Whenever I see a new motorcycle, the first thing I do is envision what exactly it was designed for and think of whether or not it would be good at its job given its spec sheet. It’s a relatively simple and straightforward way of thinking and one that I’m sure a lot of you do, too.
But for some weird reason, when I first saw the new Mud 452 from historic and rather obscure Italian motorcycle manufacturer FB Mondial, my brain went in a completely different direction.
I mean, sure, it’s clearly an off-road-focused adventure bike a la Royal Enfield Himalayan 450, CFMoto Ibex 450, and BMW F 450 GS. But here’s the kicker. It’s from FB Mondial, a company that seemed perfectly happy just producing small-displacement machines in Europe for beginner riders. Why the sudden interest in the middleweight segment? And why a showcase of a totally badass-looking ADV bike in the world’s biggest motorcycle expo?
