When I first saw the blurry photo above, I thought, here we go again, another Chinese knockoff of the Italjet Dragster. You can’t really blame me. Over the years, plenty of Chinese manufacturers have taken “inspiration” from Western and Japanese bikes, sometimes outright cloning them. The Dragster, with its wild trellis frame and aggressive stance, would be a tempting target for copycats.
But a closer look flipped the script. This wasn’t a back-alley imitation. It was QJ Motor, one of the biggest motorcycle manufacturers in China, and the company behind brands like Benelli, Keeway, and MBP. And as it turns out, QJ Motor isn’t just friendly with the Italians.
They’re Italjet’s official distributor in China. They’re legit.
The machine in question is the QJ Motor 700 Dragster, a dead ringer for the Italjet Dragster 700 Twin. And that’s because it is one. Same 693cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine [Ed. note: Which is, in fact, supplied by QJ Motor to Italjet for the Dragster 700], same 6-speed foot shifter and chain drive, same steel trellis frame, Marzocchi suspension, Brembo brakes, and twin exhausts tucked up under the tail. Italjet quotes 68 hp for the EU model; QJ Motor’s local homologation papers list 76 hp.
The only real difference is the badge, a slightly higher claimed weight, and the fact that in China, it’ll wear QJ Motor branding and be marketed as the QJ Italjet.
Italjet even released a statement to make it official, confirming that the QJ-badged version exists for Chinese homologation and that it’s very much the real deal. That makes the big question: will it be cheaper than the Italjet Dragster sold in the rest of the world?
Considering Italjet’s 14,500-euro (around $15,800 USD) price tag in Europe, the Chinese-market version could end up being significantly more affordable, thanks to QJ Motor’s production scale and local manufacturing skills.
And that’s where the broader implications for the motorcycle industry come in. This isn’t just about a scooter, it’s about a trend. If more Chinese brands leverage their sheer production capacity and volume, we could see more and more Western brands forming deep partnerships with Chinese manufacturers. We’ve already seen it: MV Agusta with QJMotor, KTM with CFMoto, BMW with Loncin, the list goes on.
Is it a bad thing or a good thing? Objectively, it means more bikes for more people at lower prices, especially in emerging markets. But symbolically and emotionally—especially for purists—the idea of a boutique Italian, Austrian, or German machine sharing so much DNA with a Chinese-built bike might feel like a dilution of identity. I’ll let you be the judge.
Source: Motorrad Online
