Back in 2021 we reported that Chinese manufacturing giant CFMoto was on the verge of releasing an 800cc bike with adventure bike aesthetics and KTM parts, including the Austrian maker’s 799cc liquid-cooled LC8c parallel twin. And out into the wider world this new bike went, as the 800MT Sport and 800MT Touring versions, with little word of when or if we might have access to it in North America.

Well, the word has officially arrived, and soon these CFMoto machines will follow, arriving at U.S. dealerships early next year as the 2023 model year 800 Adventura Street and Adventura Terrain — a name change in North America necessary to avoid stepping on Yamaha’s MT naked sport series.

Much of the bike is as we originally reported. To refresh, KTM has long been involved with China’s CFMoto, with the Austrian giant, trading information about its mechanical technologies and quality control systems in exchange for access to CFMoto’s global manufacturing facilities and supply chain. Nothing sinister here. In fact KTM’s payback trickles straight down to the consumer by keeping prices in check, and on the flip side, CFMoto customers buy a higher quality product. 

While CFMoto has been working for many years with Kawasaki to create models with shared genetics, the 800 Adventura models mark its first physical manifestation of its joint venture with KTM to reach the states. Yet at the same time, the new bike doesn’t look much like a KTM at all. There’s the engine, of course, purposely handed off in 2021 just as KTM moved to the current 890cc mill for its North American Adventure series, and a familiar steel tube frame, though the Adventura does use a unique aluminum swing arm system.

The silhouette of the CFMoto 800 Adventura says I’m an Adventure Bike, though it’s clear these models are more street focused rather than dirt- oriented machines. Power from the LC8c engine puts forth a very useful 95 horsepower @ 9000 rpm and 56.8 ft.-lbs. of torque @ 7500 rpm.

Wheelsets for both models, cast on the Street and spoked on the Terrain, are 19/17-inches. Instead of the leggy WP suspension on KTM’s middleweight adventure bikes (9.4 inches of travel front and rear), CFMoto went with a cost-saving KYB inverted fork offering an adjustable 6.3 inches of travel, while an adjustable single shock in the rear gives 5.9 inches. 

Motorcycle.com had a chance to ride the new 800 Adventura Terrain on a closed, paved course ahead of its official launch in the U.S. and came away with good feelings. There’s loads of sophisticated technology, including standard ABS and Bosch cornering ABS to regulate the J.Juan dual front 320mm discs w/ opposed 4-piston radial calipers and single 260mm disc w/floating 2-piston caliper out back. 

Cruise control is also standard, as well as traction control and two electronic ride modes (Rain and Sport), which are switched via a 7-inch color TFT display. Both models also provide USB and 12V DC outlets and feature LED lighting and fog lights. The medium-height windscreens above the pinched beaks look to be the same size on both machines and a gnarled plastic hand knob suggests adjustability.

The Terrain edition adds the spoked wheels, a two-way quick shifter, tire pressure monitoring system, heated grips and heated driver seat. Although not listed in the specs, we can see in marketing photos that the Terrain is shown with a bash plate and hand guards. 

The Adventura models are the largest displacement motorcycles from CFMoto to make it to the U.S., and appear to offer a new level of quality as well. Of the fit and finish, the tester who rode the Terrain went as far as to call its paint and aesthetics a step above KTM’s. 

And of its performance, the journalist called it “as capable and composed as the old 790 Adventure, while exhibiting none of the weird peccadilloes we’ve come to expect from other Chinese motorcycles over the years.” Though we need to keep in mind this test was on a closed, paved circuit, and that the Adventura will feel nothing like a 790 Adventure when it hits the dirt.

Although CFMoto has been bringing ATVs into the U.S. market for quite some time, its push to bring in its motorcycles via a quickly expanding dealer network has just gotten underway this year. The effort is moving along so quickly in fact, you might have already seen some of the 7 models already sold here, including a sport-touring slanted 650 Adventura. 

Traditionally the most attractive thing about Chinese products has been the price, but in this case, KTM’s involvement adds quite a bit of value, making $9,499 for the Street model (before transport and assembly fees) sound like a good deal. The Terrain touring version starts at $10,499. Color choices for the Street are Nebula Black or Twilight Blue while the Terrain is only available in the Twilight Blue motif. 

To locate a dealer or find out more details about the bikes, side-by-sides and quads CFMoto is bringing to America, check out its U.S. website. 

CFMoto Adventura 800 Specs

Photos by CFMoto

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.