CFMOTO 450MT

The not-so little adventure bike making it big
by Heather Ellis, Dave Hill

When I was asked to review the CFMOTO 450MT, I had just received some very bad news. I was in a state of mourning. Vince, my mechanic at Just Dirt Bikes in Melbourne’s outer west, had advised my 1991 Yamaha TT600 had been rather poorly rebuilt in London, nearly 30 years ago. That’s a lot of damage. Some parts are no longer available, he said. “Don’t know how you rode it in a 1997 ride,” he added.

From 1994 to 1997, I’d ridden my TT600 through Africa; motorcycle couriered out in London; and then after its dodgy rebuild, ridden it across Central Asia ending up in Vietnam. My next grand motorcycle adventure was to ride my TT600 from South to North America. As much as I resisted the idea, it seemed my only option was to buy a new adventure motorcycle with all its bells and whistles (electronic wizardry ABS brakes, suspension, torque, handling etc. etc.), which all consumes with added weight. As Vince, at Just Dirt Bikes explained, even if two XTZ660 parts are ideally a good TT600 or XT600 engine, I’d still have the issue of sourcing parts while on the road. While the South America trip is in a distant future, in the meantime, I still needed an adventure bike so after a period of mourning, my search began.

My focus was the lighter mid-range adventure bikes. It had to be under 200kgs, the lighter the better. It had to have a low seat height for I am 165cm or 5ft 5 inches for us boomers. But not only must it be capable off-road, particularly on the myriad of tracks in Victoria’s High Country. My new adventure bike also had to be equally good on tarmac. It had to corner; have some grunt to overtake; filter in grid lock traffic; and all in a package under $10k. But most of all it had to be fun: it had to put a grin on my face. These requirements meant a limited line up of contenders: the CFMOTO 450MT, the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 and the KTM 390 Adventure. Friends advised I cross off the KTM 390 due to its stalling issues and it’s not that great on road was another comment. It’s also high (830mm even with the lowering kit). Admittedly I didn’t ride the new Himalayan 450, but after sitting on the bike when I crossed paths with a new owner at a petrol station on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, the ‘Himi’ felt rather heavy after riding the 450MT. So heavy, in fact, that I struggled to get it off its low-angled side stand. The rather wide seat also meant I was on tippy toes even with its 825mm seat height, but it can be lowered. The ‘Himi’ also had that low bike riding feel and it looks a bit old school. The 450MT, on the other hand, is modern and sleek with a silky-smooth engine. And I love its ‘big bike’ feel, which gives the rider this ‘birds eye view’ so you can see what’s ahead but at the same time the rider sits low into the bike. It’s kinda like sitting in a comfy chair where you reach out and grab the wide handlebars. The 450MT with its seat height of 825mm might not suit a tall rider but the high seat option would sort this out. The bike can also be lowered to 800mm by simply moving the linkage bolt and lowering the handlebars at the fork clamps.

I’m not biased about where a motorcycle is made as long as it performs and all its bits: engine power, suspension, handling and comfort work in perfect harmony. And the 450MT gave me just that feeling. I can’t say anything about its reliability. No one can. It’s only been on the market since April 2024. But CFMOTO has put the 450MT through its paces during testing with over 4,500 hours of trouble-free continuous operation under full load. I think that means close to red lining it.

I remember when I was travelling through China in 1997 (me and my TT600 on a train as I couldn’t get the permit to ride), there’d be the occasional local who’d hunt me down and take great pleasure informing me that China was the next super power. ‘China will rule the world,’ they’d say. Now that was nearly 30 years ago and while China is not ruling the world yet, they have certainly shaken up the motorcycle world with the 450MT. And with buyers continuing to line up for it, no one seems to care it’s made in China. And as far as reliability, there’s quite a few YouTubers who’ve flogged the shit out of this bike and it hasn’t broken down yet.

So while it’s still early days for the 450MT, let’s look at CFMOTO’s history and the history of motorcycle manufacturing in China generally. For years now Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have had their motorcycle parts made in China because it’s cheaper. But in recent years the Chinese have decided to get in on the action and do the whole gig themselves. As a result their reputation continues to grow exponentially with CFMOTO, which was founded back in 1989, a leader and is in over 100 countries worldwide. The brand’s biggest seller is its ATVs and UTVs. When I picked up the 450MT from Mojo Motorcycles, the CFMOTO importer, its huge warehouse in Melbourne’s west was stacked to the brim with hundreds of crates and most contained ATVs and UTVs I was told. But a good number of those crates also contained the 450MT most on pre-order to buyers who have been waiting months. Since its release in April 2024, over 1300 450MTs have been sold here. Dealers are shaking their heads saying they’ve never seen anything like it in bike sales. One of my riding mates had just bought the 450MT after two of his friends got in early. He couldn’t stop raving about it so I was understandably intrigued.

The 449cc parallel-twin engine of the 450MT was first developed for CFMOTO’s popular 450SR sports bike and has since been used in several CFMOTO models with the 450MT being the latest. The MT adventure range also comes in a 650cc and an 800cc. After seeing the stratospheric rise in adventure bike popularity combined with the huge gap that needed filling in the lighter weight adventure bike market, CFMOTO were quick to take advantage. Many other manufactures are still lingering in the dust, but they’ll catch up real quick (such as the near-production ready BMW F 450 GS), so let’s see what happens with the emerging competition for the 450MT in a similar price bracket of under $10,000. Although the 450GS won’t be in the under $10K line up.

Let’s not forget the knowledge gained from CFMOTO’s collaboration with KTM since 2017 to build motorcycle engines. Called the KTMR2R partnership, KTM contributed its well-respected engineering expertise and CFMOTO its ability to keep costs down with manufacturing at its state-of-the-art factory in Hangzhou in China. However, while the 450MT is built in the KTMR2R factory, its engine and bike are all designed and developed solely by CFMOTO. So it’s not a KTM in a different wrap, unlike the 800MT, which uses a redesigned KTM 790cc engine.

When I picked up the 450MT from Mojo Motorcycles, it had just over 1000kms on it and had just had its first run in service. As a press bike, it had been thrown around and carried a few scratches on its plastic fairings, which can be cheaply replaced as an accessory purchased online. I was to be the bike’s last reviewer as it would be on sold to a dealer, who’d happily snap it up. “Every motorcycle journalist who has reviewed the 450MT has bought it,” I was told when handed the keys. Would I be the next?

With its rally-inspired design, what stood out immediately to me was how the 450MT looks like a mini-Tenere and I’m sure if I slapped some Yamaha branding on it, I’d fool a lot of people!

The only difference is the 450MT is half the price at $9490. Yes, it’s got less power, but I quickly found the MT had more than enough grunt with my 65kgs onboard.

As I rode off into Melbourne’s rush hour traffic hemmed in by B-doubles loaded with shipping containers, I immediately felt at home on the 450MT. Like it was a long lost pair of well-worn slippers. But there was nothing ‘fuddy-duddy’ about this bike. And I loved its super light clutch. What a dream. And the bike was very responsive, quick and nimble as I filtered between the trucks and opened the throttle to leave it all behind as I reached the Western Ring Road. But gaps between traffic here were all comfortably wide. As the 450MT sits high with the bars and mirrors at the same height of those narrow SUVs and twin-cabs that populate our roads, I’d have my filtering wings severely clipped if I’d ridden through the city instead. While the mirrors have a swivel point and can be turned inwards to prevent damage while off-road, doing this in traffic doesn’t do much as the bars and mirrors are pretty much the same. Besides, you really do need your mirrors in traffic.

The CFMOTO 450MT was never a bike I’d previously considered but looking at the specs, it ticked several boxes. It suited my height to hold up its 190kg weight wet (that’s with fuel and oil). When I first got on the bike, with its 17.5 litre tank full, it felt surprisingly light and well balanced. I could easily idle at traffic lights without putting my foot down. But once a few add on’s are fitted like Bark Busters, luggage rack, engine guards and maybe a B&B Off Road bash plate (if you plan on tackling more technical rocky tracks), the bike would be nudging 200kgs and that’s before luggage. Even as is, I couldn’t lift the 450MT’s 190kg as when it lays flat on the ground, I could not get leverage. I need to either hit the gym a bit more and practice my bike lifting technique or save my back and invest in one of those portable motorcycle lifter ‘thingys’. For future incarnations of the 450MT, it’d be nice if CFMOTO could shave off a few kgs here and there, but without losing any of its structural integrity and power. I’d say many a motorcycle design engineer from all the bike manufacturers spend many hours trying to do just that.

The 450MT has a good amount of torque for its 449cc liquid cooled parallel-twin engine that pumps out 42 horse power. This bike is LAMs approved so is well suited to new riders, and especially those keen to venture off-road, but it’s also a comfortable tourer and I had no butt ache after riding 700kms with very few stops during one of my rides for this review. The fuel consumption is 5.6 litres per 100kms. With a full tank, CFMOTO says you get 320kms. But I did better at around 4.5 litres per 100kms for its 449cc engine. When I fill the bike, the display tells me I can go nearly 500kms, but that all depends on speed and weight.

The windshield is also adjustable so can be raised to cut down on wind buffeting at highway speeds. I could do some serious kms on this bike such as my planned ride to Thornton, Queensland for the Horizons Unlimited motorcycle travellers meeting from the 2–5 May 2025. See my column for details.

You can read all the specs of the 450MT, but to be noted for its off-road capabilities is its 21 inch front and 18 inch rear wheels, 220mm of ground clearance and its superior KYB adjustable suspension that gives 200mm of travel front and rear. KYB suspension is also on the Tenere World Raid. Often bike manufacturers skimp on suspension to keep costs down, but not CFMOTO. It only comes with two rider modes, on and off-road, which you can change on the fly by simply pressing the ABS button which also disengages Traction Control.

When I first rode the 450MT, my only complaint was the very annoying jerky throttle especially at slow speeds in traffic, but I soon adapted and it was hardly noticeable. There is an update in the CFMOTO Ride App that you pair with the bike on your phone, which sorts out the jerky throttle. Other 450MT owners tell me they’ve overcome it by swapping out the 14T front sprocket for a 15T to increase the gearing, which drops the RPM down by about 500. There’s a whole array of features on the RIDE App once paired with the bike’s inbuilt T-Box system and it comes free so no subscription needed. And if you’re 450MT is ever stolen, the app will tell you exactly where it is. Plus you get navigation via Google Maps on the bike’s TFT colour screen with an update on the RIDE App, available in late March 2025.

I’m going to bore you a little here with a few details about RPM. It’s just something that I’m into as I want my motorcycle engines to last. Personally, I found the engine ran nicely on 5500rpm at 98km/h, 6000rpm at 105km/h and 6250 at 110km/h (maybe that’s why at 4.5 litres per 100km of fuel consumption). With the 14T front sprocket changed for a 15T, someone on YouTube replaced 45.13sec comment, 300cc’s Triumph Thunderbird, and two up having an engine happy at higher revs. I was a little concerned as someone had said the 450MT I was on was until CFMOTO assured me that the 450MT engine, which was initially developed for a super-sports bike, can rev up to 10,000rpm. Its happy spot of peak torque is 6,250rpm so the bike is running very nicely on road at around 110km/h… but wait there’s more.

I can reduce the revs by running higher profile tyres, like a 140/80 rear (the 450MT comes with a 140/70), which will up the gearing so no need to swap out the front sprocket for the 15T. This means I don’t see the low end of my rev range like when I rode with my old review and also recommend I do that to reduce the RPM on-road speed if not in a shed. I also ran off-road on a 90/90 21 front and 130/80 18 rear and found it’s got a great off-road spread that wet-weather performance might be good enough. One of the boys, running a hard walled tyre, he advised I run pressures slightly higher at around 28psi front and 28psi rear. He reckons this may be a bit more because road tyres, being low pressure, has more rolling resistance and that increases fuel consumption.

The 450MT comes with Ching Shin dual sport tyres in 90/90 21 front and 140/70 18 rear running both at the recommended 32psi. The three 450MT boys I did a ride with for this review, all recommended Shinkos E804 front and E805 rear adventure tyres. The rear is also a 140/80.

The 450MT’s electronic bells and whistles feature on its 12in full-colour TFT instrument display, which beamed me into the modern bike era with an array of information at my fingertips. All is fully explained in the owner’s manual, and hats off to the technical writer translating all this into “plain language.” They even included a few common-sense tips on new riders like avoid running low on fuel as it risks damage to the fuel pump. Oh, and when it’s on side stand, it only uses 95 or 98 octane petrol should be used. However, on occasional fill with 91 if you find yourself in remote areas is okay at a pinch. Being a liquid-cooled engine, I found the coolant temperature was particularly useful especially as it’s all view when it gets close to 115C and engine damage is imminent. However, there’s a cooling fan that kicks in at 90C and is pretty quick to drop any high temp. A high temp situation could arise for me if I found myself stuck while filtering in traffic on scorching hot when temps between cars narrowed. Service interval + notices are also taken care of with a pop up spring on the display when the 9000km service interval is reached. You then reset this for your next service. The bike also comes with a three year warranty if serviced by a CFMOTO dealer or two years if you do it yourself with oil, filter and parts purchased from the dealer.

The controls on the handlebars are all the same as any motorcycle, except the high beam switch. This is a tiny lever in front of the clutch lever and is a real pain as I kept knocking it with my index finger. Not a big gripe but something that needs sorting out, as the high beam is anything to blind oncoming drivers. It has a two stacked narrow rectangular adjustable headlight system, which gives adequate light on the side of the road, but not for distance. Maybe an auto-electrician can install a better headlight set up for those who often ride at night.

The 450MT also has a nice throttle note like it’s had some expensive aftermarket muffler fitted. A few of my riding mates noted the exhaust note too, so they noticed too. The bike comes in two colour schemes, Zephyr Blue (with touches of pink) and Tundra Grey (with touches of lime green). Thankfully, I test rode the Tundra Grey. There’s a lot of accessories for the 450MT available online from crash bars, to bigger bash plates, luggage rack, engine protector covers, a side-stand plate so your bike doesn’t fall over in the mud, and my personal favourite, stick on tank and fairing decals so you can personalise your bike and even give it a bit of ‘street cred’ appeal. Some may even like the ‘Punisher’ themed decals! And like all online shopping on eBay, all this stuff is surprisingly cheap.

So yes, I was so impressed with riding the 450MT that I did buy this slightly scratched press bike. While I like its battle scars, I could easily replace the fairing panels so cheapy. I briefly considered selling my Triumph Thruxton as when I got back on my café racer after the comfortable upright riding position of the 450MT only one word came to mind: “horrible.” On the way home, I called into a motorcycle shop and told the dealer I was getting into adventure riding and had just purchased the 450MT. “Yes, you and everyone else,” he said pointing to several big second-hand adventure bikes on the shop floor. All these have been traded for the 450MT!

And why wouldn’t they when for half the price of a big adventure bike, they get a smooth parallel twin engine with superior suspension and an expensive modern bike look without too many electronics. But rider keys, myself included, jumped in too quick before any possible faults emerge? However, at an affordable price under $10k, this bike won’t break the bank. And, best of all, it’s a price that might just have more lapsed riders returning and new riders getting into the fun of motorcycling both on and off-road.

My aim now is to perfect my off-road riding skills. I’m still in awe of those guys (the dirt bike gods) I rode with on my Cape York Motorcycle Adventures ride (read the story in Issue 66). And while I’m a long way from hopping the 450MT over logs and tackling gnarly-rutted uphill tracks, this bike certainly is and I just need to catch up.

And now for the good news! I’ve found all the parts needed for my TT600 via Motorrad in Germany. These guys rebuilt the 1987 Yamaha Tenere for Noraly of Itchy Boots fame. So my dream to ride my TT600 from South to North America still lives… But in the meantime, I have the 450MT for many an off-road adventure before I ride off into the sunset.