2024 CFMOTO 800NK review

CFMOTO is coming ahead in leaps and bounds, advancing its motorcycle making skills with each new model, aided by partner KTM. This generalist 800 NK is a value-laden riot.

There’s a definite sense of deja vu when riding the latest middleweight street machine from CFMOTO. And that’s because the group is the Chinese partner for KTM.

The 800 NK Advanced happens to feature a powertrain and chassis that’s closely related to those of the KTM 790. The Austrian firm has moved on since then, and the 790 is now the 890 with 85kW of power and 92Nm of torque.

That compares with 74kW and 81Nm for the CFMOTO bike. However, both are streetfighter style middleweights, with fully adjustable suspension, radial brakes, sports rubber and lightweight chassis.

Each is under 200kg wet. In the case of the KTM you’re paying around $18k for the privilege of riding a European offering in a hot orange colour.

But you’d be surprised at how similar in feel and execution the grey CFMOTO 800 NK model is, for $13,495. And for summer you can knock $1000 off that. It’s certainly enough to make you think twice. 

After rereading what we thought of the KTM 790 that debuted in 2018, this is nearly a deadringer for that bike. We liked that a lot, but this for roughly $5k less? Six years ago, you might have bought yourself a budget 650 Japanese bike for that kind of money.

And with fairly ordinary ancillaries and not too much in the way of electronics apart from ABS brakes. This is loaded by contrast and seems amazing value.

What is it?

The flagship 800 NK Advanced is an aggressive looking bike, full of streetfighter adrenaline up front, but what you notice first up is a whopping eight-inch TFT touchscreen display. It’s like someone plopped an iPad mini in place of where a regular digital display might be.

It looks odd, in portrait format, but there’s plenty of functionality here with Apple CarPlay and multimedia interaction. It’s a fairly simple process to make your phone the default ignition key.

To my mind, it’s easier to stick a wee key fob into your pocket. You then fire up the ‘ignition’ button, and push the starter to go. 

While you’ll be struck dumb at the size of the TFT screen, it’s not all good. With the sun behind you, the reflective glare makes it impossible to read anything. Heading into the sun is a different story altogether.

We particularly liked the view that you can access using a shortcut button, showing just speed, revs and selected gear. And on that, this comes with a standard Quickshifter that works well on the whole.

If you’re a bit slapdash about upshifts it will occasionally hook a false neutral. But be more positive and there’s no such embarrassing engine revving. Back down the box, manual shifting is better.

There’s a nice crackle and pop to the exhaust when doing this, and the 285-degree firing order gives this a distinctive growl. The right-sided twin exhausts are minimalist and look as good as they sound.

Solid engine

This engine reminds of the 790’s except that it fuels better, surging slightly only when cold. It will pull away from 2000rpm without snatching so long as you’re easy on the gas. Best revs though are from 3000 onwards.

Across the midband it’s really strong and pulls extra well from about 5500 to 9000rpm. We didn’t test this out too much because there’s been a heavy cop presence of late where we ride.

No point letting the general public know there’s a blitz on, right? At 80km/h in top this reads 3000rpm, and 100 is 3800 while 5000 is way over the odds.

Cruising at 100 feels supremely relaxed, with scarcely any vibes, and the riding position is easy going, comfy, primed for streetfighter antics. Lots more speed is an easy twist of the wrist away, without being superbike silly. 

What a goer though 

Being lightweight and with an 800cc parallel twin this is up and gone in impressive fashion. It’s essentially as quick as the KTM 790 we tested back in 2018. So a sprint time firmly in the mid 3sec bracket, and an overtake comfortably under 2sec.

So yes, it will give a litre bike a run for its money. The stoppies from 100km/h were a bit interesting, the rear wheel waving around in the breeze. Not that keen on this aspect, as I’m not used to riding unicycles.

The front brake alone has plenty of stopping power, though you do need to lean on the (adjustable) lever some. It helps that the overall weight is modest, around 190kg. 

And it feels just that on the go, as did the KTM 790. Changes of direction are so sweet and easy. It’s good for stability too, with the extended swingarm.

The standard Maxxis Supermaxx rubber is reassuringly grippy in the dry. We found the ride a bit bumpy initially but backing off settings at both ends a few clicks sorted that. It’s a kind of any road, any time bike.

Lots of kit

This has rather an impressive amount of gear for something costing a modest amount. We were surprised to see cruise control which is always handy, especially at the end of a long ride.

Indicators are self cancelling, again a surprise. And there’s a hazard switch for lane splitting, which this does quite well.

There are three ride modes but standard is a touch soft, so we left it on the appropriately stroppy Sport setting. Rain we didn’t need or try.  

One final thing. After years of strong European and global sales, CFMOTO partner KTM finds itself in trouble, possibly in need of a bailout. What went wrong? Is the styling too out there?

Is there too much debt from buying other brands? Or is it a case of people opting to buy something that’s very close to the KTM in terms of design and execution but at a much more attractive price.

Because hand on heart, colour aside, this CFMOTO gets my vote over the similar but more expensive orange machine.  

This article first appeared in the December/January 2025 issue of NZ Autocar magazine.