CFMOTO 650NK Review

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Interesting little prospect this one. CFMOTO continues to impress, offering a seriously good value proposition across a range of models – and this is no exception. So what exactly is the 650NK?

Hold up, let’s first talk about CFMOTO themselves for those who aren’t familiar. Arguably China’s premier ‘big’ bike manufacturer, not only do they produce their own models, but they also have a production relationship with KTM, building a bunch of models from the KTM line-up for the Austrian powerhouse.

That’s important from a bunch of aspects. It gives you an idea of their manufacturing quality benchmarks, but they also get access to some of the ‘previous model’ KTM engine tooling that they’re going to be using for their own models.

Plus they have a relationship with KTMs styling house Kiska – which explains some of the styling similarities between the nice blue 650NK and some of the orange mid-weight models from KTM… Incidentally, blue and orange are on opposite sides of the colour wheel. Thanks design school.

Enough background. What is it?

The 650NK is a LAMS approved (learner friendly) naked bike sporting a 650 cc parallel twin that pumps out a pretty reasonable 41.5 kW (55 hp) of power and 62 Nm of torque. It’s wrapped up in a modern, sharp, aggressively styled package with a low 795 mm seat height, so it’s super easy to push around and throw a leg over. Doesn’t actually feel like you’re pushing around 193 kg (dry). It packs a 17-litre tank too which will get you around the 300 km mark depending on how you ride.

When you do throw a leg over, everything feels pretty normal actually. Levers feel natural, switch-gear all good quality feel about it, no surprises. Nice coloured LCD display too. The mirrors aren’t massive, but they do the job. Overall, it has a certain European brands’ look to it if I’m honest which is no bad thing.

It’s quite compact without feeling cramped. While it’s quite a comfortable upright seating position there isn’t a massive amount of space available to move forward or back, but it’s certainly not a case of your knees feeling like they’re getting in the way.

Moving off, there’s a very slight grab at the end of the clutch release but only from standstill, not noticed once moving. Gearbox shift is also fine. Not the smoothest, not the clunkiest – goes in, doesn’t miss shifts, does the job. No need for a quick-shifter, this bike is about the fundamentals.

The engine is more than decent too. Revs well, has nice fuelling and a good throttle feel. Get it above four-grand and it pulls solidly and sounds decent. It starts to tail off at a bit past the seven-grand mark (peak torque is actually at bang on 7,000 rpm) so that window of shove is plenty wide enough to play with…  I’d imagine a cheap slip-on would work pretty well in terms of adding even more character to that exhaust note too.

Worth pointing out that it comes with two ‘modes’, as per the pics. I can’t say I felt any noticeable difference in power or throttle between the two though. And fuel consumption between the two wasn’t really conclusive either. So I reckon just choose your favourite dash display and keep it there.

I found that the seating position confined my movement a tiny bit in the sense that I’d want to move back a smidgen every now and again but the seat shape itself is quite nice – if a little firm. Speaking of firm, the suspension seemed unnecessarily so.

It actually did a pretty good job for the most part, especially around town where its low(er) speed agility really stood out, but the rear shock didn’t particularly like corrugations or bigger hits. Certainly not as bad as some other bikes I’ve tested, but it’s definitely on the firm side. And the combo of the seat and the firm suspension made its presence known on my butt after an hour or so in the saddle. It’s not a tourer.

Get it on a smooth bit of road though and it works well. Combined with nice accurate steering that at first felt heavy (but once I got used to it, felt fine), the 650NK tips willingly into corners and feels perfectly comfortable on its side. Get a few ripples mid corner or pitch it in at serious speeds and the suspension shows its build level, but for everything up to 8/10ths is pretty damn good.

The stoppers work perfectly well too. Dual 300 mm discs up front with twin piston calipers and a single 240 mm out the back, both ends have ABS. A few repeated emergency stops didn’t show any signs of fade either.

The only real negative I found that I’d want changed was with the headlights – low beam was pretty ordinary really and wouldn’t throw much light out past 40 metres or so. Which isn’t ideal in a lot of situations. I wonder what sort of wildlife they have around roads in China.. Probably not many roos I’d wager. Other than that.. It’s a pretty cheery little bike.

Obviously it’s not going to be as refined as something like the new Triumph Trident which is probably the class leader, but it isn’t trying to be a class leader. It’s fighting a different fight. It’s fighting a price war and it’s pretty well armed.

At seven-grand ride away with a three-year warranty, the 650NK represents astonishing value whichever way you look at it. That’s a full six-and-a-half-grand less than the Trident. Comes with ABS and an LCD dash. And really, it’s build quality is better than that price suggests. Nuts.

And that’s why this bike is a winner in my book. As a genuine entry level option for those on a budget, or even a cheap commuter as a second bike, this has to be right up there in consideration. It was great in traffic and filtering and seemed in its element around town.

In fact I see no reason that you couldn’t keep this bike for a few years, get the best out of it while still under warranty and then trade up for something else in a few years time when they’ve got the bigger 990 cc engined bikes released that they’re working on now…  They look interesting. And that ‘old’ 990 KTM engine was pretty ace. Full of character. The future looks pretty bright for CFMOTO I reckon. They’re going to have some fans.

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Why I like it

• Value. That price is amazing.
• I dig the styling. Looks a bit like a blue Superduke…
• No real mechanical weak points

I’d like it even more if

• Headlights could be better, especially low beam
• Suspension is unnecessarily firm, backing it off a notch would be an improvement

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2021 CFMoto 650NK Specifications

Images by RbMotoLens

Source: MCNews.com.au