When you first threw my leg over the CFMoto MT450 first thing I noticed was the relative low seat height for an adventure bike. Grab the bars and the feel of the bike the rider triangle (bar to foot peg seat position) is instantly comfortable. If your over 190cm you would probably want a touring seat and bar rises. The huge colour dash is easy to read and easy navigate with the KTM style switch gear. The adjustable screen and fairing’s offer pretty good protection. I only threw on my wet jacket in the drizzle and my legs stayed relatively dry behind the fairing. Once again if you are over 190cm you would want a touring screen.

This bike has an extremely lite clutch and adjustable levers out of the box which is nice. Once on the road it is lite nimble and easy to ride. Almost felt like I had been on one before within a few minutes. It does have a mini Yamaha Tenere feel and look to be honest. The 450cc parallel twin spins up quickly with little effort. Whilst it does not have a rip your arms off acceleration like a 450 mx bike or an MT-07 if you short shift in it’s sweet spot between 5000-6500 RPM it gallops along with ease. This is even more noticeable and comes into it’s own on the dirt. The standard exhaust has a nice burble when on song and going back down through the gears. You could probably wake this little engine up a little more with some fiddling. Though it probably does not need if used for it’s intended purpose.

Once off-road I was surprised how good the suspension is out of the box. Much stiffer than probably any of the soft under sprung suspension off just about any Japanese bike’s I have ridden out of the box. If you are 80-90KG you probably would just set the cliker’s and not touch the springs. I found myself still sitting off-road till about 80-85 kph. Really only needing to get up on the pegs above this speed or for big pot holes and washouts. So for the average ride the suspension is more than adequate. The factory rubber gave great grip in the wet conditions not as good as the Knobbies on my DR650 but everything is a compromise when it comes to tyres.

So overall for the price point what a great little bike that will do great fuel economy won’t get you into licence losing territory. You can pick it up by yourself if you drop it. Will get you anywhere I would take a DR 650 something similar with a bit more comfort if your over 100kg you might be on the clutch a bit off-road and looking for a bit more if riding spiritedly but that’s is not what this bike is about this about seeing some countryside in relative comfort without braking the bank.