CFmoto 450MT IBEX - Everything you REALLY should know 

Excellent review as always. The feeling of lighter weight comes from the height of the center of gravity. The T7 is known to have this center a bit too high, hence the sensation of weight, particularly in low speed and worst when you have to get it up after a fall. It's simple physics the effort to make is the weight multiplied by the distance between the center of gravity and the pivoting point, in our case the the tires. On a ordinary bike there is little difference in strength and durability between a cast piece and a CNC one except if you go for very expensive high strength alloys, but that's for competition or aeronautics. But the difference of price is consequent in high series fabrication when you can amortize the cost of the tooling and molds. With metal molds with pressure injected alloy you can make very complex pieces without porosity flaws or voids at very good prices and most important in seconds. That's impossible to make in CNC at a decent price. So all depends on the quality of the alloy, happily there are plenty of rather cheap but strong and durable alloys for pressure injected casts. And for export bikes I'm almost sure that CFMoto is not using salvaged beer cans. After all they are making bikes for KTM and now Yamaha in a new joint venture, they know their job. The price of the 450 MT is not obtained by stupid savings on the materials but by using industrial capacities and the will of keep the margins decent for a very wide market as they want to sell it in big numbers in the whole world from Europe to Asia and Latin America, like Voge did with the 300 Rally. In fact like did the Japanese a long time ago. The contrary of several brands which are using the luxury market approach to maximize the profits. I have seen in an Australian video that CFMoto has made an ECU update to solve the inconvenient throttle. Ask your dealer if that's available in Europe. Another fix I've seen is to tune the slack of the cable to reduce it to the very minimum. The lateral slack is also another factor. For the lateral slack in the throttle a washer of appropriate thickness cut in a flat piece of nylon or high density polyethylene will do the job. Easy to make DIY with very simple tools. The first gear is very low at only 60 kmh at probably 9500 to 10000 RPM, that"s only 8 kmh at idle 1300 RPM, and a top speed of 150 kmh probably at 8500 RPM with 6 speeds. The engine is very round, plenty of torque from the low RPM. I would try a 15 teeth sprocket, it's just 7 % more. If it's good I would go to around 10 % and for that I would change the rear sprocket keeping the original front 14 teeth. I doubt that will have an adverse effect on adventure off road but will improve the cruising speed on asphalt. I think that this too short de-multiplication is for helping the total beginners struggling between the throttle and the clutch in the middle of the asphalt jungle and a white dirt road. We all have been beginners...

"... chose not to see" - well said. Manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, BMW, KTM - all of them basically ignored our pleas for a LIGHT adventure bike, pref in the 160-170kg range, with big tank, small 400-500CC twin. CFMoto delivered where all others failed - this motorbike is already a classic, it is to the adventure motorcycle industry what the iPhone 1 was to the phone industry.

Not seen your reviews before but i’m very impressed with you presentation and will watch more…….great stuff !

pretty sure this is future 490/501 twin engine :) and don't worry, it will get hot when they fit it in to an orange bike with some 15hp more.

Major engine components are cast on all motorcycles . Machined parts are way too expensive for mass production if a cast alternative is available. Some castings may look machined but won't be. Die casting can take less than a minute. CNC machining of the same part can take hours and use 20x the material

Interestingly, think a lot of experienced riders are going to buy this bike as well as the new to biking. This bike has something for everyone without the need to spend a fortune like with the other manufacturers. I’ve been riding over 40 years and am going to order one.

I laughed more than i should have at the foil hat joke. Nice job on a great review.

Thank you for this amazing review! It will be amazing to see all the new content about this bike in your channel! You are my favourite channel reviewing off road bikes :D

Best review ive seen so far of the 450 mt! Thank you!

I really appreciate how you started with the " meat and potatoes " answering the questions about how the motorcycle rides and handles before going into the electronics and control features. IMO this is the better way to conduct a review. Enjoyed your review 👍

The best thing about this upload is that Diogo is NOT making a review that looks more like propaganda. I expect in rhe near future a video telling us how reliable was this particular model. CFMoto hit the strings perfectly giving customers an engine size and chassis that many of us were screaming from japanese brands and we were, sadly ,never heard. Hope this is a lessson learned for those brands. GOOD JOB DIOGO!!!

I had the opportunity to go over the bike last month. I too got T7 vibes. I was shocked how much heavier it felt than my fully farkled 390 Adventure. You forgot to enntion how good to sounds with the stock pipe! - Frank

Perhaps the best review about this bike? Simple, straight to the point with actual real and practical points of view. Great job! 💯👍👍

I like this bike very much! I’m waiting for a bit later his year (Around my birthday) and some more long term reviews to pull the trigger on it. It sounds like a great first bike for the price and to start learning about adventure and off road driving

Thank you for the comprehensive review! I have a CFMoto dealership about 10 minutes from my house, and can't wait to view one in person.

glad you love it. tuning in for more 450mt video.

I really like how honest your opinions are. Saying things as they are. Thanks!

Stock motorcycles are so rare they are worth a fortune. There's nothing better than a completely original motorcycle with the correct rear fender and license plate mounts and an original muffler and air box.

Great video! I hope you will be able to compare it to the new Himalayan 450. That’s 2 bikes, which I’m currently looking at.

Best rewiev for the ones who want to buy MT450, thanks OFFroad-OFFcourse.

Great review. I love the little funny scenes 😂👍🏼 Looking forward to more great videos with this great bike that known manufacturers didn’t want to build.

Cool. Happy to see you back (making longer vids)

Loved it, well done! Great review and humor

The best review of the bike so far, thank you. Would you recommend it for beginners?

First interesting review about this bike without trying to sell it! I love your videos, Diogo. Your mixture of thorough information, clarity, honesty, humility, and fun makes you the top bike RU-vidr for me. Once you mentioned that you admire FortNine, but I put you both on the podium, Enjoy it! I'll keep watching from my CRF300L and my Transalp 650

What a great honest review and I love your style with good English. This bike is on my list , I just hope they can quickly import enough to the UK - listen up CF Moto please , finding one at the moment is not easy , just to go and look at initially .

Muchas gracias Diogo para tu video. Como tu pienso que es la moto (de aventurer)mas practica desde mucho tiempo y la moto que mucho gente espéra! Hasta pronto! Christophe.

I was so excited to ride this bike at the ABR24, but we weren't allowed to take it off road. However, on road, I just didn't like it. I was utterly gutted as I was sure this was going to be my next bike. Rode the Himmy 452 on and off road and absolutely loved it. I just can't work out what I'm missing when it comes to this bike.

Good first opinion and discussion for whom this bike is.I think that if you use it for 2 years the way you used your Yamaha it will have proven itself for most riders.As you rightly say most riders will not need an expensive,,100 %,,bike and 80 % will be more that enough.I hope it will be a huge succes for the manufacturer and that the Japanese hurry to bring out some affordable similar bike.I am impressed with the stuff you get for little more than the crf 300 costs😊

Coherent and humours. A good initial look at a possible future bike. Thanks.

Great review. Thorough and concise. Well done

Great review, got mine a few weeks ago and totally agree with you. The jerky throttle makes me wonder too, but that's all I've found so far, the first few kilometres I found the front brake weak, but after 500-600km it has settled down and works well for now. 🙂

What might help with the jerky throttle is something called a booster plug (or many of the cheaper and smarter made versions that you can find through google) . It's a modified air intake sensor that fakes the engine into thinking it's 20 degrees colder outside than it is in reality, thereby giving a richer fuel/air mixture. It will be overrun after a few seconds by all other sensor, but it will effective in the first few seconds after changing the throttle position. It made my 2018 Africa twin a whole lot smoother and a lot less engine braking.

Best review 👌Diogo did he’s homework very well, touched the important points, I really liked the conclusion that this bike is for the humble rider, very good analysis. Hope that in the next videos there will be a comparison with the CRF300 Rally and/or AJP bike 😉

Been riding for over 30 years, currently have a BMW f750gs te and a suzuki GSXR K1 1000, I have bought this to TET and specifically to off road it. Can't wait for mine to come down

Down to earth and practical review. Cheers 👍

Excellent review thanks!

Thanks Diogo. Great review as always. Hope your insights play out and I'm excited to get my hands on one here in the US. As to the snatchy throttle, I had the same experience with my KTM 990 and added a G2 "Throttle Tamer." Things improved instantly. Not sure if they are still being made or if they might eventually work on the IBEX, but hopeful. I also agree completely that the majority of people will have a better "adventure" experience on a more approachable bike. While I love the bigger bikes in "tight conditions", I spent years getting comfortable on them in that kind of riding and those were years I could have spent developing more advanced skills and exploring more places. Cheers!

Thanks for the revieuw. This the baby Ténére that we where waiting for 🤫🤭

Great review! Thank you!

Great review details,well done

I really just ove the vibe of his videos, I don't even have a motorbike (even though I'm thinking about buying one (thinking for many years xD ) ) and I see all his videos. Esta é efetivamente uma mota que me faz pensar em comprar mais cedo do que tarde

This review is super top !!! Great respect from Romania !

A very impressive review indeed. These things are like hen's teeth in the UK but I hope to get a test ride at some point.

Great overview, thanks for sharing Cheers!

I love your videos Diogo. I own a T7 world raid and have had a CRF300Rally and many other off road bikes. I recently rode my friends the 450MT on gravel trails . Everything you have said in this video is accurate and good advice in my opinion. Keep up the great work. I hope to come and ride with you one day when I travel over from Oz.

very nice try and comments, thank you very much !

Also you haven't mentioned that lower part of engine frame is also replaceable and not many bikes have that option. Nice review.

another great video!!!!👏👏👏

Great review! Only thing it’s missing is cruise control.

Intelligent description of this bike and what better than coming from an owner and not just some random youtuber

Grandissimo, bellissima recensione

thank you for a fantastic review. you addressed my one concern about this otherwise seemingly excellent bike, the twitchy throttle. I don't mind the clutch but it can get annoying off road. good to know however it can be fixed with a remap. it is seeming more and more likely I will have to part with the saving for this very soon.

Hello Diogo, the best review on RU-vid so far. Just test rode this bike today. It was a blast. The only thing I was not so happy about was the throttle jerkiness, but it sould be smoothed out with a change of the front sprocket to 15 teeth. Even taking it to the "offroad" the Engine has enough grunt to cope with it. Waiting for more content from you. P.s. MT stays for Mini Tenere? ;-)

Os melhores reviews de motas!

Excellent look at the 450MT IBEX. I agree that the cast parts shouldn't be an issue, they aren't the stressed members.

Diogo, conteúdo TOP. Venha o próximo video.

its a beauty - enjoy

Thank you for the review. Most Engine components are casts, they CNC the casts. Piston and head is cnc from block.

Adorei a parte do papel de prata na cabeça. Poucos perceberão a ironia. Top

Nice review!

If the masses can get over the fact that this is a Chinese motorcycle, it should sell like hot cakes at a Mrs Buttersworth convention! The fact is this is so very close to what the market has been demanding for a while now. It’s not perfect, but dang is it close to unicorn territory. Glad you are out there enjoying the 450MT.

Excelente vídeo! Boa explicação. Os navios Ro-Ro estão cheias de motos CF moto é uma marca em voga.

Great Review!

13:28 this sums up why I'm gonna get this lol. My main bike is a tracer 9 GT for Onroad and this will be my toy to try out on offroad adventures. Maybe I'll decide to sell everything and upgrade to a AT. If not then at least it's a fun and cheap toy to play with.

Perfect review top job

FINALLY somebody speaks about the negatives

Great video, thanks!

I cannot get a test ride on this till September in Asturias and I have to put down a 1000 euro deposit! It's so popular.

You are an absolute legend, so far your reviews on the CFMoto 450MT are the best I have found! OBRIGADO! Is there an option in Europe to get it with the off-road high front fender? All videos I have seen in Asia have the off-road front fender which makes much more sense for this bike. Would love to hear an in-depth analysis on the KYB suspensions, most people that have used the 450MT say that the OEM suspension settings are too stiff and that you need to take some time to find the right setting for your weight/usage (hard enduro>offroad>street). I am mentioning this because most of the "big boy" ADVs out there have suspensions that are not capable of handling their weight when you throw them in difficult situations so they bottom-out quite often when doing jumps. In my opinion this bike will appeal not only to beginners but even to the more experienced HUMBLE riders that have mammoths like the KTM 890 ADV, BMW 900 GS, Ducati Desert X, Suzuki V Strom 800DE etc.; because like you said my friend, sometimes less is more! Some of the experienced older riders out there are tired of breaking their backs every time their bike lays down or having to tip-toe on a giraffe when at low speed in traffic. I genuinely believe that CFMoto have created the mid-weight ADV unicorn by listening to what the users were asking for. Never thought these words would come out of my mouth regarding a motorbike made in China, it seems like this marks the beginning of a new era. BYD has basically done the same in the EV car segment (not that I would ever buy one don't worry hehe).

Excellent content, as always. As a retired adv rider I still like to follow the news on new adv oriented motor cycles. I would like to have your opinion on the new Royal Enfield 450 Himalayan :)

Mine is coming mid July, I am really glad you like it because I respect your judgement, I will put a 15t front sprocket on to relax the gearing a bit, other than that I will leave it stock as it already comes with most things I would normally add.

One happy Diogo 💪🏻😜 Why don’t more dual sport bikes consider engines like this, it’s a mystery to me, amazing sound and smoothness instead of an LC4 that sounds like all the wheels and bolts are rattling loose around when you ride it. See you in October my friend 🏍️💨

BMW G310GS 2021 model is Euro 5 and has smooth throttle response from 0% - no jerky throttle.

try the boosterplug - gets rid of the jerkiness... put it on my gs800 and it works perfectly

Cool bike. I really like that it has tubeless. I think it could use a talk seat maybe

Nice review

Good review Diogo. I wonder if your preference for tubeless tires stems from a Monday morning in May in the hills above Piodao? 🤔

Excellent review amigo, makes me interested in this bike! The budget YSS suspension upgrades did wonders to your 300L's - do you think YSS (or similar budget oriented suspension makers (no need to throw Ohlins on a budget ADV)) will improve it as much as it did with the 300s?

I’ll reserve judgement on this bike for a couple of years until I’ve seen owner’s reviews with 30k kms on the clock.

Nice video,thank's for the info.I own one and am thankful that I bought it,and look forward to learning about it because you seem to know more about adventure bikes and setup's for them.I noticed that yours has the back suspension on the lowest point,mine is on the other one,and I am 178 cm tall,and around 79,80 kg I think I wil lower it,because nou as it is I can only touch the ground with half of mi fot ,to the tip,not flat foot it.If I lower it,do I need to lower the front suspension or can I leave it and check how it feels just with the back lower,and see how it banances first... Also is it hard to lower the suspension,can I do it on my own ,I have a garage with tools and a stand,so I think I can do it on my own

Awesome review. Can you get access to the service manual for those who would want to do their own service?

Mi sembra che tu abbia trovato la quadra: il tempo ce lo dirà. Sempre bello seguirti Ciao 🛵

Hey Diogo, love the review once again. For a beginner rider (10years riding a Honda Innova) at 1.71cm, looking for an all-use bike and do off-road, my choice was a crf300rally but it felt too tall... Would you suggest to choose the lower height of the mt, or the lower weight of the crf? Also the mt is so much cheaper and fully equipped, but it's not yet known if it will break apart and I'm no mechanic haha... Muito obrigado

Thank you for the review! For a beginning would you recommend this bike or the KTM 390 Adventure?

Great video Diogo ! 450 MT's for rent soon?

I don't think CNC is ever used for engine casings excepting maybe some blingy custom thing. Mainly after market triple clamps, hubs, some brake calipers - things like that. Could be they're using a rougher casting technique, or the paint has a texture.

Thanks for this! 👍 If it wasn’t for the price difference, would you have opted for the KTM 890 instead?

Hello there , i heard a lot of this bike and also you review is veri informative an well done , i am also wondering what do you think about the noe himalayan 450 ? it the cfmto competition in specs as price

I am curious if CFMoto will release a 300cc 2-stroke model, considering their partnership with KTM.

Muy bueno!!😅

Really interesting:) What I don't like is the cockpit. I don't know why but I can't have a cockpit that doesn't tilt when I steer :D make it 5-10kg lighter and it's perfect. Do you think it might be a fitting replacement when my drz eventually dies ?

Great review. Im just wondering where the weight comes from?

This can be good off-road bike. No more power needed. But most of bike owners (99%?😂) are frighten to death to go out of paved road. And on road 450cc engin is just way too weak. It's not about speed but flexibility. You have to shift gears every second.

Thank you very much for this review. Initially I felt it was too heavy for the power but maybe it’s just right. Just one question: how easy is it to replace the air filter? Cheers!

Is there in the COC-Documentation another Dimension for the rear tire instead of the 140/70-18 ? Possibly 140/80-18 ? That would open vast possibilities for tire options. 140/70-18 is very limited.

Casting, if done properly, is superior to machined parts: the casting process means the molecular grain of the metal conforms to the shape of the part. But machined parts look 'trick'.

@OFFroad-OFFcourse , How do you compare offroad capability with your XT660r ? I have same Xt660r with some propper knobby rubber and was thinking to trade it for 690 .. as im doing mostly wood / sand - it feelt too heawy, but when you think to get rid of all vibrations for tarmac parts.... and get 2 cylinders.... thats tempting for sure..

Hey Diogo! Very curious about this bike. It’s the sort of thing I was hoping for, couldn’t test ride it yet and wondering whether 44bhp is on the low side for the weight of nearly 200kg. Perhaps either 20kg less or 200cc more would have been perfection?

Consumos ? Estou curioso também em relação aos intervalos de manutenção ( normais e válvulas ) bem como custos, há marcas que vendem motas baratas mas depois pagas isso nas revisões... Acho que isto vai vender como borlas de berlim na praia😊