CF Moto 800 (Quick first ride) – The new Vstrom?

Just a quick ride of the CF Moto MT800 Touring, that comes in at £9199 and offers a lot of kit for the money. Useful to ride it back to back with the Vstrom 800 DE.

Okay so we’ve got a review today of the CF Moto 8800 Mt uh which references the Suzuki vom 800d that I’ve got on loan uh so I went up to Swindon rode up to Swindon from here in North Darren so it’s about 150 mil on the vrom 800 uh to

Just take out the CF Moto from B Treads up in Swindon which is a dealer where I got my vote from so they said why don’t you come up and ride the CF Moto i’ had quite a bit of inquiries about the CF Moto people who watch the channel who

Said have you ridden a CF Moto 800 yet what do you think so I was Keen to get one get a go on one now for anybody who’s not too aware CF Moto we’re in very close partnership with now with KTM the 800 Mt uses a 790 engine out the KTM

790 adventure and the new 790 Adventure is built in the same Factory by CF Moto as the 800 Mt so it’s all kind of incestual really um the thing with the 800 Mt is that probably about 6 months ago it got a massive price reduction when it was imported by Quadzilla

Initially maybe a few years ago it came in at £1,200 or something like that which was very close to 890 KTM territory and it really I would say it bombed nobody bought one because why would you it’s an unknown brand when you can buy a well-known brand for similar money uh 6

Months ago they seemed to completely kneecap the prices and so you could get the the sport version with the cast aluminium rims for £85,000 and the touring version which I was going to ride for 9,199 on the road and that came with what is an exceptional spec sheet list

It got the 95 brake or power engine but then it got the the tin boxes the three metal boxes including the top box it got cruise control heated seat heated grips it got tubless spoked wheels uh what else they got a TFT screen center standard standard so it got some really

Good features to it which I think is what hooked people in it seemed to be incredible value for money um and In fairness even against this vrom 800 this is £1,600 so £1,500 more money and you get none of the uh spec sheet attributes that you get with a CF Moto so very

Interested to ride it it also gave me a good chance to put some miles on the vrom 800 in a more touring capacity going up uh on the a roads to the motorway and then doing some Motorway miles on on this 800 de um I’ve got to

Say as a back road bike going across country along the a39 and that towards Bridgewater this bike is is absolutely phenomenal the engine is has got power it’s got r it’s got character it just always wants to go it’s got a very eager throttle by that I mean it’s very

Responsive very punching and the suspension as I’ve said in a previous video just really works effortlessly to be a to enable you to get the full amount of power down on the road and make progress very quickly so I actually think it’s a very good spirited bike to

Ride it makes you ride faster than maybe you typically would brakes are good seating position is good bar position is good it’s it’s just a really well resolved motorcycle for riding her to Pace on the motorway um I think that’s I think my concerns about it not being a

Great toing bike sha through above 70 75 miles hour at which point you start to get the wind buffeting going through it’s not necessarily buffeting it’s just it’s almost like having no screed at all so the wind’s cominging straight at at you and there was a point where I

Thought you know what I won’t want to go to Scotland on this or do an extensive Motorway trip just because you would feel tired by the end of the end of the journey and then when you factoring it the fact he’s not got the tubless boat

Wheels he got no cruise control you kind of think well I’m not sure I’d choose this as a as a touring bite uh interestingly I watch I watched Chris North North over’s video of of this bik for bite world and it was actually this exact bik that he had on loan before me

And he was using it more in an Offroad environment he took it to an Enduro track you know Chris is an incredibly good Rider uh and his position on on it is that he wants one to turn it into an even more capable off-road bik by shedding its weight and things like that

To me I would go the opposite direction and if I was to improve this bike I would want to put on those attributes that would make it a better touring bike such as the tubless wheels such as cruise control and such as more weather protection bigger screen and that so you

Could do the miles and then obviously still have the excitement of the back road bike that that it has for me a 230 kilo Offroad is still only for the Realms of the very talented Rider uh it’s not something I would want to take on an off-road Journey whether it’s the

ACT through the UK or into Portugal If it’s certainly if I was riding solo I would want to go something smaller than this if I was using it as a as a dirt travel bike uh so for me I would push it more towards a toing direction and therefore we arrived in

Swindon very much enamored with this bike but also frustrated that Suzuki had maybe not developed it in the way that vrom owners expected their bikes to be developed and then you take out the CF Moto which to quickly summarize I would say is a modern day vrom 800 it’s it’s

The bike that Suzuki should have built but didn’t build and it’s the bikee that’s got the attributes that the vrom owner would probably really like and are probably buying instead of a vrom so it was actually unintentionally it was a very good comparison to make so you could see

Why people maybe aren’t buying this and maybe looking elsewhere so took the CF Moto out now in a 2-hour test ride you can only generate so much opinion worthwhile opinion and to be honest assessing an adventure bike in a day or two days or 2 hours is never off you’ll

Only really find out whether you like a bike an adventure bike or not or a bike bought for adventure after a week on the road or something like that so you can you’re only going to get like a little snippet of information in a two-hour

Test ride for me that CF Moto was to ride it it was like a photocopied version of a European bike I.E and a bad I wouldn’t say badly photocopied version but it wasn’t quite as crystal clear as the original um the engine soon as I pulled away and went down the Slick Road

Onto the motorway it almost felt like it was like I was had a question mark where is the power for 95 horsepower stepping off this VR with 83 the CF Moto felt very lackluster very raspy wide he made a lot of noise and it made forward propulsion but didn’t give you the sense

Of excitement that I was getting with the vrum so I was quite disappointed with that engine and actually I P pulled up with Dave Dave is a friend who lives in swind and he was taking me out showed me the local roads for 2 hours and he

Happened to be on a KTM 790 Adventure we pulled up at the the first set of lights and I said I’m not sure if the clutch is slipping or what but it just seems to be making it seems to be making noise but not really generating great ferocity of

Performance which you would expect for a 95 break horse B so it took a bit of getting used to um handling is quite soft the suspension I would say is under damp so in Corners It’s s it sort of it never set it doesn’t settle quite

Certainly quite as well as this a later Road the 790 adventure of Dave’s um it’s a 10,000 M example uh and Dave sat and filmed me as I went up and down and it only took a couple of minutes on that 790 to realize that the CF Moto I know

People are saying it’s a KTM with a cheaper badge it’s not a KTM with a cheaper badge it’s a cheaper buy it doesn’t ride as well the brakes aren’t as good the power deliver is not as smooth the weight’s worse off because the weight is not low down in those low

Tanks like you’ve got on the KTM so I want if anybody’s saying well it’s it’s a cheap version of a KTM no it’s not it’s a different it’s it’s a different bike and it’s not as good a bike as a KTM and therefore you Ely getting less

Of a Riders bike than you are a KTM that’s going to cost you, 1500 quid more so as a bike to ride I wasn’t overly enamored with it I respected it and I could see what its appeal what its appeal could be and what I would say is

When you were just wafting along at 60 6570 it it was perfectly effortless you know it covered that ground really well it got a decent screen you felt like you could sit for miles on a Motorway in a way that you couldn’t sit for miles on

The motorway on the V drom and so that comes to the point being that I think that is a better vrom the CF Moto is a better vrom than the vrom because of the virtues of the vrom have never been highend performance it’s never been about going fast or great Dynamic

Ability it’s been offering a bike with lots of K lots of capability at a lower price and that’s exactly what that CF Moto does I don’t think it matters that much that it’s not as good to ride as a competition or the more established competition the fact is and when I got

Back to the uh the dealership there was a guy there who Dave who just bought a CF Moto and was you know waxing lcal about the Qui equipment that you got with it and the price point and I think that’s its true selling point so if you’re not going to get excited by

Cruise control by tubless boat Wheels by Center stand by heated seat by heated grip there are better bikes out there but if those sort of elements matter to you and if you’re on a budget or you like getting good value for money I don’t think there’s a better bike at the

Minute than the CF Moto 800 it was interesting I heard speculation that the price this is like a cheap price to get people onto the bike and then eventually know any years time they’ll put it up to a more uh established price point over 10,000 and that to me is when that CF

Moto won’t make so much sense because I don’t think as a Rider’s bike it’s good enough to justify a top side of £10,000 bike and whether there’s enough equity in the brand for people to pay that sort of money I know there’s big talk that it’s ined you know now it’s in cahoots

With KTM it sort of it generates it it sort of there’s an osmosis of of Integrity being pulled across from KTM which I think on the surface it does but to R as I say there’s a very big difference between a KTM product and a CF Moto product even the engine feels

Different it’s the same engine but it it doesn’t feel as alive as alert as ready to race as that KTM so it’s got a very different attribute an attribute that’s not going to be alien to anybody who’s been a fan of the vrom over the years

The 650s and the thousands as I say were never known for being an exciting ride but they were just very good Dependable buys which gives us that CF Moto so was did I enjoy riding the CF Moto did I did I really like it as a motorcycle I no I

Was a bit indifferent to it I kind of thought there were better bikes out there and I just arrived on a better B but would you buy one would you recommend some a would you recommend it to someone who wanted a great package at a great price yes absolutely and that’s

Why I think it’s selling it was interesting the dealership said they’d sld four CF motos to one vrom de and I can see why because from a price point of view and a value point of view this is £1,500 more and whilst it rides a lot

Better it offers you a lot less capacity for touring for usability Center stand cruise control heater grips proper screen the CF motor is the better buy as an allrounder all around purchase pack package it’s also got a 9,300 M service interval which is 200 nearly 2,000 more

Than this at 7 and a half thousand the question mark over the Chinese Brands is resale uh value I mean people were talking about the bellia now nobody wanted nobody wants their 502s dealers won’t even trade in a Chinese bik and I can kind of understand why because

Certainly in the last few years they’ve come on strong but they’ve still not got that reputation for being easy to sell and so I think CF Moto could be the Turning Point certainly now they’re in bed with KTM it could be the turning point at which Chinese manufacturers who

Have come under their own brand and who are trying to establish their own brand could be the point with which they get the I guess the the the reputation to be taken seriously which will improve sale value who knows um but I think at the price point that it is it’s worth that

Gamble the also at the dealership was the belli trk 702 that I tested a few weeks back now if it was me looking for a good value usable B for touring on I’d probably save my money and get the Benelli I thought the engine in that Benelli was less powerful than the CF

Moto but it had more character it had more Brawn it had more sensation of will wanting to give its power than the CF motor so I’d probably save myself the what 22,000 and get the Benelli over the CF motor that’ be my personal opinion there’s less kit on that Benelli you

Don’t get the cruise control uh and the heated seat and the heated grips but for me it had enough going for it to uh warrant me choosing it over the CF Moto so I rode back on the on the vrom 800 and you know I rode into the dark it was

It was a three and a half hour Journey back to North Devon on the motorway I mean the bike is always wanting to go the engine I don’t know how the the only rate at at 83 brake horsepower it’s almost like the spec sheet really does a

Disservice to this bike and to this engine because it it just always wants to go and it’s always feels like it’s got power in reserve it’s as fast a bike as I would want to ride in the UK and keep a license and keep it keeping alive

It feels faster than an Africa twin it felt faster than that 790 Adventure Dave at a road it felt faster than the CF Moto it feels like a cracking engine that’s always giving power low down mid-range top end it’s always wanting to go I mean it would easily see treble

Figures plus 20 mph easy on the motorway theoretically it is just a fast bike made it to a fast chassis and and you know it’s it’s it’s a phenomenal piece of engineering and it’s just it’s just quite interesting that Suzuki’s product development have not listened or maybe asked the

Questions to find out why people bought voms or didn’t buy voms uh and they seem to me at least admitted one of the biggest uh selling points of vums they days of old and that was value proposition and good levels of of Kit so two things and it seems to have been

Stripped back out of this and it even seems to have been stri strip back out the re version which leaves the vom the hard bik to sell which was my initial thoughts on it when I first got the B how do you sell a bike that’s not cheap

That hasn’t got a load of Kit going on it and hasn’t got a sexy badge and the answer is you’re going to struggle which is a shame because as I say as a piece of engineering as an engine as a chassis in an engine I be strugg I I think I can’t

Imagine there’s a better bike in this class and so I would say if you’re after a VR by CF Moto 800 if you’re after a 10700 or a twareg or a KTM 890 ride a vron because I think this is going to be far more exciting than you would ever

Thought it were going to be and it’s got all those Virtues Of attributes of a Suzuki are are you being Dependable the seat tights also manageable about 840 mil I never seem to struggle on it I find it nice and easy to get the feet down doesn’t feel wayed

And then it’s got that engine that engine just wants to give and give and give so um if I was to buy a bike out of the two sensibly I’d get the CF Moto yeah I didn’t I didn’t as I say I didn’t think it was a great bike and as

I say sort of like a rough photocopy of a of a 790 which just lacks something in the in the in the copying process but it does offer a hell of a lot of bike for the money but as everything you’ve got to go out and ride one and then at some

Point you’ve got to take a punt choose a b that sort of ticks as many boxes as you’ve got and then ride it and only only riding it will you really find out whether it is the bike for you or not and hopefully you’ve made the right

Decision but maybe if not you know and then those questions of resale value and all that will come into play but I do think the the connection now with CF Moto and ktf will really strengthen CF Moto’s sailability and then obviously we’ve got the 450 Mt coming through

Which if the confirmed price or the rumored price of 5799 is true uh and it’s going to be out March I mean that is going to blow everything out of the water I mean I’m looking at crf300 rally there it’s nearly ,000 less than that

It’s going to be the same price as the Himalayan but it’s got more power than both tubless spoke wheels twin cylinder you know this could be a game changer that’s CF Moto 450 which will help inflate the reputation of the brand and then all all the other bikes in that

Brand the CF motor have also got a 1250 coming out based on the old Juke engine so it’s it’s almost like the Rel reltionship is meaning that CF Moto can use the last generation of engines so 790 89 1250 rather than the uh 1290 this 450 is an entirely different Beast it

Doesn’t seem to be a KTM engine certainly not one that KTM KTM have put out to the market so I think the 450 could be the bike that really propels CF Moto into an into the established brand League of of Manufacturers so interesting times but this Suzuki somebody asked me what’s the

Light like it is terrible it is a terrible headlight and that sums up this bike how are you developing a bike with with all those years of experience of De developing bikes with such a terrible headlight which with such a terrible attention to what the market is

Requesting in a product but yet still managing to build a brilliant product there is some part of this which is not simple part of Suzuki who is just not listening and I think that is true of many manufacturers they are just not listening in to what the buyers are

Asking for and curiously the Chinese are so who’s doing it to who who is killing who is killing the Golden Goose is it the go is it the goose or is it the Chinese and I think the goose is allowing the Chinese to do the Callin quite quite easily by this vrom being

Such a non vrom if that makes sense you know it needed Dr big it needed Dr big on this tank and it needed a vrom badge on a bike that got tubeless Wheels it got cruise control it got a proper screen and cockpit CU even that re

Cockpit with screen it still does not make it a proper toing bite so yeah interesting week interesting week cheers