KTM POWERED CFMOTO 800NK REVEALED

The saga of CFMoto’s new 800NK has already had several episodes with a variety of teases and leaks over the last few months but the firm has now revealed the first official pictures and details – and it looks like a winner.

Stacking up against bikes like the new Honda Hornet 750, Suzuki’s new GSX-8S and KTM’s reborn 790 Duke, as well as the Yamaha MT-07 that’s revitalised the market for affordable, middleweight, parallel twin naked bikes in recent years, the 800NK already looks like a tempting proposition that gives the Chinese brand another big step into the mainstream.

The KTM is inevitably the closest competitor, since the 790 Duke is built in China by the joint venture set up by KTM and CFMoto. As part of the deal, CFMoto uses its own version of the 799cc KTM LC8c engine in its 800MT adventure bike, and the same unit also powers the new 800NK.

Previewed by the NK-C22 concept shown in September last year, the 800NK production model was leaked the following month in design drawings, with real photos emerging via type-approval documents in December. However, these official pictures give the best look at the model yet.

The engine is familiar from multiple KTMs, but in the 800NK it’s rated at 74kW at 9,000rpm and 81Nm at 8,000rpm, on the way to a 10,500rpm redline. Top speed is claimed to be north of 220km/h, and the bike’s wet weight is a mere 186kg. That means it’s more powerful and lighter than either the Hornet 750 (67.6kW and 190kg) or the Suzuki GSX-8S (61kW, 202kg). The KTM 790 Duke, which was recently reintroduced in several markets (but not Australia), with production shifting from Austria to China to reduce costs, makes 70kW.

The 800NK places the LC8c engine in a steel tube frame, with an alloy swingarm at the back – double sided, not the single-sider that appeared on the NK-C22 concept that previewed its styling – but the suspension appears to be decent, with adjustable USD forks, and the brakes are mid-range J.Juan radial calipers. Like a lot of new Chinese models, there’s a huge TFT dash, unusually positioned in a portrait orientation atop the bars. Bluetooth connectivity is likely, but at the moment details are limited with CFMoto only confirming that the 800NK has three riding modes: Street, Sport and Rain.

The styling is barely changed from the original concept, with an identical V-shaped headlight creating a theme that’s carried over into a similarly-shaped, winglet-style wind deflector above it and onto the upper surface of the front mudguard. The concept’s stacked SC-Project exhausts are replaced with a more subtle design for production, but it’s impressively compact and the single, high-mounted end can looks more elegant than the concept’s shouty twin pipes.

More info is sure to emerge soon, but the key will be price. With the 800MT adventure bike that uses the same engine, CFMoto has moved into direct competition with several Japanese bikes, notably the new Transalp and the Yamaha Tenere 700, and aims to beat them on performance and equipment rather than undercutting them on price. That suggests the 800NK won’t be a low-cost alternative to the likes of the Hornet 750, but a bike that perhaps offers a higher specification for a similar outlay.

Ben Purvis