than 30 million yuan in total, planning to support the company until the launch of the first model of Zhang Xue Motorcycle in March 2025. Unexpectedly, the company ran out of funds in February last year, and he had to borrow 7 million yuan from various sources to stabilize the team.

It wasn't until the new - product launch conference in March 2025 and the start of delivery that, with the help of the suppliers' payment terms and the dealers' deposit, a stable capital pool was formed.

The latest round of financing took place in January this year.

In January 2026, Zhang Xue Motorcycle completed its Series A financing, led by funds such as Hangzhou Zhechuang Baige Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Jinhua Zhechuang Jinyi Zhikong Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) under Zhejiang Venture Capital Group (Zhejiang Venture Capital). Since then, Zhang Xue Motorcycle has received the support of state - owned - background shareholders, and the company's valuation has soared to 1 billion yuan.

As of March 31st, Zhang Xue himself holds about 73.39% of the equity of Chongqing Zhang Xue Motorcycle Industry Co., Ltd.; Shanghai Gaoxin Lingzhi Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Chongqing Zhang Xue Partner Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) both hold about 9.17% of the company's equity; Jinhua Zhechuang Jinyi Zhikong Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Hangzhou Zhechuang Baige Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) hold 5.50% and 2.75% of the equity respectively.

Backed by capital, Zhang Xue Motorcycle is accelerating its expansion.

As of July 1st, 2025, there were only 75 offline stores of Zhang Xue Motorcycle. By March 25th, 2026, the brand's stores across the country had covered 32 provincial - level administrative regions, with a total of 245 stores opened. This means that in 9 months, the number of Zhang Xue Motorcycle stores across the country has increased by 170.

Screenshot from Zhang Xue Motorcycle's official WeChat account.

Zhang Xue Motorcycle is further expanding its distribution network. The brand's official WeChat account shows that the planned investment - attraction areas of Zhang Xue Motorcycle include many low - tier cities in provinces such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Shanxi, and Anhui. According to different store types from Class A to Class C, the start - up capital required for franchisees ranges from 300,000 yuan to 1.5 million yuan.

According to a report by China National Radio, in 2025, the total output value of Zhang Xue Motorcycle reached 750 million yuan, the R & D investment was 69.58 million yuan, and the sales volume exceeded 25,000 units. Just this year, Zhang Xue also revealed in an interview that the company's sales in 2025 were 720 million yuan, with a loss of 20 million yuan.

According to Zhang Xue's plan, in 2026, the number of Zhang Xue Motorcycle stores should reach 450, and the sales should reach 2 billion yuan. "The company will make a profit when the sales reach 2 billion yuan. It will break even when the sales reach 1.5 billion yuan, and it will make a loss when the sales are below 1.5 billion yuan." This means that the sales of Zhang Xue Motorcycle need to increase by 177% year - on - year within this year.

Under the goal of high - growth, Zhang Xue Motorcycle is also actively preparing to go global. In November last year, Zhang Xue Motorcycle officially made its global debut at EICMA 2025, launched a comprehensive series of motorcycles specially tailored for the European market, and plans to officially enter Europe in 2026.

When asked what Chinese brands still lack compared with mature Japanese and European manufacturers, Zhang Xue pointed out three key aspects: brand reputation,