Zhang"s story begins in a crumbling mud-brick house in rural Hunan Province, central China. Born in 1987 to divorced parents, he was stuffing plastic sheeting into cracks by age 10 with a younger sister. He dropped out of school at 14 to work in a repair shop, sleeping covered in engine grease, saving every single yuan.

　　"I never thought about changing careers," Zhang said in the interview. "I never had the opportunity to change careers. And since I could still do this thing, I just kept doing it."

　　That apprenticeship gave him something no engineering degree could: he saw every possible way a motorcycle breaks. "I know which structures fail most often. When I started building my own bikes, I knew exactly which designs to avoid."

　　Around 2009, Zhang had moved to Zhejiang to work at Apollo. There, he learned to ride like a professional, entered various amateur races, and won a few trophies. A China Central Television program filmed him attempting a water-crossing stunt twice. He failed both times and injured himself.

　　But he told the camera: "Even if I don"t succeed this time, I"ll keep trying. Maybe not next time either. But eventually, I will." The same show also captured him dismantling an engine and then reassembling it blindfolded in just over an hour.

　　THE DREAM THAT GOT AWAY

　　In early 2013, he arrived in Chongqing, the heart of China"s motorcycle industry, with his wife Chen Xingyi and just 20,000 yuan (about 2,900 U.S. dollars). He went straight to the parts market, blew his entire savings on components, and assembled a bike in his own vision. He posted his progress on online forums, became a minor celebrity in China"s motorcycle circles, sold his first bike, and built a better one. Later that year, he joined Huanghe Motorcycle, helping develop the 250X and 300X. In 2017, he co-founded Kove Moto.