Who better to test the new CFMoto 450MT than four-time King of the Desert Finke Desert Race winner Ben Grabham?

We sent Grabbo into the freezing Victorian High Country immediately after this year’s Finke Desert Race in which he won the Masters 35 to 44 Years class.

“I am not generally one to shy away from the opportunity to test a new motorcycle, however I wanted to a few weeks ago when I was in sunny Alice Springs,” said Grabbo of AMCN’s invitation to ride CFMoto’s first 450cc adventure bike to see how it copes in the Aussie bush.

“I was only hours away from lining up for the 48th running of the Finke Desert Race when I got the call to see if I could make it to Melbourne the week after to test the new CFMoto 450MT. Straight away I wanted to blurt out ‘not a chance’ – I knew CFMoto was a Chinese brand and the last time I rode a Chinese-made enduro bike, for Australasian Dirt Bike, I was very disappointed, so I was pretty set on politely turning down this opportunity.

“But that test was quite a few years ago now and intrigue had got the better of me, so as soon as the red dust settled on Aputula, I was on a plane to Melbourne.”

“During the short taxi ride to CFMoto’s Australian HQ, I had a quick look at the specifications and price tag and started to regret my decision. The three pieces of information that made me want to jump back on the plane was the 175kg dry weight, 450cc engine and $9490 price tag, which my experience suggests makes for a bike that’s going to be heavy, slow and cheap. And worse, I was going to be stuck on it for three days. 

“I jumped out of the taxi to be met with 14 new 450MTs and was immediately surprised by the level of the finish. It’s a standard I’d expect to see on a motorcycle with double the price tag… ”

Hit the video link above for a taste of what Ben Grabham thought of the CFMoto 450MT or pick up a copy of AMCN Vol 74 No 01, on sale now, for the complete story.