CHASSIS The chassis features excellent KYB suspension and 21 / 18-inch wheels . Most adventure riders should know this , perhaps half the correct recipe for handling success ... great tyre choices and decent suspension action . The forks are 41mm USD items with adjustable damping and 200mm of wheel travel . It ’ s the same story at the rear , 200mm of axle travel via a gas shock mounted on a rising rate linkage and damping adjustment . The action at both ends is nicely firm and controlled while remaining quite supple and comfortable . This is excellent at this price point ! Steering wise , I like the 450MT . It is precise and accurate and generally agile on road and gravel . In soft sand the steering is inclined to tuck if not careful . But this is the trade-off of having quick and agile road handling . Stable in deep sand and agile on road are two quite different setups – horses for courses and all that . If you want to be riding sand often I ’ d suggest sliding the forks out , removing some rear shock spring preload and setting the damping firmer , particularly on the forks and , ideally , only half filling the fuel tank .
BRAKES & ELECTRONICS Braking performance on the CFMOTO is top shelf for this category . They are pretty strong and offer great feel . There ’ s a single 320mm front disc with four piston J . Juan caliper up front with dual-channel Bosch ABS which is a classy set-up . At the rear there is a 240mm disc with single piston floating caliper with switchable ABS to suit on and off-road use equally well . Switchable Bosch TC controls excessive power delivery ... apparently . Not wanting to appear glib or condescending , but I don ’ t see excessive wheelspin being a huge issue in this class , and does any machine in the ‘ modest power output bracket ’ actually need TC ? I doubt it . As always , the throttle goes both ways . Fortunately , the CFMOTO has a single press button to turn the TC and ABS off – most excellent – I wish KTM and the other manufacturers would do the same . The 5-inch TFT colour dash is pretty upmarket , clear and informative . There is USB charging and excellent Bluetooth connectivity available . Other pluses are large radiators for added cooling in
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