The bike
6000 km on
ride review.
So was our
choice any good compared to other motos, we believe yes.
Is it
perfect, no but Grace Jones song comes to mind, it is our perfect compromise.
Fuel
efficiency is outstanding, sometimes a little too outstanding as is has a
typical EU5 fueling lean as hell feel right at cruising speeds which of course
is how they all “comply” and get through the emissions tests.
One day
cruising mountain roads, combo twisty and straight, some main road cruising it
used only 2.8 liters per 100 km, I will qualify that by adding our maximum
achievable speeds was about 80 kmph due to so much traffic.
The
goodies we added
are,
Front and
rear cameras
Heated grips
Mount for Nav
Front mudflap to keep the radiator cleaner
Chain Lube bottle
Barkbusters
Setup, bought the handlebars back to the third position for shorter reach.
Set spring
preload for two of us.
Set Ellens
seat 8 mm higher at the front, the thickness of M8 nuts we have on board.
Problems we have had, the fueling wasn’t
quite right from new, went back to the dealership at 1000 km and they did some
tests which showed no error codes and reset the TPS, and its great now, right
hand side fork seal started leaking and had to be replaced, usual as they are
KYB forks, thus far that is it and not a biggie in the scheme of things.
Moto Morini
sent a complete new right hand side fork stanchion, new disc and pads as they
had sucked up the leaking oil, well done and thank you, it took us less than an
hour to complete the job so very happy.
Handling
wise it does everything we want it to with ease, granted we are not hammering it off-road
but we are still taking it back country where longer wheel travel and 21 in
front wheel are a huge advantage for rough, wet and muddy roads, not that we
have found any of that LOL.
Dislike
or Disappointment,
radiator guard…that’s it, would be a $2 buck part but there was nothing hence
we put mesh on there, it is an adventure bike and the radiator is steering and
the back of the front wheel in direct line of fire, prior putting the mesh on
we had to hose out the rad cos it collected half of China.
Oil
Change At both 1000 km and 6000km
The
magnetic drain bung was as clean as my Tenere and far cleaner than any Ducati I
have owned.
The oil
came out still pretty clean looking despite running in up to 37 degrees temperatures
and riding up to nearly 4600 meters, it has had our two fat arses complete with
partial house and contents from new so straight into hard work.
Conclusion
Now I know
some critics are harsh on the Chinese bikes, I have to be fair the initial
CFmotos etc we got in New Zealand were crap, the Moto Morini fit and finish etc
are as good as my Tenere which is a well respected benchmark, the quality of
the components are as good as it gets for a mid range adventure bike.
This is NOT
a bike to take on hefty offroad and I can’t understand why some testers then
dis on them for what they are not designed for, conversely you won’t see
Valentino Rossi on the MotoGP circuit with one either, horses for courses.
As an
international moto traveller the bike is perfect, twin cylinder, smooth as,
comfortable and pretty snively on fuel, coupled with an 18.5 liter tank you
have an adventure ready piece of kit that will more than do it, it has enough tech to be cool but not overboard, it will keep up
easily with open road traffic and has ample power for us two up for overtaking
etc.
Would I
recommend one, at this point notwithstanding anything catastrophic I absolutely
recommend the Moto Morini for adventure touring and riding, having ridden the
CFmoto 450 MT I would choose the Moto Morini any day due to looks, fueling, comfort and ease of riding, the only advantage the Cfmoto 450MT has is a minimally lower seat for shorties, having paid for ours we
stand to gain nothing from this other than satisfaction and acknowledging Moto
Morini as a smaller brand doing it well.
While there
are a plethora of 450 ish bikes on the market there are very few that all add
up to a good all-round trustworthy bike.
