Review: 2024 CFMoto 450MT, approx. RM30,000 – the lightweight, sub-middleweight dual-purpose you need

After lots of clamour from the off-road riding afficiandos, there is now a lightweight, middleweight dual-purpose motorcycle in the market, the 2024 CFMoto 450MT. Pricing is not confirmed for Malaysia as yet, but we can tell you the 450MT is expected in the local market in late-May or early-June, below the RM30,000 price point.

This places the 450MT in competition with the likes of the KTM Adventure 390 and Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 in the local market. There is also the Honda CB500X, the Benelli TRK502 and the BMW Motorrad G310GS, to a lesser extent.

What is important is the 450MT is CFMoto’s foray into a segment riders have been asking for for a while now. To wit, a lightweight, dual-purpose motorcycle that doesn’t beat the rider to death with bad suspension and is capable of doing anything asked of it.

Of course, creating a niche market segment is an endeavour fraught with worry, and this was seen during the international media launch of the 450MT in the beautiful island of El Nido, Palawan. Full disclosure, CFMoto Malaysia flew out a sextet of Malaysian moto journalists for a weekend to sample the capability of the 450MT under guidance of a group of Filipino riding coaches and the hospitality of both CFMoto China and the Philippines.

CFMoto considers the 450MT an important motorcycle for them and intends to move forward internationally and into the Europe market, in particular. This was done with a single day’s riding to demonstrate the 450MT prowess in the dirt, along with some paced riding on the narrow roads of El Nido.

During the media launch, CFMoto pointed out the rationale behind the 450MT’s design, stating that it is intended to be as capable on-road as well as off. This was borne out by the KYB upside-down front forks, with 200 mm of wheel travel and 20-level damping adjustment.

At the back, the rear monoshock comes with 20 levels of preload adjustment and rebound damping damping. These adjustments are something not usually seen at this level of motorcycle, especially at the 450MT’s estimated price point in Malaysia.

Notably, while most of the road oriented competition for the 450MT in Malaysia comes with a 19-inch wheel in front, the 450MT comes with proper off-road sized wheels. The front carries a 21-inch hoop, while the rear gets an 18-incher.

This means proper off-road tyres can be fitted and while the highway heroes might lament the lack of suitably sized sporty rubber, the 450MT is not intended for that. What it is supposed to be is a dual-purpose motorcycle in the vein of the Yamaha XT660 and Honda XL600, road-legal motorcycles that are capable off-road.

And this is indeed a burgeoning market segment, especially in Europe. The mid-size off-road market has been taking off there, as well as in South-East Asia, evidenced by the popularity of off-road enduros as well as the Malaysia’s premier jungle enduro, Rimba Raid.

Thus, an enduro motorcycle it is, but CFMoto has gone and created an entirely new market segment, that of the two-cylinder sub-middleweight enduro. This eschews the long held design brief of sub-600 cc enduro motorcycles having single-cylinder engines with the two-cylinder configuration reserved for the above 750 cc machines.

With its Kiska design, the 450MT takes many cues from the KTM 790 Adventure. This is not really a surprise, considering CFMoto’s decade long partnership with the boys from Mattighofen producing small displacement KTMs and engines for the China market.

The engine itself, a parallel-twin displacing 450 cc, is liquid-cooled with DOHC. Power is 43.5 hp at 8,500 rpm (Euro 5 compliance drops this to 41.5 hp) while torque is rated at 44 Nm at 6,250 rpm (42 Nm in Euro 5).

Perfectly respectable numbers for an engine in this class and if you’re thinking, “oh, where got enough one? Needs more power,” then you know nothing about riding an enduro bike. The name of the game here is torque and power delivery, and the 450MT does it with efficiency and zero fuss.

Taking the gravel sections of the ride in El Nido, the 450MT was tractable and perfectly controllable, the ECU and EFI delivering power in the low and mid range of the power band. This ensured the rider was in control of the bike at all times, and not the other way around.

Notable was the way the 450MT sent power through the slipper clutch equipped gearbox to the rear wheel. Power delivery was linear and smooth with no trace of snatch or hesitation, while throttle response, especially in the dirt, gave the rider confidence in feeling exactly where the hook up point was.

This of course led to some of the faster media having real fun in the dirt with rooster tails flying. With weight claimed to be 175 kg dry, probably closer to 195 kg when the 17.5 litre fuel tank is filled, the 450MT is not exactly light, but it is no heavyweight either.

Comparisons with anything else in the two-cylinder off-road motorcycle market, like the Yamaha Tenere 700, the Aprilia Tuareg 660 or the 450MT’s own stablemate, the CFMoto 800MT, do not really compute as those bikes live in a higher class. But, in terms of handling performance, the 450MT acquits itself well.

The KYB suspension with upside-down forks in front adjustable for compression, and the rear monoshock with preload and rebound adjustment, are features not usually found in this market segment and more pointedly, this price point. No doubt, the adjustability is at a basic level and you are not going to get Dakar Rally performance out of the suspension but we can tell you this, as a package, the suspension flat out works.

One thing we really liked about the 450MT was the confidence the suspension gives the rider both on- and off-road. Tracking of the front end in the gravelly stuff was good, with more than enough feedback given to the rider as to where the traction point was.

At the back, breaking out the rear end was easy and controllable, partly due to the suspension, partly due to the electronics, of which more anon. The 450MT carries its weight low, so low we almost thought we had climbed on a BMW Motorrad R1250GS.

It certainly did not feel somewhat top heavy like the Tenere 700, or clumsy in the left-right-left corner transitions like, well, insert any long travel suspension motorcycle model here. What we got in the 450MT is a small bike with taut suspension.

The only thing we would want to change is to get more rebound damping in the front end, the current setup feeling a little stiff on the road. Dial up the pace a notch and the feeling does disappear with the forks responding well to undulations in the concrete pavement that passes for roads in El Nido.

As for pace, we didn’t really get a chance to wind out the throttle all the way as we were shepherded by the capable coaches CFMoto designated for our group. What we can tell you is the 450MT will bring you to just above 140 km/h, without the vibration and rattling you get with the typical big displacement single-cylinder dual-purpose motorcycles.

No vibration, you say? Yes, because, damn it, that engine is a gem. Now, we cannot give you any feedback on what long term reliability might be like, that will have to be seen under long term ownership, but the general feeling is that the KTM derived engine delivers not a lot of power but serves up good low- and mid-range torque, which is what is important for riding in the dirt.

Moving on to the riding part of things, the 450MT comes designed with a seating/standing position optimised for dual-purpose riding. With a standard seat height of 820 mm, CFMoto offers options of a 800 mm low seat, while there is a 850 mm tall seat for giraffes.

In practice, with the author standing 1.68 metres tall, there was no real need to tip-toe anywhere, and the low centre of gravity of the 450MT helped in low speed manoeuvring especially in the sand. Standing up on the pegs changed the nature of the 450Mt giving the rider instant control over the handlebars and making the bike more sure-footed.

Braking is similarly good, the 450MT coming with a J Juan four-piston calliper in front and the rear getting a single-piston calliper. Brake feel was good, if anything the author found it a little fierce on the initial squeeze but the lever providing good response thereafter.

For the rear brake, it took some getting used to notably to feel the bite point in the off-road sections. Truth be told, after getting used to the feel on the foot lever after some kilometres, it no longer intruded into our riding.

A key component of the 450MT is its electronics and as is typical of most motorcycle offerings from China, the 450MT comes loaded with the latest, including a curved 5-inch TFT-LCD screen. The one thing we really liked was the single-press off-road mode switch.

A five-second press to activate it and this turns the rear wheel ABS off, and a one-second press to turn it back on again. The nice part? You could do this at any speed or any gear giving you the flexibility to change how the rear wheel behaved to suit prevailing riding conditions.

This is a good case of the bike’s electronics working for the rider, instead of imposing conditions as to how and when things should be done. Coupled with the smooth power delivery, we think the dual-purpose riders in Malaysia are going to like this.

The 450MT comes with over-the-air update for the firmware, allowing the rider to download stuff like ECU mapping using the CFMoto app via the rider’s smartphone. There is also a tracking function and a data logger from the app as well as a 18 Watt USB and Type-C charging port on the bike for the rider’s electronics.

A sturdy rear rack is provided for mounting boxes, and indeed, CFMoto supplies a range of factory accessories for the 450MT. These include crash bars, high mount front fender, tall windshield and auxiliary lighting.

So, who needs a CFMoto 450MT, priced at approximately approximately RM30,000 in Malaysia? For one, as an all-rounder dual-purpose motorcycle, the 450MT will find fans amongst riders who do more than just the Lemang Tok Ki run on Sunday.

It is also hard to argue with the price, considering the level of performance and equipment offered by the 450MT. If you need a proper dual-purpose all-rounder machine with smooth power delivery and good handling, take the 450MT into serious consideration.

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