Chinese motorcycle manufacturer CFMOTO has wowed the world with its affordable, impressive performing motorcycles. In Asia, Australia, and Europe, the brand has made a name for itself by bringing premium, big bike performance to the budget-conscious market, particularly with its NK range of naked bikes. Now, the brand has dabbled into the sportbike segment with its SR model range.
The newest model in the SR sportbike range is the 450SR. Initially unveiled as a concept at EICMA 2021, the upcoming 400cc sportbike is inching closer to production. Just recently, the manufacturer released more images of the bike in what seems to be production-ready attire. Needless to say, in its production form, the bike has lost some of the features we saw on display when it was first revealed at EICMA. For starters, gone are the dual Brembo brakes up front. In their stead, a single, radially mounted caliper, also from Brembo. The bike’s SC Project race exhaust has also been replaced by an in-house unit.
All things considered, the CFMOTO 450SR is undeniably one of the sharpest looking sportbikes in the entry-level class, with an aesthetics package reminiscent of race bikes. Its aggressive bodywork is complemented by a sleek black colorway with red accents, while the bike’s menacing front fascia, accentuated by LED lights with DRLs give it a thoroughly premium, performance-oriented aesthetic.
Backing up its aggressive styling is a 450cc parallel-twin engine with an uneven firing order. Although this isn’t certain, I’m almost sure CFMOTO got this technology from its collaboration with KTM, in which the CFMOTO 800MT, which shares a lot in common with the KTM 790 Adventure, also features a nearly identical engine as the LC8 799cc parallel-twin.
All that being said, we can expect CFMOTO to begin rolling out the 450SR in China very soon. Neighboring Asian countries as well as Europe will surely follow suit shortly thereafter, and hopefully, given the fact that CFMOTO had recently set up shop in the U.S. market, the 450SR will make it stateside, too.
