around for pictures in the deep gravel you get at the side of the road . That single front brake works pretty well , if not spectacularly , for a solo unit , and the rear is a little better than the front . Turning the ABS off on the rear for gravel work is as simple as pressing the ABS button on the left bar . On the smooth gravel and twisty tar seal of the test route the KYB suspension worked great . I can ’ t say any more than that as we didn ’ t venture any further off the track . When we get the bike to do a full test , we ’ ll be able to comment more on the suspension side of things .
PARTS AVAILABILITY According to the importer , warehousing of CFMOTO parts will be done here in NZ , shipping out of Christchurch , rather than off-shoring the parts and having to ship them in , like many others do ( KTM / GasGas / Husqvarna , Kawasaki and Ducati are all out of Australia ). So , at the very least , the servicing side of things should be available overnight .
THE SKINNY The CFMOTO 450MT won ’ t excite the KTM 890
Adventure riders of this world who dream of riding like our very own Chris Birch , but it doesn ’ t need to . It ’ s not meant to appeal to those riders . Instead , the 450MT offers a very attractive alternative to smaller capacity adventure bikes like the KTM 390 , Honda CB500X and Royal Enfield Himalayan , impressing with the parallel twin engine and a heap more tech and standard equipment for the money . Taking a very close look at the bike , it ’ s pretty polished , it ’ s on a very different quality level to the Chinese bikes that started coming into the market 10 or so years ago . It ’ s something that could easily have come out of a Japanese or European factory . What ’ s the longevity and reliability ? Obviously we won ’ t know until a bit further down the line , but , if the farm equipment is anything to go by , and the fact KTM is an engine manufacturing partner , it will probably be pretty good . With bang-up-to-date looks , decent performance , all the adventure fruit and a bargain price , CFMOTO is going to sell a heap of 450MTs to price-conscious Kiwis who want it all .
KIWI RIDER 49