Can A 9 000 Adventure Bike Really Be That Good CFMOTO 1000MT X Review

Now, I think it's fair to say that in 2026, for a 900 to 1000cc adventure bike, well, you're looking at at least 11 or 12 grand, maybe even 14 or 15 or 16 for something with a bit of luxury to it. But this, the CFMoto 1000 MTX, new for this year, well, it comes in at under nine grand. And to me, on paper anyway, it looks to be every bit as good as the rest. But look, is it really possible to build a bike like that at that price point, or is it simply too good to be true? Well, myself and Tim headed to the UK press launcher Enduro World Wales in order to ride it both on-road and off to find out. But before we get underway, a massive thanks to Light Lock for supporting the channel and sponsoring this video, but more on them later. So let's cut to the chase. I think the main attraction of this particular motorcycle, especially at this price, has to be the engine with a big 950 parallel twin that's derived from their manufacturing partners at KTM. Now, KTM call it the 990, so they use it in their 990 Duke, the RCR sports bike. But in this particular utilitarian adventure-focused application, well, it's been tuned down a little bit for maximal mid-range. All the same, peak power still sounds pretty strong at 111 horses made at just 8,500 RPM. But it's the torque that's particularly fulsome with 105 newton meters peak made at just 6,250. Now, for road riding, this means bags of power if you do want to get stuck into the more sporty side of things. But also, that mid-range should provide a very practical side with enough forward shove for carrying luggage and or a passenger without having to rev the nuts off it. Genuinely, at nine grand to essentially get a KTM 990, well, this seems like a very good deal indeed. I think the only thing you could realistically mark it down for is perhaps lacking a little bit of soul. I mean, granted, the firing intervals are the same as the KTM, which have been put in this parallel twin to mimic their big 75-degree V-twins like in the Super Duke. But all the same, in reality out on the road, you've got something that feels very similar anyway to the other 270-degree parallel twins that have become so popular, not in just the adventure market, but across the entire motorcycle market. So, does this engine then light my fire in the same way as Triumph's T-plane triple in the Tiger 900s or the new Ducati V2 that they'll use in the new Desert X? Well, I've got to say, almost certainly not. But then, of course, you'll pay many thousand pounds more for those two bikes. And so, in the context of the price, well, I think it's a fairly mild shortcoming that can easily be swallowed. Plus, if you do fit it with some louder pipes rather than this rather restrictive stocker, well, that's always going to open up a bit more personality. Still moving on to some of the other good stuff, we've got the brakes. In terms of the hardware, we've got Brembo calipers. You've got four piston radially mounted calipers up front on 320mm discs. So, looks like good stuff. And it plays out on the road as well. I was really impressed with the level of bite on these particular brakes with a lot of other budget bikes lacking a little bit on that front. And it really does give you confidence just to feel that initial al dente crispness when you first start to pull the lever in. Maybe you'd want a little more progression when it comes to the off-road stuff. But as an all-rounder, you've got absolutely no problem barreling into corners a little quicker than you'd like and really giving it a good haul on the brakes. And I thought the ABS behaved particularly well too. One of the other things that made the road ride pretty pleasant, I've got to say, was the tech package with a vertically orientated 8-inch colour TFT dash. Really nicely laid out as well. And through it, you can manage a plethora of features like four standard riding modes, a fifth if you opt for that extra connectivity module, cornering TC and ABS, cruise control, a quick shifter, TPMS, charging ports, heated grips, a heated seat, all fitted as standard for under £9,000. I've got to say though, one feature I'm a little bit torn on though is the touchscreen capability. I've reviewed four bikes, I think, in as many weeks. The Norton, Manxar, the KTM 1390s, the 990s as well, and then there's this bike. All of them came with touchscreen capability on the dash. And so this could be the techie fad for 2026. But here's the thing, it just seems a little bit mad to me to be taking one of your hands off the bar to reach forward, then to swipe through menu items that are completely un-tactile, all whilst trying to keep your eyes on the road ahead. The more and more I use them, I wish that the manufacturers had just spent all of their time designing the best possible switchgear facilities in order to navigate all this stuff. For example, the BMW Wonderwheel, which I think is probably best in class in this regard. It's super flexible so it can be used to control pretty much anything on the screen, so it can almost mimic the versatility of a touchscreen. But it's right by your hand, and especially on a bike like this, the 1000MTX, where it's got quite a long cockpit, you really are reaching quite a long way forward in order to hit some of those menu items. Now, perhaps one could argue, well, use the bars for when you're riding, and the touchscreen when you've pulled over to go through all the settings, and maybe that's a fair point. But I will say, I didn't find the switchgear on the CFMoto to be all that intuitive, and so I don't really want to see touchscreens being a way to plaster over sub-optimal switchgear. All that said though, the 1000MTX does have a bit of a trick up its sleeve, which is that if you do equip that T-box connectivity module, where you can use wireless carplay built right into the dash. So in that case, well, I guess the touchscreen functionality does become extremely handy. And so while I couldn't get an exact price for that T-box, well, it is something I'd be allowing a few hundred extra quid for in the budget. Now, before we get on to the next big strength of this bike, well, I just want to say a massive thanks to Light Lock for supporting the channel and sponsoring this video. Even with a relatively affordable bike like this, you really do want to keep it safe. And it looks pretty snazzy as well, so I would say it's fairly knickable. But I think your best layer of security would come in the form of an angle grinder resistant lock. You see, most standard locks can be cut in seconds, as we found out when we did a cutting test at Light Lock's UK HQ. Their angle grinder resistant locks though, like the X1 and X3, use their own special coating called boronium, which helps to turn the power of the grinder back on itself. We went through two discs and a whole battery without even nearly defeating the lock. And because it can't be rotated, well, you'd have to cut through both sides to get it free. Genuinely, we use these on our own bikes and fully trust them to do the job. And you can find many success stories on their website and social media. So if you do want to pick one up, then of course there are links in the description below, along with a generous discount code for our viewers, which you won't find anywhere else. Now, one of the other clear strengths of this bike on the road is the weight, but also the way it carries it. 199 kilograms dry. It's got to be said it's at the lighter end of things, but also full of fluids and fully fueled up. Well, you're looking at 222 kilos, which I think is, again, still pretty impressive. On top of that though, again, inherited from KTM's school of design, you've got the low-hanging fuel tank where it hangs with two separate pods, either side of the bike, joined at the middle so fuel can pass between the two of them. But all the same, it really does mean that the fuel hangs very low indeed. And I've long been a big fan of this style of tank. On the 790 and 890 Adventures, for example, just because it really does help with an Adventure style bike that can be tall, that can have a big tank, in terms of manageability and maneuverability. It just helps them to feel super planted, super low slung. But also, the more you use the fuel, the more pronounced the effect becomes because whatever's left is sitting even lower in the bike. Now, compare that to my own Tiger, which takes 20 liters as well, so not quite as much, but still plenty of fuel. And you really do notice when you fill this up, it becomes a lot more tippy because it's right up the top. And you don't really get that draining effect of the more you use, the less top-heavy it gets because it's either from here to about here, as opposed to the fuel going from here to about here. On top of that, I've got to say 22.5 liters is pretty generous for this category of bike. And after a bit of research, while I couldn't really find any of the competition that can take more fuel on board, apart from the Adventure version of BMW's F900GS or the Desert X from Ducati, if you fit it with the extra rear fuel pods, although that then limits luggage options. So with an engine that they say can do 4.6 liters per 100 kilometers, well, you could theoretically get up to 500 kilometers of range or 310 miles. Although that's providing, of course, that you can operate the throttle with the self-restraint levels of a monk. On our ride though, well, we were getting quite a bit less than that because as always with these press days, at moments it turned into a bit of a thrash. So it wasn't really representative of some sensible economical touring miles. I will say though, despite this relatively low weight and also the smart position of the fuel tanks, well, I did have one note on the riding dynamics, at least on the road anyway. You see, it comes in two versions. You've got a standard version with a seat height of 830 mil, but also a tall version where it comes in significantly taller at 870. And this isn't achieved by just changing the padding in the seat. It's very much achieved with the suspension because if you look at the spec sheet, you'll also notice the exact same 40 mil difference in the suspension travel between the two bikes. The standard bike is 190, the tall one 230. And I think it's fairly safe to assume that that's how they've achieved these two different stances in this 1000 MTX lineup. Now the bikes we were on for both the road ride and off-road section were 870s, which I guess makes sense from CFMoto's perspective in terms of organizing this day. With that much extra travel and the associated ground clearance, this 870 version is naturally going to show off the best of the bike's capabilities when it does come to the off-road riding. I will say though, I really wish we'd had the chance to try out the lower slung version on the road with the 870 being right on the edge of practicality for me when it comes to maneuvers and picking the bike up off the stand. I'm 175 centimeters or 5 foot 9 and even Tim, who's an inch or two taller, I think found it, you know, ever so slightly taller than would be ideal. More than that though, I think you can work around some of those problems. I just felt like the bike was unnecessarily tall if you're predominantly road riding because it gives you a bit of a disconnected feel from the road and so if on-road is the majority of your riding and perhaps you just want to dabble with the off-road then I'd definitely at least try to demo the lower of the two. Now another thing I jotted down in my notes as perhaps not the strongest point of this bike when it comes to road riding is the comfort levels and especially with regards to the wind protection. The screen is adjustable so you might be able to get it dialed to your particular height but because of that rally aesthetic with the sort of slab-like front end which is very much fashionable at the moment and also the fairly stubby windscreen, I think it's one of the more turbulent adventure bikes I've ridden in the last year or two. So if you were going to do long distances, if you wanted it for more of the touring side of adventure bike ownership then I'd definitely be looking at the touring windscreen which is in the accessories catalogue and it's another thing I wish we'd been able to test out on this particular day. It'd be interesting to see how much it solves the problem because it's still really upright and so I wonder if it can smooth the airflow quite so well as something that's raked back a little bit and intuitively looks more like it'll give you a smooth airflow. Again, I didn't get a chance to test it so I can't quite comment but if we did get one for a longer review it'd be something I'd be really keen to look at. Anyway, what about the off-road? I think that's a big part of the bike that everyone wants to know about and it looks like it should be pretty good with 21 and 18 inch wheels, all that suspension travel on the adjustable KYB fork and shock, the low slung weight as well because of the fuel tanks and also the extra riding modes. Unfortunately though, I'm not off-roading at the moment after an Achilles rupture at the start of the year but thankfully Tim was more than happy to step in and took on the Enduro World Playground and so these were his thoughts straight after. Well, we're using a wide shot here because you're absolutely filthy and nobody needs to see that up close but it looks like you had a good time. Yeah, yeah, if my face could tell a story I suppose it would be good times were had, falling was had and that amounts to a good time. Well, let's talk about the engine first. I'm guessing you didn't use all 111 horsepower but is it feeling the lower revs and does it have that tractability that's really important off-road? Very much so, yeah, so with a lot of the really technical stuff where you're just getting used to it if you're at my kind of ability, you're really sitting it low in the revs and just kind of trusting that it's not going to stall and it will take a decent amount of abuse and just keep chugging on so that is very useful for inexperienced riders and probably still very useful for very experienced riders too. How about this low slung fuel tank design as well? Does it make a biggish bike like this feel more manageable? I would say definitely, yeah, I felt the same with the KTM, unsurprisingly, feel the same on this one, really, really good to have that weight sat somewhere a bit more manageable and it helps keep it steady. I mean it's almost unavoidable that it's going to help, isn't it, to have it down low but the other thing I was wondering about as well is I think we both probably would have preferred the lower slung bike on the road, where do you sit on the off-road side of things because the trade-off is like more suspension travel, more capability but also it does feel kind of tall. Yes, it does feel tall, I would say it is absolutely at the limit of where I would be comfortable with using a bike like this but suspension-wise it's worth it, getting the taller one definitely pays off. This is quite a complex route, there were definitely quite a few places where it was practically bottoming out so having that extra travel really did come into its own was very obviously useful in a scenario like this. What about these tyres, are these on the STLs as well? Yeah, someone told me today these were kind of dual sport so good for road, good for off-road, maybe not so sort of specialized for off-road if it's the same tyres we're using this morning. They are the same, they're not great when it's muddy because there's not enough... So there was some sand and there was some very, very slick mud and in those scenarios you just kind of grit your teeth and hope for the best and your bike was fine. So yeah, maybe you'd want something a little bit more aggressive for those types of situations but it's quite dry today, very dry today so they were fine for that sort of stuff. And in CF Motors defense they've got to put something on it that suits most riders that do a little bit of everything, any specialist is almost certainly going to swap the tyres straight away. So look, with all that in mind, have CF Moto done a good job here and should you consider buying one or at least taking one out for a demo ride? Well, for me undoubtedly this is the new benchmark in terms of value for money in the mid to large capacity adventure market. It's very few bikes, especially from the established mainstream brands, that are able to come anywhere near close in terms of specs and features and performance. I will say as well for anyone with concerns about reliability and manufacturing quality and parts availability, you know it does come with a standard four-year warranty which should go some way to perhaps help with those concerns. Broadly though the engine is brilliant fun, it's able to do the business in terms of quick riding, the mid-range is perfectly set for some touring and it can also do the low-end bottom-end mud plugging as well. The weight is light and manageable, the tech suite impressive and the level of spec on the chassis is way above what you'd expect at this sort of very accessible price point for this genre. Perhaps though it's not a bike I would expect to grow to love, it's not a bike I think I'd own and think well I need to keep this one forever. With the engine for example not quite having the same levels of charm of some of the competition and the level of finish lacking a bit of pizzazz and quality to the feel, although considering the price again I think you'd have to expect so. If you do want to buy one I'd just recommend making sure you get the level of spec right, that t-box definitely worth considering. The touring screen is something I'd really be looking at to find a bit of comfort in terms of wind protection but the biggest one has to be that ride height. The difference between those two versions is massive and also there isn't a way to step between them with a low seat accessory as far as I know so really do demo one before you slap a deposit down on a big 870mm seat height bike. The only thing I wish bud is that aesthetically they've managed to carve out a bit of a recognisable brand identity in that blue white and pink finish and they've got their own design style as well. The only two we've got in the UK though at the moment are the khaki green which is that looks good, adventure colour. This one we're both a bit indifferent about aren't we? It needs a sticker kit or something. It needs some in. It looks unfinished. As always though I'd love to know what you think of it down in the Then I'll put our video on the screen now so you can give it a watch in case you missed it. A massive thanks again to Lightlock for their support. There are links in the description below. Do hit subscribe as well for more of the latest motorcycle news and reviews like this right here on Motobob. A massive thanks for watching today and we'll catch you in the next video.