Introduction
There’s been massive interest from the adventuring world in the new 450cc model from Chinese manufacturer CFMoto. But is this affordable, small-capacity off-roader the unicorn adventure machine many have been searching for? We headed out in the rain to find out…
When Raul, BRM part-time tester, arrived at the office ready to head out on the roads, the weather was already looking really unpleasant. And with TV3’s forecaster talking about warnings the night before, it looked like a bleak day to test motorcycles. But, as Kerry helpfully reminded me, I always tell her riding in the rain is ‘character-building’, so we were looking at some serious improvements in character as we headed out into a nasty easterly flow.
Raul is one of the founders of the Waikato Adventure Riders social media group and had been telling me how much he’d like to give the CFMoto a try for a number of months. So when we finally got the good-looking blue and silver machine in the BRM shed, I made sure to give him a call and arrange to get him out on the test. The problem was, as he’s got a ‘proper’ job, this particular day was the only time he could make it, and that meant a day of building characters and testing bikes. Oh, well. It could always be worse…
What’s the Fuss?
Adventure riding is a funny thing, depending on which end of the spectrum you sit on. For many, adventure bikes are just a comfortable way to get from A to B. And while they might occasionally get dirty by dipping a toe onto a gravel road, the big, heavy, high-powered models are more likely wearing rubber that is 90/10 road/off-road suited and rarely finds dirt.
Then there are the guys who take their adventure bikes on tracks and trails which really should be tackled on a full-on dirt bike. Yet, for some reason, they take pleasure in torturing their $30k machines by crashing through bogs and rivers, railing through ruts and, generally, getting muddy and falling over. They’ll be furnished with knobbly tyres, which make them horrible on the road, but the added traction in the snotty stuff more than makes up for the droning noise and terrible handling on the tarseal.
The one thing all groups seem to have in common, though, is the desire for a machine which is smaller, lighter and more manageable while also not costing a fortune. But said machine needs to tick a number of ‘adventure’ boxes, with a 21-inch front wheel, TFT dash, tubeless spoked wheels and switchable rear ABS all on the non-negotiable list. In the brochure, the new CFMoto has a firm X next to all those options, which got the Adv gang all excited.
The reality isn’t so cut and dried, with the fact that the CFMoto is made in China, causing a few grumbles from the predominantly Euro gang. Then there’s the fact the 449cc parallel-twin produces a LAMS-approved 40-ish horsepower at 8,500rpm, which means it isn’t likely to blast up muddy hills or pull massive wheelstands, something the ‘real’ adventures love to do. So, who exactly is the new 450MT likely to appeal to? Well, heading out into the rain, I was intrigued to find out.
Small Package
With the success of Royal Enfield’s 450cc Himalayan which launched this year, the sub-500cc category is proving to be a bit of hit with buyers, although I hazard a guess it’s not riders trading in their KTM’s and BMW for a teal CFMoto. No, I think there are a lot of purchasers in this segment who have always fancied getting into adventure riding but weren’t prepared to risk the tiptoe topple-over that came with learning a new skill on machines which make you feel like you need stilts. And then there are the guys who’ve been there with big adventure bikes that are now just looking for a machine which is smaller and more affordable yet will still be a whole heap of fun.
With the 450MT finally sitting in the shed, I was surprised to see the CFMoto looked like a full-size adventure bike. And it’s good looking too, which is a hard thing to achieve in the utilitarian genre where none of the bikes are what you’d call sexy. The CFMoto, especially in the green-ish colour is quite pretty, made even more so when you turn the key and the TFT dash fires into life and the LED headlight comes into action. It’s a cool bike, and that’s half the battle when you’re the new kid on the block trying to enter a segment.
Firing it into life supplies the next surprise, with the small parallel-twin producing some kind of wizardry in the form of a throaty exhaust note that makes it sound a whole heap more fruity than the 450cc twin could ever hope to achieve. And the final piece of the puzzle comes into play when jumping onboard and finding the KYB suspension soaks up a fair bit of its travel, making for a flat-foot riding position even for those who are slightly challenged in the inseam department.
From the saddle, there’s nothing that screams this is a cheap bike (if you haven’t seen the price yet, it’s just under $10k!), and more importantly, there’s also nothing screaming this is Chinese-made, either. The switchgear feels as good as anything you’d get out of Japan, and the TFT screen is a delight to look at, with two different themes changing the layout but both offering plenty of information, including a large gear-change indicator, rev counter and speedo. You can connect your phone and your Bluetooth headset to manage music, calls etc., and there’s even a CFMoto app which you can connect that lets you analyse the data from your ride, including details like lean angle, average speed and all that other good stuff. It can even tell you where you’ve parked the bike and guide you to it for when you’ve parked in a large festival car park, and operate the lights so the 450MT can guide your way. And let’s just reiterate again, this is all on a $10k bike. Yep, it’s starting to become clear why people have been talking so much about this model.
CFMoto 450 MT: Big Surprise
Heading out of Hamilton on the Expressway, and while that throaty exhaust was great for blipping the throttle and enjoying the sound, it becomes a bit of a drone when sitting at 110km/h on the motorway, where the little engine is sitting at a heady 6,500rpm. It’s clear that to make the most of the small motor’s limited power output, the gearing has been kept low, so 100km/h is just under 6,000rpm, and the rev counter always seems to be at the top-end of the range in everyday riding. That does make overtakes at 100km/h are a simple case of rolling the throttle on rather than needing to drop a cog, and the CFMoto showed over 135km/h on the clock at one point, meaning there’s no problem keeping up with traffic. But at these sorts of speeds, the engine is revving so high that it’s almost enough to make your ears bleed, so if this were my bike, the first thing I’d do is change gearing to bring the revs down a bit on the open road.
With a seat height of 820mm (which can be dropped 20mm by changing the linkage bolt position), the CFMoto is already extremely confidence-inspiring due to the close proximity of the ground and the fact I was always able to get my feet down. The only issue is the distance between the saddle and the pegs, with the sit-in riding position making the rider’s triangle feel slightly unnatural, with my knees positioned high while the raised handlebars meant my arms were also quite high up. Transitioning from sitting to standing takes an extra bit of effort thanks to the low saddle, although once I was up, the standing riding position of the CFMoto was surprisingly comfortable.
The suspension, which apparently is fully-adjustable although there are no adjusters on the top, felt a little harsh over bumps on the road when pushing on a bit, although the 200mm of travel was more welcome as we headed off-road and started exploring the limits of the green machine on the gravel twists and turns heading south to Kawhia. And with a claimed 175-kilo dry weight that sits low down in the chassis, the more I got used to what I could get away with on the CFMoto, the more fun I was beginning to have.
On the road, despite changing conditions thanks to the patchy rain, the CST tyres seemed impressive, which I guess wasn’t too much of a surprise as they look almost identical to Pirelli’s excellent Scorpion STR rubber. There was plenty of confidence from the front tipping into turns, and with only 40-horsepower on tap, there isn’t much chance of overwhelming the rear hoop by getting on the gas too hard. Yet, the CFMoto has traction control to gather up any heavy-handedness, which is an excellent safety option for a bike in this price range.
Hitting the gravel and I was excited to press the large ‘off-road’ button on the left switchblock, which deactivated the rear ABS and also the traction control, meaning a bit of sliding action was on the cards. Although, as it turned out, that ended up being more by stomping on the rear brake pedal than gassing hard out of turns. Flicking the light clutch lever could instigate a bit of spin, but otherwise, the power from the 270-degree firing parallel-twin simply hooked up and drove forward. I was actually quite surprised at how fast and comfortable the CFMoto quickly became, despite the fact that the front 21-inch tyre feels slightly vague now, thanks to the more road-orientated rubber.
Holy Grail?
No, it’s not the bike that the dedicated adventure fraternity has been waiting for, I don’t think. But, to be honest, that’s not who CFMoto are aiming for with this bike. Instead, for someone new to adventure riding or for those who want to move down from a large, expensive and unwieldy machine, then the CFMoto is certainly going to impress. On the road, the little twin loves to be revved and delivers smiles by the mile as you flick up and down the sweet six-speed gearbox. There’s no quickshifter, but that doesn’t matter as it would no doubt increase the price and take a bit of the charm away from the package. Instead, you’ll happily be able to chase others around gravel roads content in the knowledge you’ll be feeling much more in control than others on towering machines. Plus, you’ll also be slightly less worried about falling off as the investment won’t be anywhere near as great.
And when you all arrive somewhere, the next bonus is that the CFMoto looks great and certainly not like it’s a budget option. The styling is modern, the colour sparkles and the tubeless wheels will get the thumbs up from anyone in the know. Then, when you start it up, that throaty growl will certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Without such a major investment at the outset, you’re likely to have a bit of spare cash to do some upgrades. For me, it would be a taller saddle and a swap of the rubber, depending on my chosen pursuit – more off-road orientated if I was predominantly doing that. The handguards are more like sturdy wind protectors, so swapping those for a set of proper Barkbusters would provide some added security in the event of a spill, and then finally, I’d add a tooth or two to the sprocket to up the gearing a touch. And that’s it.
So, if you’ve always fancied trying adventure riding, the CFMoto 450MT is not only an affordable way to do it, but it’ll also make you look better than you probably are, and that’s worth a lot. It’s not too heavy, so picking it up isn’t going to be as hard as some of the big beasties, although anything close to 200-kilos isn’t exactly going to be a walk in the park. But, it’s certainly better to be on the low side of 200 than the other…
The throttle can be a bit abrupt coming off closed, although apparently, there’s already an update to fix that, which bikes receive on their first service. The 450MT is a bike with which you could really do a bit of everything, all in moderation, anyway. No, the KTM brigade won’t be chopping in their 890s just yet, and you probably won’t want to be tackling snotty bogs and jumping huge hills on the CFMoto. But for adventuring around NZ and exploring some of the wonderful places which require turning off the tarseal and getting a bit adventurous, the CFMoto 450MT will do it all.
Pics: Raul / Two Creative Photography
