The Adventure Bike Unicorn - CFMOTO IBEX 450MT?

The CFMOTO 450MT or IBEX 450 as it will be known in the USA (this was filmed and uploaded on patreon before the office release). Could this "beginner" Adventure bike actually be the unicorn adventure bike many have been waiting for? The numbers look good, weight, suspension travel, ground clearance, 21/18 spoked tubeless wheels, and more. But will that 450cc twin be enough out on the open road? Will the it hold up out there deep in the trails. Can we trust CFMOTO that this will be reliable? Lots of questions still remain but the IBEX 450, 450 MT definitely has my interest.

0:00 Intro
0:16 Back Story
1:05 Missing the Mark
1:45 Current Adv Bikes
2:47 Road Adv Bikes
3:10 Enduro Adv Bikes
3:47 Small cc Adv Bikes
4:34 Dual Sport Adv Bikes
5:44 GT BIG Adv Bikes
6:52 Big Dual Sport Adv Bikes
8:05 "Lightweight" Adv Bikes
9:03 What Goes There
10:16 Is CFMOTO our Hero
11:39 IBEX 450MT Unicorn
13:53 Adv Bike for Mortals
14:20 What's Your Unicorn

Business inquiries,

[chaseontwowheels]

Ibex 450 is probably the bike Im most excied about for 2024.

[Twisted]

450cc cross plane with tubeless wheels? Hell yes. We desperately need more competition in the dirt bike scene because the prices are insane compared to road bikes. I consider anything over 150kg/330lb too much for offroad use though. Another big consideration is parts availability and cost being how beat up offroad bikes get.

[capella]

Jake I appreciate you keeping up with the channel

[MrWastedSaint]

I like it! I've done close to 35'000km riding SE Asia on a selection of XR250's, an XR400, CRF250L's and a tidy DRZ400 in Cambodia. I got them all dirty and enjoyed parking beside clean GS's at fuel stops however I longed for something more modern and with a more road friendly engine. Interestingly, my average on-road speed in Asia is 45km/h so it;s not about speed, it's about pulling strongly away to make a break in heavy traffic, grinding up an eroded trail, carrying 35kg of luggage, torquing through heavy sand and mud and purring on those days when it's 400km of bitumen to get back before the visa expires. All of that takes some low down grunt and I think a 400-450 twin in the more off-road oriented style of frame would be just about perfect!

[CMB]

I just crossed 2300 miles on my Ibex 800T. I bought it last July and it's been absolutely flawless! I realize it's heavy for offroad use, but my main purpose is being able to cruise comfortably to the mountains and then hit some fire roads and camp with it. I'm doing the Washington BDR on it this summer 😬

[waynerobertson]

About the MT450 weight...

The specs here in New Zealand/Australia say 175kg (386lbs) dry weight.

Most of the other CF Motos are listed in wet weight.

But, the 450MT has a pretty large 17.5 litre gas tank for it's size. Perhaps CF Moto thought people wouldn't understand that, and make allowances.

If we work on 17.5 litres weighing 12.9kg (28.44 pounds), and 3 litres of oil weighing 2.66kg (about 6Ibs).

So wet weight (fully fuelled) should be around 190kg (about 420 lbs).

[baz]

Another comment to put US residents at ease. CFMoto has been in Oz for years and years, we used to be worried about reliability, but they have proven themselves now. I have zero qualms buying one.

[cjjorge]

i'm 220 5 11 and i ride a 125cc xtz and it's 13/14 hp and that bike will do what ever need done you don't need a big bike to have fun

[amdinga]

this is def the sweet spot and it's kinda nuts it took these companies so long to find it. the ibex 450mt and the RE himalayan 450 are both "it" and they're gonna have a profound impact on the market

[fireice]

I get the Chinese stigma but CFmoto is different. They are swinging hard and I think it’s working. I bought a 450ss and absolutely love it. It’s such a fun bike for what it is and all the flaws can be fixed for a fair price. I also want to say my CFmoto 450 was my 23rd bike. I got it as a little in town ripper and it’s blown me away with how fun it is. I sold my Kawasaki zh2 because I stopped riding it. That’s saying a lot and personally I’m a fan and I’m picking up the ibex 450 once it comes out

[southerndualsport]

Hey honestly the big names had every chance to build the lightweight adv bike we all want. I am JACKED about this one AND the 800 coming from Kove!

[bullsharkdb]

This CF Moto is a great option for many people that are between the small engines but dont want too small, and between the middle engine but is way too expensive ALL WHEN IS ABOUT TO DO SOME ON AND OFF ROAD nothing extreme but with in the boundaries of off/on. At a very very competitive price USD 6500 with great technology and awesome looks. Adjustable suspension? 200mm displacement rear and front? Ground clearance 220 mm? Tubeless Spoke wheels 21 and 18? Torquy engine? TC and REAR ABS on/off while riding? 5''TFT gorgeous display? and many many little features to make your life on/off more enjoyable.
Perhaps its weight and fuel consumption are not the best but not the worst either (194 kg and 25/liter)
This was by far the best review with out having actually the motorcycle for it.
Super entertaining and useful.
Deserved like!!!!

[DatBikerDude]

Indeed, except Kove has a 500x that's pretty capable with 178kg dry weight and has been battle tested off-road at Basella Spain (under MacBor Montana XR5) And has a 47.5hp twin used in Honda cb500x ... Let's see how the CfMoto compares to it when it comes out

[jala]

Great video. BTW you forgot to mention the Royal Enfield Himalayan in your whiteboard overview (especially the new 450 model).

[jeffreystivala]

Is there a reason why you left the Kove 450 Rally out?

[kkhalifah]

Hats off to CFmoto for coming up with something nobody else has come up with.

[SpencerDesmarais]

Dropped in to say the older F800GS’s are ADV beasts. 21/17, not 19, with 9/8.5” clearance, spoked wheels (that can be modded to be tubeless), 85hp, low rpm tractor torque, 450lbs but pretty easy to shave them down further weight wise. If you’re easy cruising 200mi on a tank is possible. The gas tanks on them is below the seat so weight feels super low and is really manageable. I have almost 45k mi on mine and still loving it. Newer parallel twin GS’es and the 700s are definitely more on-road biased, but the 800 has been a sweet spot for me for years. Done single track and wilderness in the same trip as 90mph for hours across montana with power to spare. Excited to see how the new F900GS is.

More to your video though, I’m in WA and pretty remote (east side, dry, flat, barren, sparsely populated) and any ADV trip is going to involve hours or days of highway, is a 450 going to be enough there? And will you actually enjoy that highway time without feeling like you’re whipping the bike like a mini pony in a horse race? Honest question, haven’t ridden a modern engine around that size before.

<3 Spencer

[brandonrides]

Bought my 2021 GSA brand new at 25, knowing I'd be seen as an old dude. I've enjoyed this bike more than any bike I've ever owned. Sure the weight has gotten to me on occasion (you can see instances on my channel) but this bike has opened me to a whole new world of riding. Recently got a 300L that I've been tinkering on all winter to get ready to take to more hard core off-road areas and OHRV parks.

[Michael_Shay]

They certainly have their quirks but I think if you can only have one bike to do both dual sport and adventure riding, the 690/701 is the answer. Excited to see what CFMOTO is bringing to the table though. Even if you're somebody who hates chinese manufacturers, you should hope these bikes succeed because it'll push the big 4 to start making similar machines.

[chuco]

My KTM 690 is my unicorn bike. Done rocky hill climbs, rode in sand dunes, and gone through canyons roads with it. Yeah it costs a little more but I didn’t need to spend any extra money for it to do what I want and do it well. Like suspension adds to the cost real quick to close the price difference between a tenere 700(near me dealers charged a big mark up for most Japanese bikes and I didn’t see any bs with KTM so it can out cheaper for me from the start). And I have a bike that’s about 100lbs less now. Maybe not as reliable, but it’s the price I was willing to pay since there isn’t much that can go wrong any way.