- 7/22/2025
CFMoto's Ibex 450 looks like a bargain with its $6499 price tag, but is it really? In this episode of The Motorcyclist Podcast we share our thoughts on this bargain priced adventure motorcycle.
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00:00Hey, welcome back to the Motorcycles Podcast. This is where we talk about motorcycles and what makes them great.
00:05Topics of the show constantly change, but the only thing that remains is two-wheeled fun.
00:10In this episode, we've got myself, executive editor Justin Dawes, we've got editor Adam Waheed, and we've got associate editor Evan Allen.
00:19We are missing photo director Jeff Allen. He's off in Italy, riding Stelvio Pass with Idleweiss motorcycle tours on a work trip.
00:32It seems more like a vacation than anything, but it's their 40th or 45th anniversary.
00:4045th, I think, yeah.
00:40Yeah, so they're doing a big jam, and he's over there getting to ride and be kind of a tourist.
00:49When he gets back, I'll have to write some words and stuff, but overall, I think it's a pretty cush jam.
00:55But that being said, we're going to get into talking about – we've talked about KTM 390 Enduro R.
01:04We talked about KTM 390 Adventure R.
01:06So it only makes sense that we now move into another lightweight ADV, and that is the CFMoto Ibex 450.
01:14This is a 450 parallel twin.
01:17It's lightweight in terms of displacement, but not maybe in terms of actual weight.
01:26It's almost a midsize bike, but it's an interesting motorcycle because it's made by CFMoto, which is a Chinese brand that's been around since 1989.
01:35And the brand is growing fast at the moment.
01:38It's grabbing market share due to pretty fresh designs that aren't exact copies, a lot of them, of competitor motorcycles.
01:49And they're kind of doing their own thing while manufacturing stuff for KTM.
01:57So it's kind of an interesting thing.
02:01So let's get into the specs first, tell you what the Ibex 450 is.
02:05You may know it as the MT 450 if you're watching outside of the United States.
02:12Trademark issues, I guess, the United States had to give it a different name.
02:15So Ibex 450, just like the Ibex 800 they have as well.
02:20So like I said, it's a 450.
02:22So it's a 449cc parallel twin, dual hybrid cam, liquid cooled adventure motorcycle.
02:29On our dyno, it makes 37.1 horsepower and 27.4 pound feet of torque.
02:38That's to the rear wheel.
02:40Claimed, I think, is in the mid 40s for horsepower.
02:45And torque, I think, is right around the 30s, low 30s or 30 for claimed torque.
02:51It weighs in at 448 pounds on our scales.
02:57And like I said, it's classified as a lightweight, but I wouldn't say 448 pounds is exactly lightweight.
03:06But it is a small bore bike, so we call it lightweight.
03:10Suspension is adjustable KYB.
03:12It's got a fully adjustable fork that is rebound, compression, and preload.
03:20And at the rear, you have preload and rebound adjustment, but no compression adjustment.
03:26It has 7.9 inches of travel at both ends.
03:32It's got Bybrae brakes on it with ABS.
03:36It has got – nope, I take that back.
03:39Not Bybrae, J1.
03:41Still owned by Brembo.
03:42It's interesting now that Brembo owns Bybrae and J1, both, I would say, lower cost braking components, but both owned by Brembo.
03:57So, sorry about the quick error there.
03:59Seat height, 32.3 inches or 31.5 inches.
04:04But it's not done by adjusting the seat.
04:07It's done by adjusting the rear suspension link.
04:10So, it's got two positions for the shock.
04:12So, you can have 32.3 or 31.5.
04:17And obviously, when you lower it to 31.5, you lose a little bit of ground clearance.
04:24Wheels, 2118 spoked.
04:26It's got a TFT dash.
04:28It's 5-inch.
04:29Ride-by-wire.
04:30Trash control.
04:30ABS.
04:30Like, all the things you need for an adventure bike.
04:34So, that's the rundown of the machine.
04:38Oh, and price.
04:39That's an important piece, especially for lightweights.
04:43$64.99.
04:46Nice, yeah.
04:48Yeah.
04:48Right there in the middle of the class.
04:50Yeah, kind of right in the middle of the class.
04:51Yeah.
04:54Himalayan is – Himalayan 450 is like $6,000.
04:58Yeah, it starts at $57,99.
05:01Right.
05:02And then it goes up to – yeah, it looks like $6,1.
05:04If you option out the Himalayan, which I would assume you do with the tubeless wheels and all the things, it's $6,100.
05:13KTM is $6,999.
05:16So, $500 more.
05:18And then what's the –
05:20The Honda NX500 is $7,399.
05:24So, $7,400.
05:25Quite a bit more.
05:26Yeah.
05:27That seems like a really good value in the class.
05:30Obviously, it's a lightweight, not by weight, but by, you know, engine displacement, adventure, touring bike.
05:36But who do you guys really think it's for?
05:38I mean, in what niche do you really think it's for?
05:40Who's buying this bike?
05:42I would say it's an interesting thing.
05:46It's a lot of people that are early adopters that are deal seekers or value seekers.
05:51You're willing to kind of step outside of the normal big brands in order to get a value.
05:59You know, like you look at the bike as it sits on the showroom floor and it looks like a mid-sized ADV bike.
06:09It's got LED headlights and it's got an adjustable windscreen and it's got this big front end that's very modern and nice wheels.
06:17And, you know, it looks the part.
06:22And so, I think those are the people that are drawn to it at this moment.
06:27And then, of course, shorter riders because it does have a very friendly seat height.
06:34And then maybe, I don't know, people that just don't want a mid-sized ADV, but they want the comfort of something similar, you know?
06:46Yeah, and kind of like the off-road chops, too.
06:48I mean, before this KTM 390 Adventure came in, the Royal Enfield is, you know, pretty off-road worthy, but it seemed like when the CF Moto came in, it really was that first, the first bike to kind of bridge the gap between the lightweight adventure bike and like a middleweight adventure bike, like a Tenere with adjustable KYB suspension, you know, 21-inch front wheel, 18-inch rear with like pretty, fairly aggressive, you know, like tires, you know, adventure bike tires.
07:15And, yeah, so I think, yeah, I agree with you.
07:19Like someone that's like, oh, maybe a middleweight's a little too big, but they don't want to get on something like an X500 that's, you know, really tailored more towards the street.
07:27So, yeah.
07:28And you're right.
07:29This thing did get a lot of people excited when it was announced because it did kind of bridge the gap.
07:37Because before you had, you know, the KTM 390, which was kind of off-road capable, but it had a 17-19 wheel combo.
07:45You have Versus 300.
07:48You had the, at that time it was like the CB500X, which is now the NX.
07:55Also, smaller wheel sizes.
07:58Like it just, you know, like there wasn't a lot to, to bridge that gap to, to the middleweight Tenere, right?
08:06So everyone was like, oh, this is like a small Tenere.
08:10So I think that's what early, early adopters got into.
08:15And then other people started seeing that there's probably a value proposition in this to where, you know, you can save some coin and still get a pretty decent motorcycle.
08:24So, yeah.
08:25Yeah.
08:25I know you've ridden this bike, Justin, and then you've ridden it a little bit, Evan.
08:29Do you guys want to just talk?
08:31I've never ridden this machine.
08:33So I'd really be curious to what's it like?
08:35Yeah.
08:36Let's start off with just the overall package of the thing.
08:41Like you get on it and you're like, oh, this is a, this is a midsize adventure motorcycle.
08:45You know, like in terms of ergonomics, the seat's a little bit low, which is good because a lot of people can touch the ground.
08:52But like the reach of the bars and when you're sitting behind the bike, like it just feels substantial.
08:59It feels like a Tenere or a V-Strom 800 or even a Touareg.
09:05Like it feels very much in the same class.
09:09Switch gears, maybe a tad bit less refined, but TFT Dash, it does its thing that works pretty well.
09:17It's got, you know, electronics.
09:20It's got a nice four position like pad kind of switch gear on the left.
09:28You've got a button for ABS and traction control.
09:31You can turn it off into off-road mode just by a long hold, which is pretty rad.
09:36So I think like for me, 5'10", like it fits really nice.
09:41It's not too cramped.
09:42It's not too big.
09:43Like it's a very nice size.
09:45What about you size-wise, Evan?
09:46Yeah, for me at 5'8", it's totally comfortable.
09:51Like you said, I feel comfortable.
09:53I can get my feet to the ground on like something like a Tenere where I have to like side saddle
09:57and reach my foot.
09:59But then when you're riding it, like the cockpit feels very open and wide and that adjustable
10:04windscreen is nice.
10:05And, you know, it's funny that windscreen, that adjustable windscreen is just such a nice
10:09design.
10:10And, you know, there's bikes that cost twice as much as that, that don't have even an adjustable
10:15windscreen at all.
10:16Or if it is, you have to use a tool.
10:18But yeah, I'm with you.
10:19It just, it has, not only does it feel like a big bike, but it has the looks of a big bike,
10:24like the stature.
10:25You park it and you walk away from it and look at it and think like, yeah, that could fit
10:29in with something like a Tenere, a Transalp.
10:33And so, but then you have the more friendly power delivery of a lighter weight engine,
10:37but it's a parallel twin.
10:39So, you know, unlike the, some of the others that are singles.
10:43Yeah.
10:43Yeah.
10:44And that's the, I think that's the, the, one of the other draws to it is it is a parallel
10:48twin instead of a single, which is, is kind of nice.
10:52And it's a 270 degree crank.
10:55Sorry to interrupt you.
10:55Yeah, 270.
10:56It sounds great.
10:57It sounds pretty good as is.
10:59And, you know, I think it was Yosh that put a pipe on it and told us like, I think sounds
11:05insane when it has a, has an exhaust on it.
11:08It sounds really, really good.
11:10So, but the power, I actually, I expected a tad bit more from it.
11:16It's got an okay bottom end and then it's kind of flat in the mid and then it like comes
11:20on at like 6,000 RPM and then it revs and it starts really making power.
11:25But, you know, having ridden the Himalayan, I was expecting more punch from the parallel
11:34twin than it had.
11:36Yeah, I agree.
11:37I noticed that too.
11:38Just, just reading about it, watching videos and maybe it was just because it looks and
11:44feels so much like a middle way, especially you fire it up and it just has a great sound
11:48to it where same thing, I got on it and maybe I expected it to have more power, like power
11:53similar to a Tenere.
11:55And so same thing at first, it was almost let me down, but then I had to kind of, you
12:00know, adjust my perspective.
12:02Yeah, that was the problem.
12:03It was, it was a perspective problem and it was an expectation problem where you, you
12:07see it and you're like, yeah, okay, that thing's going to rip and it's not a slouch.
12:11It's not slow and it's not, the power's not disappointing.
12:16It's just, I had expected more and then I had to go back and reset my expectations and
12:21go, I need to walk in this clean sheet instead of going, oh, I expect it to have like more
12:27oomph than it did.
12:28So overall, I think the engine's really pretty nice.
12:32Um, and I just wish it had just a tiny bit more mid, but you know, uh, for a $6,500 parallel
12:41twin adventure bike, it's pretty good.
12:43And it, and it works good in the dirt.
12:45Like it has enough bottom.
12:46Like if you're riding in the dirt, like, like trails and stuff, it still has enough snap
12:51to get the front end up and, and move the bike around the way you want to.
12:55And then when you get it up on the top end for like power road, power, power line roads
12:59and gravel roads, like is really controllable and really nice.
13:03So it sounds like a tasty bike.
13:05Yeah, it's cool.
13:06I mean, uh, it has really short gearing, which is a, I think is a pretty solid thing.
13:13It makes the power feel better.
13:14Um, it makes it more manageable off road, but at the top end, like it tops out at 89 miles
13:19an hour.
13:21That's as fast as it goes.
13:23Yeah.
13:23I noticed that too.
13:24It's like, oh, it like runs into the rev limit or six gear.
13:27Yeah.
13:27Yeah.
13:28So I think you could, I think you could regear it.
13:30You know, you could throw a different size sprocket on it and get some more legs on it
13:33if you wanted to.
13:34But, um, as is, yeah, it's like hitting the rev limiter in top gear, which usually a small
13:41bore bike never gets to the rev limiter, right?
13:44Like it's like, uh, it's like struggling to get there and it's close.
13:48And then you get a downhill run and then it'll hit, this thing will hit it going uphill.
13:52It'll bang.
13:52So, um, uh, suspension, uh, for the street, it's great.
14:00It's wonderful.
14:01It handles really well.
14:03Evan, you rode it on the street.
14:04Yeah.
14:05I muted on it.
14:06Mm-hmm.
14:07And yeah, same thing.
14:08I was pretty impressed.
14:09It's like, it's not all squishy and wallowy.
14:12It has a very good composure and, you know, just hitting, like trying to, you know, charge
14:18some freeway on ramps and stuff.
14:20And I was, I felt like, yeah, just as really good stability on the side of the tire.
14:24And yeah.
14:25Yeah.
14:26I mean, it's, um, in the dirt, like it's really actually pretty darn good.
14:31Um, you can bottom out the back a little bit, like if you're really pushing hard, but, you
14:38know, I mean, you're, you're exceeding the normal use case at that point.
14:43Like I was like hitting whoops, you know, not big whoops, but whoops.
14:47And you can hear the shock hit the bottom.
14:49Um, but that's just, that's just overdoing it a little bit, you know, like overall it's
14:54really, really good.
14:55Yeah.
14:56And to be fair, I feel like almost every bike in this class, if you start hitting some
15:01whoops at speed, like, like I noticed that with on the KTM three 90 adventure, like you
15:05can do that.
15:07And yeah.
15:07So they, yeah.
15:08Yeah.
15:09We're not, we're not spending, uh, 15, 16, 17, 18 K for the long travel mid sizes that,
15:17you know, have 240 millimeters of travel or whatever.
15:20So, you know, it's not an eight 90 adventure.
15:23It's a four 50 CF moto.
15:26So, uh, it's, uh, it handles great.
15:30Um, the tires are pretty good on the street in the dirt.
15:34They're, they're good on gravel roads, but they do the same thing that you find with a
15:40Pirelli STR.
15:42Um, you know, they have that, that profile that's really good on the street, but then
15:47there's not a lot of side, tall side knobs.
15:50So when you really lean it over in the dirt, then you start to lose the front.
15:54Yeah.
15:55You have to keep it upright, kind of upright.
15:58Yeah.
15:58I mean, it's very much the, the, the tires look almost identical to the Pirelli.
16:03I thought they were.
16:04No, they're, they're CST AMBRO A4s or something like that.
16:11AR force.
16:12Like they have long name AMBRO.
16:14So, yeah.
16:16So I think it's, you're like, we're going in the dirt and it says, I am bro.
16:23But overall, it's a really solid package from the, from the get go.
16:28And, um, I recently reviewed it and put it through its paces pretty well.
16:32And I have to say, it's, it's very nice.
16:35And if, if I was a shopper for something in that price range, it would be near the top
16:43of the list.
16:44I think I would look at it and probably the KTM as the two front runners in that, in that
16:48class, even though, but we still can't discount the Himalayan it's, you know, it's a totally
16:55different style.
16:55It doesn't have the wind protection of a traditional adventure bike, but it's really good for the
17:02price.
17:03Cause it's, it's less money.
17:05Um, it's got more traditional styling, I guess you would call it, but it's, uh, so I don't
17:12know, but I still think it would be between that and the KTM.
17:15I don't know about you, Evan.
17:18Yeah.
17:18Just, I haven't been on the Ibex off road yet, but it'd be tough.
17:22Yeah, there's, there's things I liked about the Ibex on like the, the brake, the rear
17:28brake was surprisingly really touchy, which I liked.
17:31And I liked how you can quickly turn off traction control and ABS and stuff like that.
17:35And yeah, like I really, there wasn't too many things I didn't like about it.
17:39It's super comfortable.
17:40I feel like maybe the only thing that just was a little bit funky at first was the clutch
17:44engagement just feels so wide.
17:46The first, at first I was like, thought I had to relearn how to use a clutch.
17:50I was like, what happened?
17:50The engagement is, is wide and it's very light, which I think for someone that's, for
17:56people that are used to using all kinds of different clutches, you know, we're, we're
18:00used to a very narrow band of engagement.
18:04And so you get to that and you're like, Whoa, what's going on here?
18:08And I think if you're learning that that thing would be great because you can almost just
18:12like let the thing go and not stall the bike.
18:15Totally.
18:15Yeah.
18:16Because it has such a long, long engagement period of it.
18:21So, yeah.
18:23So I don't fault it for that.
18:25It's, I think for an expert writer, it's, it's a little bit weird, but I think if you're
18:30a beginner or newer writer or whatever, I think it, it's actually pretty friendly.
18:36Yeah.
18:36Yeah.
18:36It just was like kind of took it some adjustment, like just jumping because I kept, yeah, but
18:40it actually ended up, I noticed doing like, like backing it in and doing hacks, that wide
18:45engagement point made it just like really nice to just keep the thing like peeling into
18:49a corner and not getting like rear wheel hop, rear wheel hop.
18:52So I got a question for Heath, since you haven't ridden it, what's your outside opinion of
19:00it?
19:01Just listening to us talk or just like when you saw it, like what, what's your opinion
19:07as someone that hasn't ridden it?
19:09What do you think about it?
19:11Well, I mean, I just, I think it, it looks neat.
19:15You know, like you guys said, it, it's got a lot of features and benefits that, that
19:19speak above it's, it's MSRP, which is really neat.
19:24And, you know, a couple episodes we talked about, you know, CF motos position in the, in
19:29the motorcycle industry.
19:30And that seems really what they're doing is they're taking market share from other
19:35manufacturers just by offering these, these value added features at a really affordable
19:40price, you know, and their dealership networks expanding in America.
19:45So you can actually buy these things and get them serviced and stuff like that.
19:49So I don't know.
19:50It looks like a, it looks like a cool bike.
19:52You know, I would really like to see that bike go up against, you know, the three 90 adventure
19:57are, you know, obviously the CF moto has a larger capacity engine, but you know, in terms
20:04of price, that would be a good little battle.
20:06I think.
20:06Yeah.
20:07Yeah.
20:07They're very close.
20:08And I think they're very close on actual like rear wheel power output as well.
20:12So features and stuff too.
20:15And like, like why he'd mentioned, even just forgot about it, but the, like the folding
20:19mirrors, the, the CF moto, the drop down mirrors, the adjustable windscreen, it's got
20:24the nice dash and yeah, it's just like, what's your guys?
20:29It's not super big time in terms of electronics.
20:32Like it has ABS and it has traction control, but you don't have like modes for different
20:38really, they have an off-road mode, but they don't have like, you know, you can't dial
20:43on the traction control, throttle maps and wheelie control and all the electronic wizardry.
20:49Like you may expect just by the way it looks, it's got just enough to be useful, but not,
20:56it doesn't, um, it's not over delivering in that aspect.
21:02Would you guys say that, sorry, go ahead.
21:05I was going to say, but it, but it, it, it delivers near the top of the class in that segment,
21:10you know, having written, written this bike, would you guys say this, this bike is a good
21:15value for American motorcycle riders?
21:19Yeah, definitely.
21:21Yeah, I agree.
21:23I think it's a good value.
21:24I think the, the price is nice.
21:26Um, granted, I mean, you are, I'd say you're taking a chance, but you are, um, you're an
21:35early adopter, even though CF Mundo has been around since 89 and they've been manufacturing
21:40bikes since I think the early 2000s, like, um, you're still kind of an early adopter.
21:46So you have to go with that, all the things that can come with that being, there is a, there
21:55is a decent dealer network.
21:57Um, so it's getting bigger, it's getting better.
22:02Um, but dealer familiarity with the product, you know, it takes a little while to learn.
22:08And so, um, and then I don't, I don't know what the resale value looks like on a CF Mundo
22:14versus a Honda.
22:16Right.
22:16So, but if I was spending the money, I'm always down to be an early adopter or to take the
22:21chance, take the gamble on, um, saving some bucks.
22:24I'm, I'm kind of cheap sometimes when I'm buying bikes.
22:27So, uh, I, for me, I think it's a smoke and value, uh, for what it offers and for the price
22:35point.
22:37Cool.
22:38Yeah.
22:38Yeah.
22:39So, uh, yeah, I think that's, that's going to wrap it up pretty much for the IBEX unless
22:45anyone else has got a, uh, a kernel of wisdom, uh, around, around this little ADV.
22:51Uh, I will say I really enjoyed my time on it.
22:53Um, Evan, I mean, you chose it to commute when you have a choice of other things in
22:59the office.
22:59So that says something.
23:01Um, and then hopefully Adam will get his hands on one soon to do an MC commute.
23:05Yeah.
23:06Sounds great.
23:07So, uh, with that, let's, uh, what's the big takeaway?
23:10I think the big takeaway is CF Mundo is making moves and this IBEX 450 definitely improves it.
23:17I think, uh, it's capable, it's modern looking, it's approachable.
23:21And at 6,500 bucks, it's a smoking deal.
23:26Yeah.
23:27Yeah.
23:27This whole class is exciting right now.
23:29It is.
23:30It is.
23:30It's pretty crazy.
23:31I mean, yeah.
23:32It's like BMW.
23:33Aren't they coming out with that, that GS 450?
23:35Like it just, it's in a year or two from now, there's just going to be so many great
23:39options for lightweight bikes, whether it's adventure, dual sports, naked bikes.
23:43It's just, yeah.
23:44Yeah.
23:45Lightweight bikes right now are, are doing it.
23:47It's pretty cool.
23:47It's kind of seeing like, I feel like it's what the middle weight class was doing in
23:53the last five years.
23:54The lightweight class is doing right now.
23:56Yeah.
23:57They're kind of, it's kind of being pulled up by the middleweights.
24:00You know, they're taking all that technology that they're building and then they're putting
24:03it into a lightweight.
24:05So performance, adjustability, electronics.
24:09That's, it's, it's good.
24:10Yeah.
24:10And the lightweights aren't just beginner bikes anymore as well.
24:13That's the, it spans the gap.
24:16It's satisfying for everybody.
24:18And that's one thing we gotta, you know, you really gotta look at is, you know, this
24:23could be a great second bike or it could be a great only bike, even for an expert.
24:27So, um, okay.
24:29With that, we are done.
24:30We appreciate you listening.
24:32We appreciate the support.
24:33Uh, of course, please like comment, subscribe.
24:37Um, let us know what you think about the IBEX 450, um, where it slots in and all that
24:42middle bike, uh, middle or lightweight bike madness.
24:47Um, and tell us what you would, what you're into.
24:51See if you'd be a buyer.
24:52So thanks for listening.
24:54We'll see you in the next episode.
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