Five bikes...
[NEW BIKES ]
New CFMoto 450MT adventure bike looks like the PCP deal of the year. Prepare to be tempted
With a well-proven, 450cc parallel-twin motor making 43bhp, fully-adjustable KYB suspension and a spangly TFT screen, the new CFMoto 450MT seems like good value at £5699. But the PCP deal takes temptation to an entirely new level – a deposit of £887 gets you the bike for £49 a month over three years.
Some buyers will no doubt use the Chinese-built bike as an urban tool, but it could be that multi-purpose trailie you’ve always fancied – there are clear nods to both road and off-road competence.
Off-road capability
The new trellis frame should easily be robust enough – it’s similar to the one used in CFMoto’s larger adventure bikes – and has removable front down tubes in case they need to be replaced after an off-road prang. The KYB shock and 41mm forks both have a decent 200mm of travel, plus preload, compression and rebound adjustment. The front wheel is 21in, the rear 18in, so you can fit proper dirt tyres to it – it comes with questionable Chinese rubber as standard. Okay, it’s not light – 175kg, or 30kg more than a Honda CRF300L – but that’s the only serious flaw in the 450MT’s trail bike CV. And the CRF can’t do the on-road stuff quite like this…
On-road practicality
Twin balance shafts limit motor vibes, and its 43bhp should push you over 100mph (or, more realistically, make 70mph cruising a doddle). It’s essentially the same 270° ‐crank engine as CFMoto’s other 450s, but with different cam profiles to improve low-down torque. Though CFMoto make many of KTM’s smaller ‐capacity engines (and repurpose some in their bigger MT models), this motor is unique to CFMoto and built in a separate factory to the KTMs.
