AUS $14.95* NZ $14.95 (Both incl. GST) ISSUE 16 TRUE NORTH HUSQVARNA NORDEN 901 IN THE HIGH COUNTRY CFMOTO 800MT TOURING: ADV BUDGET BUSTER TRIUMPH SCRAMBLER 1200 XC: ADVENTURE BOUND? TÉNÉRÉ 700 WORLD RAID: THE NEXT GENERATION RIDE TO THE SNOWY RIDE ADV: THE END OF AN ERA KIWI DREAMING: NEW ZEALAND’S ADV WONDERLAND BARKBUSTERS: AUSTRALIAN-MADE SUCCESS STORY CLASSIC ADV: WYNN’S SAFARI TÉNÉRÉ & SUZUKI DR-BIG ADVENTUREBIKE AUSTRALIAN MAGAZINE
Chinese brand CFMOTO has grabbed everyone’s attention with the red-hot pricing on its new 800MT twin-cylinder adventure bike. There’s no question you get plenty of bike for less than 15 grand, in a machine that’s going to bring plenty of new riders into the ADV scene. STORY & PHOTOS ANDREW CLUBB
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TOTICKETRIDE
CFMOTO 800MT 51 AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE BIKE / 51 The 800MT is right at home on smooth gravel roads that are perfect for its soft-roader rather than off-roader ADV bike status.
China is a global economic powerhouse and the country’s ability to build a competitive mousetrap, but at half the price of what most other countries can build the same mousetrap for, is what puts them in such a commanding position. When money talks, we listen. Even when the product in question is ‘Made in China’ — didn’t that expression once carry some stigma? Not anymore. The same used to be so for Japanesemade motorcycles or Korean-made cars. Now they’re as well accepted as anything else in the marketplace, if not market leaders. They have forged strong reputations as products that offer quality, performance, durability, user-friendliness and competitive pricing. We Aussies no longer bat an eyelid when it comes to buying them. Are Chinese-made adventure bikes set to follow the same path? Is the CFMOTO
800MT at the forefront of a revolution? Ah, good questions, Grasshopper. Pass the crispy-skin chicken and let us ponder.
CFMOTO HAS HAD A PARTNERSHIP WITH AUSTRIAN BRAND KTM FOR MORE THAN A DECADE
The 800MT is happy carving up the city traffic as a mid-week commuter and would be even better with cleaner fuelling at low revs in stop/start traffic.
IN THE BEGINNING Founded in 1989, CFMOTO is a multibillion-dollar 100 per cent Chinese power sports company with its core business in motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and lubricants. As of 2021, CFMOTO had around 1800 employees and produced over 600,000 motorcycles a year, the majority being smaller-capacity bikes for the domestic market. However, 650cc twin-cylinder naked, sports and adventure bikes, as well as a couple of tasty new 700cc CLX road bikes, have helped to establish CFMOTO in international markets, while the new 800MT (dual-sport biased) and 800ST (road biased) adventure bikes are set to
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Hey, you there! The person with chopsticks in one hand and a massive banquet of all-you-can-eat Chinese food laid out on the table before you. Put that steamed dim sim down and pay attention: the Chinese are coming — but we’re not talking about Peking ducks and mixed entrees. No, we’re talking adventure bikes, for the time has come when Chinese manufacturers are getting serious about ADV machines and right now this new CFMOTO 800MT is the most serious Chinese-made large-capacity ADV machine to make it into Australian showrooms. And rest assured it is making an impact, because dealers are selling every one they can get, so CFMOTO must be onto something. Because if there’s one thing tight-fisted Aussie consumers don’t like doing, it’s throwing hard-earned dollars down the toilet on a product that just isn’t up to scratch. They might do it once, but they won’t come back for a second bite. You know the old saying 'once bitten, twice shy'? It applies to everything we buy, from toasters to power tools to motorcycles.
The innovative tyre tread structure provides improved road/off-road traction as well as maneuverability and precision. Excellent longevity and resistance in the face of adverse conditions thanks to the optimized tread depth and novel tyre tread components.
motorcycle.michelin.com.au ANAKEE WILD
push the brand way deeper into markets all around the world. The company has also announced details of a new 1250 luxury sports tourer, signalling this brand is going places and has big plans for the future, no two ways about it. For more than a decade CFMOTO has had a partnership with Austrian brand KTM, which kicked off with the manufacture of KTM 200 and 390 Duke models for sale in China. More recently the partnership has seen KTM transfer the manufacture of its 799cc LC8c engine to China, where KTM’s 790 models continue to be sold. It’s this motor that powers CFMOTO’s 800MT adventure bike that we’re riding here and it delivers 95 horsepower at 9000rpm and 77Nm of torque at 7500rpm. The motor boasts a slipper clutch, bi-directional quickshifter, Bosch engine management, ride-by-wire throttle and offers two ride modes — Sport and Rain. Cruise control is also a standard feature, but there is no traction control. The engine is slung from a tubular steel main frame with bolt-on subframe that is mated with a cast aluminium alloy swingarm.
TAKING EXTRA CARE WITH YOUR LINE CHOICE AND TRYING TO GHOST THE BIGGER HITS IMMEDIATELY BECAME THE ORDER OF THE DAY
CFMOTO claims the frame weighs in at 16kg, while the swingarm tips the scales at 6.9kg.
KYB suspension components are fitted front and rear, with the 43mm USD fork offering adjustable preload and compression and rebound damping, and delivering 160mm wheel travel. Out back the KYB shock also has adjustable preload and rebound damping, and controls 150mm of wheel travel. Spoked 19/17-inch wheels are standard fitment on the 800MT (whereas the 800ST model rolls on alloy wheels), with J.Juan brakes at both ends that feature dual 320mm discs with radial calipers up front and a single 260mm disc out back. The view up on the flight deck is dominated by a seven-inch full-colour TFT display and multi-function instrument panel that offers a swathe of on-bike info as well as Bluetooth connectivity via the CFMOTO Ride app that’s available across iOS and Android platforms. The app will also open the system’s navigation feature. When it comes to detail features, this is where the 800MT package gets more than a little interesting, because CFMOTO has loaded this bike with stacks of hardware. There’s a steering stabiliser, adjustable windshield, tyre pressure monitoring,
The 800MT is a good-looking machine that has a style all of its own. 19-litre tank. J.Juan brakes offer great stopping power and feel at the lever.
Flip-open lockable fuel cap seals the
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Chinese-made LC8c engine is from the previous-generation KTM 790 lineage.
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heated main seat, heated grips, fullwrap handguards, driving lights, USB and 12V power outlets, crash protection bars, centrestand, rear luggage bars, and alloy bashplate and HPDE lower engine case protectors. And don’t forget the aforementioned cruise control. Yes, all these goodies are standard on the 800MT. But if you want more farkles to personalise your 800MT, rest assured CFMOTO has you covered. The catalogue of accessory parts includes aluminium cases and top box, soft luggage, rally pegs, bar risers, TFT screen protector and aluminium protectors for the headlight, radiator, front brake master cylinder, front brake calipers and rear brake reservoir. There’s also a range of CFMOTObranded riding gear available.
Pushing hard on rougher tracks would test the KYB suspension, with the shock susceptible to bottoming on bigger hits.
As for vital stats, the 800MT has a 19-litre fuel tank with flip-open lockable filler cap, its wheelbase is 1531mm, ground clearance is 190mm and the seat height is a lowly 825mm. Finally, the 800MT’s claimed wet weight comes in at 225kg.
Now, what would you expect to pay for a bike with a KTM 790-derived twin-cylinder engine and a mighty swag of booty when it comes to detail fittings? How does from $14,490 ride-away sound? It sounds cheap, right? Like there has to be a catch, right? Well, let’s ride this beast and find out.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS When we bowled up to Western Sydney CFMOTO at Vineyard to collect the test bike, first impressions were good. The 800MT was sitting there resplendent in its twilight blue colour scheme with silver highlights, black frame and gold wheels, which were wearing nice and chunky, freshly fitted Mitas E10 rubber in place of the way more road-oriented standard Maxxis tyres. With modern, dare we say Euro, styling and graphics, the 800MT looks good, and the favourable impression only continues once you start checking out the build of the bike and taking in all those goodies fitted as standard equipment. But the test bike was also adorned with CFMOTO’s hard luggage kit ($2097), guards for the radiator ($169), front brake master cylinder ($59) and headlight ($179), and side crash bars ($299). Climbing aboard and heading out into the north-western Sydney traffic, the 800MT’s ergos instantly felt good, with a low seat/ high bars feel which was quite comfortable for me at 179cm tall. Right away, you do feel the bike’s weight, as it’s certainly no featherweight. The weight feels high-ish, as opposed to a bike like the Husqvarna Norden 901 I had ridden just a couple of weeks before, with its low-slung fuel cells and lower centre of gravity. The 800MT’s adjustable screen is a good one, and with it set in the highest position I felt protected from the wind right away. The indicator switch has a really light/short action, but after a while you get the feel for it. The cruise control switch also felt a little quirky in its action, as did the fact you had to hit the brakes to deactivate it — you couldn’t just roll the throttle back. Flowing with the tin-tops in the afternoon peak hour, it was instantly apparent that the throttle response didn’t feel the smoothest in stop/start traffic. The fuelling would hunt in lower revs up to around 3500rpm when you backed off, to the point where I needed to be careful to cover it with the clutch. This is something that could certainly be better, with CFMOTO claiming to have updated mapping specs on the way. Despite the fuelling, that first crossSydney commute was sweet enough. The KTM 790-derived motor is not short of stick, as you would expect, and in the upper revs it certainly gets motoring and the low-revs fumbles become nothing but a distant memory. Clutch and quickshifter action are
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THE KTM 790-DERIVED MOTOR IS NOT SHORT OF STICK, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, AND IN THE UPPER REVS IT CERTAINLY GETS MOTORING Getting your weight forward and up and over the 19-inch front wheel helps to improve handling when pushing hard in the dirt. Windscreen is adjustable and when set in the highest position did a good job of keeping windblast off the rider.
IT’S
good, although the quickshifter does reward positive shifts, so make every movement of your left foot count. The brakes are great at both ends, with heaps of feel and stopping power. The seat is wide and while it feels firm at first, I found it comfortable, and overall the 800MT makes a more than pleasant enough around-town mount — just mind that fluffy fuelling.
Tar back roads also rate highly, to the point where I was really enjoying the ride through the winding strips of tarmac that surround hamlets like Hilltop, Mittagong, Bowral, Bundanoon, Robertson, Marulan and all points south. With 160/150mm of wheel travel front/rear, I had some concerns the suspension action might have its limitations, but on those roads the bike felt plush without being soft, and it felt planted. I really liked the way the bike handled these conditions while riding quick without being silly, on the kind of tarmac back roads you get on every ride. On gravel roads the 800MT punched along sweetly, the Mitas tyres giving a welcome boost in grip and helping to raise your confidence levels to push a little harder. The stand-up ergos worked sweetly for me, particularly with the bars rolled forward in the mounts to help get your weight forward and over the 19-inch front wheel. The motor has a wide spread of useable power, but tighter corners that demanded you let the revs drop would bring that fuelling issue back into play.
A NATURAL HIGH Next on the menu for the 800MT was what we’d call a typical adventure touring ride from Sydney down into the Southern Highlands on an agenda that included freeways, tar back roads, gravel roads and forest tracks that would be the typical fodder of what we would expect to be the typical 800MT buyer. Freeway riding scores a solid tick as the 800MT is plenty comfortable enough hammering down the fast lane, the motor doing it easy as you tuck in behind the screen and tank and feel nicely cocooned and comfortable. The bike sits solid and stable at speed.
Cracking the throttle would result in a short lull in the power delivery before it started winding on again, but it wasn’t very smooth in the way it played out. On smooth sections of gravel, the fork and shock were well up to the task. But hitting sudden sharp-edged holes, rain ruts and the like soon brought the pace down. The shock would go through the stroke, so care was required to try and avoid the biggestDivinghits.deeper into the forest and tackling true off-road sections and 4WD tracks, the fuelling again became obvious in places where you are on/off the throttle constantly.
While the 800MT steered sweetly enough, and even with the 19-inch front wheel you could get it to pick lines and follow your directions, when you hit sudden obstacles at speed, the fork would get the front not mucking around and is diving in at the deep end of the mid-size ADV bike market.
CFMOTO’s
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Heated rider seat is another standard feature. THE 800MT’S SHARP STICKER PRICE THAT WILL BE THE HOOK THAT GETS BUYERS IN
POTENTIAL
EXTRA 800MT TOURING FEATURES CFMOTO.COM.AU RIDE 12,990AWAY$ Adventure riding now has a new and exciting dimension thanks to CFMOTO, with a KTM-sourced engine wrapped in a razor-sharp package brimming with technical flair and impressive styling. RIDE 14,490AWAY$ 800MT STANDARD FEATURES 7-inch TFT screen Ride by-wire throttle Multiple riding modes Cruise control Adjustable screen Fog lights Crash bars USB charging LED lights and turn signals. Tyre pressure monitoring Wire-spoked wheels Centrestand Quickshifter Handguards Alloy bashplate Steering damperTRAVELPERKSwww.cfmoto800mt.com.au 8EXT AWAY AlTyCe
Seven-inch TFT screen … tick! Headlight guard and lower crash bars are optional, but the driving lights and upper crash bars are standard fitment. CFMOTO 800MT 60 \ AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE BIKE
BITS & PIECES
There’s no shortage of power once you get the revs up and clear the fluffy fuelling at low revs.
The more we rode the 800MT, the more we came to like it for what it is and the price it is pegged at. Which begs the question, who will be the typical buyer of this bike? And the answer is, there will be a wide range of buyers, be they young or old, male or female. But we do expect many of them will be buying their first multi-cylinder adventure bike and they’re eyeing off the 800MT because they don’t want to confront the up to $25,000 or so price tag that comes with many rival machines in the category. It’s the 800MT’s sharp sticker price that will be the hook that gets prospective buyers in. Less than $15,000 ride-away is a cracking good price, while CFMOTO’s three-year factory warranty is yet another cherry on top. Sure, the 800MT has glitches, the fuelling at low revs being the obvious one, but for its first foray into the mid-size adventure bike market it’s clear CFMOTO is aiming high and is intent on establishing itself as a serious player in the ADV market. Interest in this bike is high, so as a branding exercise and a means by which to draw customers into CFMOTO showrooms, the 800 MT’s arrival is paying dividends. We can’t wait to see what’s next on the menu for this Chinese manufacturer because this banquet looks to have only just begun. AAB
end through but then the shock would G-out at the limit of its travel. It must be said there’s not massive amounts of travel at either end, and a couple of times I bottomed the back end and dragged the bike’s undercarriage coming down from water bars or punching through ruts. Taking extra care with your line choice and trying to ghost the bigger hits immediately became the order of the day. It was also clear that in the bush the 800MT’s ABS is not a match for the latest-generation ABS setups of rival — and admittedly more expensive — brands, which are more finely calibrated and confidence inspiring on the dirt. Dropping down loose and stony forest tracks would quickly activate the pucker factor as the ABS fought to do its job. While the front brake would release too readily, the rear wheel would lock, so the rule fast became ‘take it easy’ and wash off speed before things got too steep. The 800MT is definitely a soft-roader rather than an off-roader, and that in a nutshell is what this bike is all about.
The lack of traction control is one of the obvious omissions on the 800MT, given such technology is now so common on mid-size adventure bikes, albeit those that come with a much higher price tag than the CFMOTO. No doubt an upgraded electronics suite will be the order of the day in a future model, but no doubt with a commensurate boost in the bike’s price. The TFT screen is an impressive unit and is a great size, but I found many of the icons and some of the text displayed were actually quite small, and tough for weary old eyeballs like mine to get a focus on. There’s plenty of space on the screen for this info to be bigger and easier to view. We achieved just on 20km per litre fuel economy during our time with the 800MT, suggesting a safe fuel range from the 19-litre tank should be around 350km in adventure touring conditions before fuel anxiety really kicks in.
IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR
THE 800MT IS DEFINITELY A SOFT-ROADER RATHER THAN AN OFF-ROADER, WHICH IS WHAT THIS BIKE IS ALL ABOUT
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Optional front brake master cylinder guard was fitted to our test bike. J.Juan brakes handle the rear stoppingwheelchores.
