P130
COMPARISON I LIGHTWEIGHT ADVENTURE BIKES
and comms system as well.
CFMOTO, like everyone else,
has an app you can use with the
bike, if you want.
Compromises are few on the
CFMOTO. It accelerates the best
of the bunch, with the twin-
cylinder torque and aggressive
gearing getting it off the line.
Interestingly, the bike doesn't
pull as hard or as far on the top-
end as the KTM single thanks to
final drive gearing more biased
to slower-speed acceleration.
It is fine off-road, thanks to its
smooth, consistent power deliv-
ery, but is limited in confidence
here by its overall weight, wider
wheel width, and shallow ground
clearance. Riding the pave-
ment with ultra-smooth power,
from a few component recalls
and updates, there has been
little to complain about in the
J.Juan ADV world.
The rider-aid tech stack on
the IBEX 450 consists of switch-
able traction control and ABS.
Switching ABS/Traction control
is easy with the push of a but-
ton, and the minimal options
mean there is less fuss in the
menu department. The ABS is
rear-switchable only, and there
are no off-road-specific ABS set
-
tings up front. It is Bluetooth-en-
abled to connect to your phone
full compression and rebound
adjustability, along with preload
tuning. In the back, the shock
is adjustable for preload and
rebound, and it is the only rear
shock in this test to be linkage-
mounted and center-aligned on
the swingarm. The 8.7 inches of
ground clearance is the lowest in
this comparison, making the bike
more likely to drag its underbelly,
despite its full-size 18-inch rear
and 21-inch front wheel/tire
setup. When you carry the most
weight and have the least ground
clearance, this will happen.
Brake spec on the CFMOTO
comes courtesy of Chinese
J.Juan components. This is the
same brand found on KTM 790
and 890 machines, and apart
The modern, mini ADV touring
choice is clearly the CFMOTO IBEX
450. It has big road trip aspirations
and looks the part.
