The Brute 500 Is A New British Bike From Herald, And Their Biggest Model Yet
The British manufacturer Herald has launched its largest model yet, with the Brute 500 featuring an engine more commonly found in Italian bikes.
The Brute 500 is, as with Herald’s previous offerings, brought to reality with the help of China. In the case of the Brute 500, Zongshen is, according to Motorrad, the provider of the international assistance with the motor, whereas Herald in this case is designing the other parts of the bike itself – a variation from its past.
That past includes several small capacity (125s and 250s) bikes that are of Chinese origin but with Herald are given a classic aesthetic. In fact, the Brute 500 is perhaps – save arguably the Brat 125 and 250X – the most modern-looking of Herald’s bikes so far. And it is also the largest, with the name leaving little to the imagination about the displacement of its engine.
Herald Brute 500 ridden through field. – Herald
Well, there is a little left to the imagination, because it is not, actually, a 500, but it is a 450 single-cylinder four-stroke motor producing 42.5 horsepower. That does not sound a great distance from a top-range motocross engine, which is because it isn’t. This engine in fact comes via Zongshen from Fantic, whose CEO used to work at Aprilia, which is owned by Piaggio, who has a relationship with Zongshen. It is not a straight path, but an effective one for Herald, who gets to make use of a decent 450 motor in their new Brute.
