Fantic Caballero Rally Review - The super Himalayan!

Presenting the Fantic Caballero Rally 500, a scrambler with such good specs and off road capacity that it might just be one of the most interesting dual-sports I've tried recently!..(and its not even a dual-sport)

THERE IS A MISTAKE IN THE VIDEO:
the price is closer to 8000eur in most countries than the 6500eur i talk about in the video! Sorry!!

Nowadays its not easy to find a suitable motorcycle for leisure off roading. Adventure motorcycles are too big and expensive, dual-sports barely exist, and the common every day rider is left without any smart options.
The Caballero Rally, with its low seat height scrambler design and lightweight is super easy to handle, it offers a lot of torque and it's suspensions are nothing short of surprising!

So anyway, on with the review ;)

Diogo Guerra
#scrambler #fantic #advmotorcycles

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Chapters:

[pabloricardodetarragon]

I've found something interesting at the BHR site (a small french company which imports the Chinese BHR dirt bikes, unhappily no street legal.) The drawings of Zongchen 450 engine entrails for listing the spare parts.
It's pretty simple and straightforward. The camshaft is on ball bearings. The rocker arms are with rollers. And it's pretty simple to check the valves clearances. The crankshaft and the piston look definitely modern, and subtle detail the connecting rod seems to have on the drawing a length of 1.8 times the stroke, the classical good length. The stroke is very short 64 mm but that keeps the piston speed under the fateful 20 meters per second at 9000 RPM.
The connecting rod is in one piece and it's sold with the crankshaft pin. In fact seeing the drawings and spares references all the engine is on ball bearings like a 2 stroke, or like the twin XS 650 Yamaha (1970-1985 I had one...).
Something surprising they have the spare parts for a kick !! and the electric starter.
I've found that the alternator on the Fantic gives a beefy 300 watts, you can add electrical amenities.


BHR sells the enduro version of the 450 6100€, carbureted and no street legal. Carbureted there is no hope of homologation at Euro5.

A decent looking motocross carbureted 450 with the Zongchen engine costs in China 3320 € as I've checked on Alibaba with several companies, cheaper that smells the scam. The decent 300 are at 2800€. The 1500-1600€ are the 250 air cooled.
After adding the individual shipping (around 1100 € from Shangaï), customs taxes and clearance fees (around 4 to 500 €), plus the sales taxes 20 % in France over all that you arrive at around 6000 € for an individual importation of a carbureted no street legal motocross bike without any warranty.
That puts in perspective the 7800€ of an injected Euro5 street legal with lights, ABS and big brakes, plus warranty and spare parts by a legal company which at the difference of Uber or MacDo pays its taxes in Italy, as it's easy to control.

[pabloricardodetarragon]

Excellent review. The Fantic Caballero Rally is a very interesting bike, well born and its defects are relatively easy to correct. The most important fact is that the bike has good quality suspensions, any offroad guy knows that changing poor or impossible to tune suspensions is a costly affair.
Also the interesting is the dynamic behavior, you can lighten the front, slide the rear, save a situation with just a feet and do not feel embarked by the inertia of a mammoth.
Other interesting fact the Caballero stays simple, like the 700 Teneré, so electronics are kept to the bare minimum, and the gadgetry is absent. On a 40 hp bike, if you are rational you do not need it.
The Zongcheng 450 engine is also a very interesting engine; as it fills a hole between the small monos and the twins for a light trail bike. I wonder why Suzuki never installed an injection on the DRZ 400, or why Honda has produced a CRF450 L with so many problems to expensively solve...

Remain some unknowns and questions about reliability, and I'm going to try to give some elements I've found in the web.
Happily I've found something interesting. Two German guys have made more than 15000 km sometimes in the hard way (in winter and snow or a 7000 km trip in 8 days...) with 2 Caballeros Rally, the have kept a very serious journal, and they have some interesting things in their site as a luggage rack.
I'll leave you discover all that. It's for guys interested by the Fantic wanting to form a rational opinion. I buy a bike like I buy a tool for a precise purpose, it must do the job. If it's pretty better, if not I do not care. I'm not romantic with bikes.

Very personal conclusion I share with myself. The offf road guys, Offroad Off course, MX test and Berotec, like The Caballero Rally. The reliability is rather good, the Berotec show the point to take care of. If I was in age and condition I would buy a Fantic Caballero to go traveling with a light simple bike as I did with the 400 XR.
As I did always I would add my essential engine instruments: temperature of water and oil (pressure of oil on some problematic bikes) and a voltmeter.

[YouTenaza]

I have two friends with this bike. It's super easy to drive on and offroad. The only place where you "feel" the compromise is the highway. For the rest it has enough power to have real fun.

As a bike to do "one day rides". This bike is almost a 10/10 for me to drive.

The cons:
- The damn plastic you mentioned.
- The first gear is a bit too long, but nothing terrible.
- The price is a bit too high. But at least they cut corners in things like the dash and not in the suspension.

[nockianlifter]

Love mine, it’s the shorter scrambler version. They’ve become extremely difficult to get since the chip shortage. If mine was ever stolen or written off I’d have no hesitation in buying the exact same bike - I can’t remember thinking that about any bike I’ve owned in over 40 years of motorcycling. Most fun bike I’ve ever ridden.

[airoilcool]

This is a review we needed to see years ago. Great job! The importance of this bike is the concept of a lightweight scrambler that is performant (enough) and stylish (as it should be these days). The concept big name manufacturers stubbornly refuse to recognize as important. Kudos to Fantic for creating this unique bike. I’d definitely buy one if it was sold in Ukraine.

[rolandwheeler]

Love your channel. Very good review. As for engine reliability, we put the 250cc Zong Shen to the test. I was the factory roadracer for CSC motorcycles in the US. We raced the 250cc version for 2 years straight pulling the top end down at the end of the 2017 season. The motor never saw south of 8500rpm on the track and never overheated even in +100 degreeF conditions. Also, the valve checks are frequent, but the screw-type adjusters makes it super easy. I will call it bullet-proof.

[paulnewman]

Just bought a Rally Explorer, 2023 model but brand new old stock, so cheap at just under £6k...Seems a great bike !

[JosepsGSX]

Loved the way you closed the video regarding the unknowns about reliability. I would love to see another video after a few years narrating the experience the owner had with the bike aging, parts availability and brand support, and pointing on camera what went wrong (if anything), and how the bike hold its features after some years.
In fact, same goes for all the bikes you have reviewed over the years. Afterwards long-term user experiences with both the bike and the brand, are quite hard to find, and eventually that's a biggie for we riders.

[aurigacap]

As a potential buyer, this is a refreshingly balanced test without the hype. It tells me that the basics are right....provided it's intended use plays to the Caballero's strengths. It's not a bike with many electronic gimmicks, which suits me, though my ageing eyes will find reading the speedo a challenge.
There is a question about the long run reliability of the engine. It's Chinese, not Japanese.... but then Loncin (Chinese) have been supplying BMW with engines for at least 10 years and their latest 850 twin is made there. It all depends on the design and quality control. Only time will tell, but if the design is by Ricardo, one of the most respected names in the engine business, the basis should be solid.
What I particularly like is the way Fantic have tuned the engine for torque (Nm) - pulling power - rather than peak power (BHP). Less sexy, but it delivers good acceleration in gear, over a wide rev range, without changing gear - much more relaxing, with fewer vibes, and it can get you out of trouble eg. when overtaking. A look at the BHR site, discovered by Pablo, is revealing. Their version of the engine delivers 43BHP at 9000rpm and 37Nm at 7000rpm, while Fantic manage 39.5BHP at 7100rpm and 43Nm at 6000rpm. That's a big gain in torque for a small loss of power... and at far lower revs. This may sound nerdy, but you will realise what it means when you ride the bike.

[glinleyt]

Great review as usual. You should hire the guy who provided the pinned comment, Pablo, if you ever talk more about 450cc bikes! He nails it, especially the bit about the suspension. Dead right. The most I have spent on any bike has been on suspension upgrades. Very interesting little bike indeed. Nice to see the channel support growing! Keep it up Diogo!

[valicourt]

Some people seem to be knocking these bikes down because of the Chinese engine. If that’s a worry you can always get the 125 or 700 which are Yamaha engines. And the new 500 is Italian. Now you are looking at the most competitively priced bike manufactured in Europe. And it is certainly the best looking bike in my opinion.

[williamrae]

For 2025, the 500 comes with a 460cc Italian made engine with twin cams, increased power, new dash, and slimmer right exhaust panel...good value in today's market!

[giuliobuccini]

Fantic, please make a light ADV based on the Caballero!

[stevenmcfarlane]

First time I’ve watched your channel. Very good reviewer . I searched for reviews of this bike. Great video. Best wishes from Scotland . 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥃🤘

[ferkuzuel]

Great review ! I think seeing a 500cc single cylinder, fuel injection, 6 speed, simple maintenance, simple bike it's already a very good thing in today's market
Thanks for sharing 🏍️

[giuseppeformisano]

I just did a test ride on this bike this morning and I second what it's been said in the review. The bike feel super easy to ride, it's light and quick and fun to ride. It's like being a kid on your first bicycle, in the best way possible ;)

[alex-rxvu]

for me you do the best reports on bikes on the net, because it's fun to look at, also & mainly, because it's realistic. You take attention to what is important to a normal rider, weight, high, vibrations & so on...congratulation & best go on from Fabrice / france

[R_C..]

L'inglese maccaronico è sempre fantastico...😜 Grazie per il video !

[Widewings]

8:26 …. So much disregard…. for the nature perhaps?😂😂😂…. Jokes aside, fantastic review Diogo, all topics nicely covered and humor never forgotten😎

[hazcat]

I know if I was looking for a Unicorn bike it would near if not at the top of the list. Light, fast enough (Hwy), good looking, reasonable power (off road), 43hp from a 450cc is fine. Hope it stands the test of use and time and that the aftermarket steps up support (luggage, skid plate and such).

Excellent review, DG.