CFMOTO 800MT

It’s been my experience that once this bike is physically shoved under the average enthusiasts’ nose, it’s met with either astonishment induced silence or a torrent of “wows”,”OMGs” and “is it as good as it looks?” The answer is simply “YES”.

My first ride on an 800MT was on the Sport variant and impressive is not a word that pays enough credit to that, all to brief experience. The throttle response, the excellent seating position and its handling all left me wanting more.

A few weeks down the track and I was at Sunstate Motorcycles on the Gold Coast early on a very bleak and wet Saturday morning to pick up a long term test bike. This bike is the adventure touring model, which fits in perfectly with what I’m all about.

The ride back to Brisbane was soggy to say the least and although I arrived home drenched to the bone, I was still sporting a cheesy grin when my wife opened the roller door. Once parked in the dry, warm stable alongside the family’s small fleet, I took the time to assess what was before me and what a buyer was actually getting for what seemed a seriously low price tag of $14,490 ride away.

Cross checking with my own stock standard 1050 Japanese adventure tourer parked beside it, the cheesy grin began to fade.

I don’t have crash bars or heated grips, heated seat, right angle valve stems, tyre heat and pressure sensors, centre stand, bashplate, fog lights, steering dampner, ride modes, 7” TFT display, quickshifter, toe adjustment on the gear shift, integrated GPS and bluetooth, twin USB ports and cruise control, yet my bike was sporting a ride away price of over $18,000 in 2019.

Looking deeper I began searching for low quality items like suspension, only to find the same KYB fully adjustable units that Suzuki uses on its current V-Strom 1050XT, a bike that could possibly be stacked up against the 800MT in a comparison test. So, a little hard to claim a quality issue there!

The motor maybe? Nope! KTM’s LC8 has proved its worth over the last couple of years and here it is happily nestled in the CFMOTO’s frame.

Brakes?.....No!  J.Juan are now a quite respectable brake manufacturer owned by Brembo who aren’t about to hook up with anything or anyone lacking quality, given they’ve spent years at the forefront of brake manufacturing.

Even the swingarm, which looks suspiciously like it was stolen from the KTM factory, is high quality. So it’s quite clear right from the get go, these guys are really making an effort to fit in here with every nut and bolt appearing to be of a standard that would make a couple of its competitors hang their heads in shame. But will a serious ride bring out anything nasty?

The Ride

First thing you will notice when you sit on either of the 800MT’s is the width of the seat. It is quite square and initially annoying when you put your feet down at a set of lights for example, as it rubs slightly on the inside of your thigh. This annoyance disappears very quickly as you get used to it and realise what a dream the seat is while riding any distance.

Ergonomically the bike fits my 5’10” frame like a glove. The seating position is spot on and with the bars mounted fairly high the standing position suits me very well with my knees able to grip the tank perfectly. I find the standard pegs fine even while standing, although CFMOTO offer oversized rally pegs as one of the many accessories available.

The brakes have a great feel and work very well as does the cornering ABS, which combined with the bikes rock solid demeanour on bitumen or gravel, instils great confidence. I like the addition of hard braking activating the hazard lights - I think that could be a life saver and wouldn’t go astray on all new bikes.

I have seen comments referring to “top heaviness”, which is rubbish. On paper, if stacked up against the KTM 790, with its bulbous haemorrhoid looking low slung tank, there is of course an argument.

Referencing my own bike again, even with 30mm more ground clearance and a similar seat height,  it is my opinion that the 800MT does not feel top heavy, whether hard charging on bitumen twisties or counter steering on gravel. I think the steering dampener adds in no small way to the bikes sure footed feel. At times while on rough roads, it felt more like it had a 21” front wheel rather than a 19”.

When I got the bike, the KYB suspension was set pretty hard and an easy couple of clicks back on both front and rear got it right where I wanted it - firm, but a pleasant ride. I have to say that God help you if you want to change the preload on the rear. Nothing unusual these days with lots of makes and models, but in order to get a C spanner in there, you will need to be a highly skilled mechanic or a contortionist.

The very respectable 95hp and 77nm of torque, induces smiles a plenty. Speaking of smiles, try not to grin when you hear the intake roar, which comes on like a “game on” alarm as you twist the ride by wire throttle. It’s not just my opinion that around the 100hp mark is plenty for any adventure tourer and the 800’s 95hp is close enough.

Due to South East Queensland being caught in some weird “El Nasty” weather pattern at the moment, my first day out on the bike involved some pretty epic downpours. These events hit me on both bitumen and gravel and I found the ride by wire throttle totally manageable, even though I left it in Sport mode. I can also assure anyone that the electronics on this bike are up for anything if they could withstand one of the showers I rode through.

With that amount of water, you may as well say the bike was submerged, yet didn’t miss a beat. The up and down quickshifter makes life easy and is very handy when hooking in on gravel roads with stop start obstacles like creek crossings and causeways, although the gearbox has such a smooth feel with changes being so certain that there is barely a need for it.

There is a noticeable amount of over fuelling, however as I was posting this story, news came through from the Importer that CFMOTO are currently developing a new fuel map to rectify this small glitch and it will be made available to all current owners soon.  

The two ride modes are essentially engine modes, but handy nonetheless. Sport being full power and Rain being limited, so unlike some of its rivals that seem to sport a similar amount of goodies, the modes don’t change suspension, ABS or traction control.

While I’m on traction control, there isn’t any. I pondered this before my first serious ride and wondered how dependant I had become on the TC on my own bike, but the 800 helped me through that to a certain degree by being so well behaved. So, is the lack of TC an issue? In a word no.  But in saying that I do believe that in order to keep up with the Jones’s and maintain the 800MT’s sales figures, CFMOTO might want to consider TC in the future.

Behold the factory fitted Maxxis tyres! With familiar sizing for an adventure tourer being 110/80-19 and 150/70-17, I can’t help but wonder if CFMOTO simply jagged the best road biased tyres I have experienced to date, or have they done some serious R&D on tyres here? Within reason, these tyres are actually pretty damn good on dirt roads, for what they are and excellent on the black stuff, even when its wet. I’m not saying I like the idea of adventure bikes having to be sold new wearing road biased tyres, I think it’s yet another total toss fest, by not just our regulators but their counterparts all over the world. What I’m saying is that if these tyres were on a new bike that I’d bought, I’d probably be happy enough to wear them out before flicking them for something more befitting of an adventure tourer.

So, I have given this bike more than enough chances to upset me. Ok, I can’t find any snow up here in Queensland but I have given it a good feed of everything else and it has lapped it up. It handles very well on bitumen and it is really confidence inspiring on gravel roads. It brakes very well, the engine is punchy and responsive and I can only imagine how good it would be with some chunky tyres. It’s very comfortable for both rider and pillion and it comes with a load of goodies, all with a ride away price that is unbelievable. If I had bought this bike two weeks ago when I actually picked it up, I would now be very happy knowing that my neighbour paid close to $10,000 more for his “Beautiful British Adventure Stallion”(made in Thailand).

CFMOTO have quite a range of accessories available for the 800MT, from radiator protection to soft luggage.

Bikes that the 225kg CFMOTO 800MT has every right to claim a spot alongside would be Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT, Triumph Tiger 900 Rally, BMW 850GS Adventure and Moto Guzzi 850TT.

In summary, the 800MT is clearly awesome value. The finish on the bike from its first class paint work to the excellent panel fitment is as good as any Japanese factory produces. CFMOTO’s commitment to raising the bar is only going to benefit the consumer in the long run as other makes realise that the cost savings of getting their parts made in China (and they all do) may actually help their sales figures if they start passing it on to their customers.

CFMOTO have made an adventure tourer that is way above its price in quality.

Many thanks to Mojo Motorcycles, Sunstate Motorcycles and CFMOTO Australia.