Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/972780
KTM + CFMOTO: WEST MEETS EAST P116 Feature trademark Marconi format, here with another distinctive feature he worked on at Benelli, the underseat radiator with twin extractor fans created by the Tornado's designer Adrian Morton—now chief designer at MV Agusta. However, on the Benelli the fans were on the outside of the radiator, so they were effec- tively cooling the hot air after it had escaped from that. Here, Marconi has repositioned them inboard, so they're blowing cool air fed by the huge carbon fiber side ducts in the bodywork, at the hot coolant. Positioning the radiator rearwards, as first done by Kiwi visionary John Britten on his legendary V-1000 racer in 1991, then adopted for the street in 1995 on the British-built Triumph-engined Saxon Radika road bike, allows the engine to be mounted much further forward in the wheelbase to optimize weight distribution and deliver a more com- pact build, both of which appear to have been achieved on the very purposeful-looking CFMoto V.02 (as in - V-twin, presumably?). This em- ploys Öhlins suspension front and rear, with the Monoblock Brembo radial front brake calipers gripping carbon discs to be replaced by steel ones if the bike enters production, as Mr. Lai insists it will. Fuelled by its joint venture with KTM, CFMoto is about to enter uncharted waters for a Chinese manufacturer in developing and marketing the most powerful range of motorcycles yet manufactured in the People's Republic by a local company. But in aiding its Austrian partner to free up capacity at its Mattighofen home plant by talking over the entire production of the re- cently launched 790 Duke, as well as all future spinoff models, CFMoto is also about to play a major role in allowing Stefan Pierer and his team to keep building production num- bers, as well as to leave vital space in Mattighofen for future expansion of what Pierer hopes will be the suc- cessful comeback on the streets of his Husqvarna brand. And perhaps most important of all, the lower prices for the 790 Duke and its sister models which manufacturing them in China will surely entail, will mean that KTM will become super- competitive in the global 501-900cc Roadster aka Naked Bike category, where worldwide annual sales are presently pegged at 130,000 units, and are building all the time. The customer looks set to benefit from the mid-size products of Europe's number one being manufactured in China, For this will render them competitive pricewise with their Japanese rivals, espe- cially Yamaha's class-leading twins and triples, while offering extra performance—partly via a superior power to weight ratio—as well as a more sophisticated specification, with the most advanced electron- ics in the category included as standard. And while the KTM V-twin-powered CF Moto models are initially being developed for sale in its Chinese home market, if Lai Guogui follows the same strategy as with each successive new 650cc parallel-twin model in the past, it's only a matter of time before China's first large-capacity sport bikes make their way over- seas. Judging by the V.02 Concept bike that kicks off this new family of models, they should be worth waiting for, especially at the ap- pealing price they're bound to be sold at, which is likely to undercut all other equivalent models very significantly. CN When President Donald Trump visited China recently, CFMoto supplied 21 motorcycles for his cavalcade from the airport and other escort duties during his stay.