Jul 27, 20213 min read

CFMoto 800MT Australasian Pricing Announced - Could This Be The Best Value Adventure Bike?

Here in New Zealand, the Chinese motorcycle brand CFMoto is a bit of an unknown quantity despite being in the market for a number of years and offering a decent range of affordable bikes and side-by-sides.

That flying under the radar might be about to come to an end with the announcement of Australian pricing of CFMotos KTM powered adventure tourer from Australasian CFMoto distributor Mojo Motorcycles.

The 799cc parallel-twin adventure bike is expected to arrive over the ditch before the end of the year, but it is the price point that really grabbed us by the eyeballs and made us take notice.

The first examples of the 800MT Sport and 800MT Touring are expected to land by year’s end. Australian pricing starts at AU$12,990 for the base 800MT Sport, while the up-specced 800MT Touring will retail for AU$13,990.

Here in New Zealand, the bikes will retail for $13,490 and $14,490 respectively. That is an incredible amount of bike for not a lot of money and is sure to send chills down the spines of the established players in the market.

Both trim levels are powered by the same KTM LC8c parallel twin with a 799cc displacement and ride-by-wire throttle which means plenty of the latest electronics are also on offer. In terms of power, there's more than ample on tap with 95hp/88Nm available to punt the 225kg of adventure tourer down the road.

Styling is its own distinct take on an adventure bike which is something of a novelty with a Chinese brand. However, that's not to say we don't see similarities with other bikes on the market. The cockpit, for instance, leans towards a BMW R1250GS style with a stepped seat sitting behind the rather tall 19-litre fuel tank rather than the dirt focussed cockpit of KTM 790 from which the 800MT takes its engine.

Up the front is a generous windscreen with the lighting supplied by LEDs with a set of fog lamps as standard kit.

Wheel sizes are 19-inch front and 17-inch rear – an ideal compromise for road and off-road riding – with the Sport tracking on cast wheels and the up-spec Touring on spoked wheels.

The rolling chassis is completed by fully adjustable KYB suspension, Spanish J.Juan radial brakes and a tubular steel frame.

The two models are separated by a few key differences. The Sport model rolls on cast alloy wheels and as its name implies is more suited to fun weekend rides on predominantly sealed roads. The Touring model gains all the extras needed to give the bike some off-road credibility. These additions include spoked rims, alloy bash plate, handguards, centre stand and a steering damper plus some nice amenities including heated seats and grips, keyless start and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

The CFMoto 800MT range is expected to arrive in New Zealand dealers in early 2022, a couple of months after their arrival in Australia, and based off the spec-sheet alone look set to be the bike to finally put CFMoto on the map here in New Zealand.