CFMoto 450nk

[ProDigit]

Bought the CFMoto 450nk. One of the first high end Chinese bikes that have dealership support now.

Listed price was $4880 something. Came down to $7.1k out the door. Paid +2k on stealer fees. :(

The bike itself, like most Chinese bikes, is ridiculously undergeared.
It's got nice power. Still controlled, but Nothing that can get you in trouble (under 5k rpm). The power really builds from 5.5-6k rpm and up.

The gears also are ridiculously short geared.
It's a 6 speed, but I feel the bike only has 3 gears. 2, 4, and 6.
Once in 6th gear, I'm trying to find 7th and 8th gear that don't exist.

It also gets about 45-50mpg, which is stupendous.

From all performance metrics, this bike needs at the very minimum 25% higher gearing; but ideally 50% higher gearing.


The bike comes with a 14/41t sprocket setup.
I bought a 16t front sprocket, which if fits, will at least get 13% lower rpms, and a 13% boost in mpg.
There currently isn't any rear sprocket that fits, so my best option is buy a generic 38t rear sprocket ring, and drill the bolt pattern in the ring.
Edit, there is a rear sprocket that fits
That would net me a 14% gear difference, and might increase mpg from 50 to 55MPG.

Still way too low.

The front handlebar is too far forward, and the risers are slanted, which means no aftermarket risers will fit.
The handlebars of the 700 might fit, but aren't available online yet.

Overall I'd not recommend CFMoto to anyone yet. I had better hopes for it, but feel ripped off. I would have been better getting a second hand Honda rebel 500 or something.

It'll take some time prepping the bike with upgrades,and doing the first 600 break in period, so ride reviews won't be out soon.

[Thumper]

Close ratio gearing is a race bike trait. I had a 1976 Honda 400F supersport with a close ratio gearbox and redline of 10500 (as I remember). Lots of shifting, but it was fun to ride. Smooth as glass and seemingly unlimited revs !!!

If first is low enough on the 450mt, then gearing up on the sprockets won't hurt the off pavement performance too much (for those that actually want to go off pavement). For your purposes, it sounds like a tall first gear won't really matter since you are 99% on the pavement.

I think you will like the bike. CFmoto is trying to enter the mainstream market. I hope they succeed. the big Japanese brands need real competition, and Harley riders need a place to go

[ProDigit]

Talk about sprockets,
I knew the 450 would have a larger pitch than a 428 chain, so I had ordered a jt sprocket JTF520.17rb.
While the sprocket fits, it does have some more play on the shaft than the OEM sprocket.
The other thing I found weird was that the sprocket seemed to have a larger pitch than the chain..

There doesn't appear to be a chain pitch between 428 and 520, so I'm wondering what chain this bike uses, and if 520, 525, and 530 chain have different pitches?

I did end up buying an 18t steel sprocket that may fit the shaft, and if it does fit I'll send my rear sprocket to rebelgears for a 38t fitting a 520 chain, for a total of 38.7% increase in gearing.

I noticed I could even start the bike in 3rd gear, but barely. Considering each gear is 20% spaced from one another, I guess 40% upgearing is probably the maximum for starting from a dead stop without stalling the bike.

[ProDigit]

I found a match for the 450nk.
The largest sprocket available, with rubber rings (like the stock sprocket), is a JTF565.16RB. I believe 13-16t is available.

That's up 2 tooth from stock, which is quite a bit in first gear, and bumps up mpg quite a bit.
There also are the chains without the rubber rings, 13 up to 18t. JTF565.18

The closest rear sprocket I could find, that matches, is a 38 tooth (also 41 and 43t) as a JT897.38.

The 16t does not fit a new bike's stock chain. You need to wear out the chain by 0.5”(sliders move about 0.25" backwards) before it fits.
I would recommend to install a 15t with the 38t instead.

The 16t by itself makes for quite a tall gear ratio.
By the time the clutch fully engages from a stop, you're already halfway through an intersection.
Edit: The clutch is less grippy than my other bikes, and I've learned to be a bit less careful with it. It grips a lot quicker, if you let the clutch go a bit quicker

The bike's speedometer doesn't need to be calibrated, as it reads the speed from the front wheel ABS sensor. Although it does overread by about 6-7%.

I'm not sure if I will do the 16t AND the 38t rear. The bike might feel more sluggish. The bike currently does roughly 4.3K-ish rpm at 53mph indicated (50mph GPS), vs 4.7k rpm at 50mph indicated (47mph gps) with OEM 14/41T.

Gas mileage was up though, and the bike makes much better mpg at below 5k rpm. Still, the mpg counter only shows 150 miles per (3Gal) tank.

I will also have to verify how accurate the odo is.
The speedo overreads by 5-7%.

You'll need an impact wrench for front sprocket and wheel axle bolts.

[ProDigit]

Sunday I installed the front radiator grille, a windscreen (mounts to the handlebars), a side stand peg cover, a screen protector (didn't really fit), front sprocket, and swingarm spools, all from AliExpress.

Next will be a 38t rear sprocket, and if it rides well, I'll swap out the front sprocket for an 18t for better mpg.
It should drop rpm from 7k at 80mph, down to 5k rpm.
Interested to see how it'll go.
If it doesn't work well, I also have a 17t front sprocket, so I can play a bit with it.

Also seat, handlebar grip covers (the 450 ones from CFMoto didn't fit), will be installed soon.

[tknj99]

I tested one at a recent CFMoto demo day here in VA.. i was impressed with the handling and it was a fun, zippy bike.. i tried to race an R6 that we rolled up on and pulled a few lengths on him, but sadly i don't think he got the memo

[ProDigit]

Today I swapped the sprockets on the 450NK.

Stock they come with a 14/41t, and I could only find up to a 16RB front sprocket (Rubber ring, like oem).
I had this one installed and the bike ran fine, despite the 16t not really fitting on the OEM chain as the chain was 1 link too short.
You could however, remove the metal pieces on the swingarm, they look like clunky washers, and use regular washers to get about 5mm of extra chain slack.
But if you don't want to do that, stick with a 15t max on a 41T rear sprocket, if you're going to keep the OEM chain.

But last week a JTF565.17 and JTF565.18 arrived (17 & 18t no rubber ring), together with the JT897.38 rear sprocket.
Both seemed to use the same spline, chain type, and bolt pattern.
The 18/38T sprocket setup actually fit quite well. Unlike the 14/41T setup where the chain sliders were all the way forward, the 18/38t sliders were in the middle. Maybe because I've done my first 100 miles on the bike already, with quite some heavy acceleration, and the chain had stretched?


The 17T front sprocket fitted on the spline just like the RB sprockets, but the 18T didn't really fit as well. The spline grooves seemed to be a fraction of a millimeter smaller.
I needed a socket and hammer to gently tap the 18t on the spline. After I used the impact wrench to get it down further.
I doubt I will be able to get it off without a pulley puller.
You really need an impact wrench on this bike, for sprockets and rear wheel axle bolts.


So currently the 18/38T setup is still easy to start from a stop.
Thank that to the Jaso oil they use for their wet clutches.
It rides at 10MPH at idle RPM in 1st gear, which is quite fast (normally 5 to 8MPH).
The bike accelerates fine from 3k RPM in 4th, but in 5th and 6th it responds better from 4k RPM onward.

The bike now does roughly 4k RPM at 40MPH GPS in 3rd gear; and does roughly 4k RPM at 60MPH in 6th.
6th gear now is a highway gear only.
It runs fine from about 4k RPM (60MPH) to 80MPH; and can go up to 100MPH when tucked; and feels extremely stable at these higher speeds.
When I would want to go faster, I'd have to stay in 5th gear.
6th gear did 100MPH at ~6.67k RPM, 5th gear would be roughly at 8k RPM, which is 500RPM above peak HP on this engine.
I didn't really test top speed as I didn't have enough road to test on; but I believe running a 17/38 instead of an 18/38 would have gotten me to run 100MPH in 6th gear doing ~7k RPM, allowing the bike to further accelerate to 110MPH at 7.5k RPM (it's rated HP peak I believe).


I don't think anyone will be needing more than a 17/38T gearing setup.
Despite that, a 19T (and possibly a 20T front sprocket should they both exist in the near future) still would fit mechanically, but I wouldn't find any reason why go any higher than a 17t, as the bike won't be fully able to utilize 6th gear that way.

On the rear sprocket, the 38T is the smallest you can find to buy, but you could get a custom one manufactured with 37T (and possibly even 36T). Smaller won't be possible, due to the bolt pattern being in the way of the chain.
Do know that this bike does NOT use a 520 chain. I don't know what it uses (a 565 chain? If so, I haven't found any online yet).
The chain CFMoto uses for this bike, has a pitch between a 428 and a 520 chain!
It's currently non-standardized, and parts are hard to get.

That means, you either will do a 520 chain conversion, using a 520 variant sprocket from JTsprockets (like the JTF520.17) or something, a 520 rear sprocket ring, and a 520 chain; OR, get a new chain from the dealership.
Because it's not an aftermarket part (yet).


Initial MPG results upped avg MPG (easy riding) from 55 to 80MPG, and average (riding abrupt/quick) from 45 to 65 MPG going from the 14/41T to the 18/38T setup.
I'll have to ride much more to see my AVG MPG on my bike, go up into the 70s.
And I will have to live with the fact that I'm not going to get this bike to average at 80MPG, in part because I'd be riding it a lot faster than my smaller bikes.
The purpose of this bike, is being my highway bike.
Even with the windscreen, doing highway rides between 80-85MPH is easy, and most comfortable. But any faster, and the wind gusts on the helmet become uncomfortable for longer rides.

Gear shifts feel normal, however, in town you won't shift into 6th gear with this setup, unless speed exceeds 60MPH.


Aside from the sprockets, I installed the higher seat, which turns out to be pushing me forward a bit towards the tank, but was extremely comfortable the whole ride. It helps on the highway to stay planted (balanced, in the middle of the seat):
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806475851975.html

I installed the 3D mesh seat cover on the seat, simply because I like the looks of these:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806422125387.html

Handlebar grip covers, which made a big improvement on my hands.
I have large hands, and the 7/8 -" throttle grips are too tiny, causing me cramps in my hands:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB5BFMTY

I covered the throttle grips with grip covers, with "450 NK" marked on it. The covers don't fit the stock grips, only after adding the handlebar grip covers:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807154528289.html

I bought a kickstand footpad, because kickstands usually tend to rust, and I felt like the bike was leaning over a bit too much. The footpad, gives roughly a 3mm raise to the peg, allowing the bike to stand a bit more upright, is made from aluminum, and will prevent scratches on the kickstand:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806984414351.html

The windscreen is on special, $18 vs $30.
It needs you to rotate the handebars by a bit, or the cables would get kinked by the metal bracket.
The plastic also seems to break (I've already seen cracks in the first few days (not even using it), but it's still functional.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806099464911.html

Many of the aftermarket parts on the CFMoto store, are Chinese crap.
Despite they look sturdier, they still aren't up to par with Honda Kawasaki, or Suzuki parts.

[ProDigit]

Getting ready for my next oil change, manual doesn't specify an oil filter type.
It does specify JASO MA2 oil, which is kind of expensive.
It also allows for JASO MA oil as a lesser desired alternative.

I know that JASO MA oil will make the clutch feel grippier.
But the JASO MA2 oil makes it feel too slick/slippery.
So I'm contemplating on mixing the two, as the JASO MA oil, like Shell Rotella T4 15W40 is currently the cheapest oil to get on the market.

I don't want to cheap out on this bike, like I do on my Vader.
But probably adding some JASO MA2 oil in the Vader, will make the clutch less act like an on/off switch; and likewise, adding some Rotella T4 will make the clutch feel less like it's gripping on slime or silicone vs actual oil.

[ProDigit]

Went to the Everglades to record some mpg numbers, but I had headwind nearly 80-90% of the time.
I don't know if the wind turned directions or not, but going south, north a big part of West, and east, I had such a strong headwind, the bike hovered between 70mph and 80mph in 6th wot, though could reach 90 when tucked in fifth.

This skewed the mpg numbers. Mpg on the dash shows ~65mpg, but with the odometer mileage, and the fuel used at the pump, mpg read closer to 45-50.

50 vs 65 is a big discrepancy!

Further more, my stride app stopped working halfway, so I couldn't compare the difference between the odo and recorded in stride.
Though the CFMoto app has roughly the correct distance of the trip recorded.

While the speedo is off by roughly 4%, the odo is pretty much spot on.
But fuel mileage is grossly off by
25-30%. Not sure if that has to do with the taller sprockets?
The windscreen started cracking, one of the reasons it's on sale now I guess...

Other than that, the nearly 20 mph headwinds made this bike ride pretty unpleasant.

[ProDigit]

600 miles and the first oil change done.
I used Shell Rotella T6 15W40 successfully.
The clutch seems fine with jt. The manual recommends 10W40, but since it's Florida here, and the temps really won't go much below 70F, I think 15W40 should do just fine.

The old oil had some fine metallic flakes in it (non ferromagnetic), and only miniscule amounts of metallic ferrous powder. I suspect most of it is caught in the filter.


The bike takes roughly 2.5Oz of oil, or about double what the cg250 takes.
I didn't change the oil filter, I should have, but forgot to order the filters.

I'm probably going to get cheapo car engine filters.
They're probably going to be ok up to about 6-7k rpm.
I don't want to screw up my bike, but also don't see the logic in paying well over double the price for an oil filter that just says "for motorcycles".
I went to the Kawasaki forum, and some users there are using fram or mobil M1 filters just fine.
My next oil change will be around 1500-2k miles, so I'm hoping the OEM filter will hold out. Most cheap filters handle 10-15k mile intervals, so I presume I'll be just fine with the OEM filter.

I bought a couple of filters, hoping at least one will fit.