CFMoto seems to be slowly carving out a space in the American and European motorcycle markets by offering well-equipped models at attractive prices. Another factor to the Hangzhou-based company’s success is in its partnership with KTM parent company Pierer Mobility, a long-term alliance that includes commingling of parts and production facilities. 

To date we’ve seen a handful of CFMoto bikes hit our shores, including the Ibex 800S and 800T, both powered by the KTM-designed 799cc LC8c parallel twin and decked out in adventure bike styling, though with more of a street focus. That’s about to change though, first with a truly off-road ready 2025 Ibex 450, due at dealers this September, and now with confirmation via recently filed type-approval documents showing a much more off-road capable 800 is now headed to production. 

This model, dubbed an 800MT-X in filings, is likely to follow suit with CF’s other 800s, which are named Ibex in the USA to avoid stepping on Yamaha’s claim to the designation MT used for its scrappy naked bikes. 

We’d first reported on a possible CFMoto “800MT” that could genetically be a first cousin match to KTM’s 790 Adventure way back in 2021. The next year it was confirmed to be headed to the US, but those bikes, now known to be the Ibex 800S and 800T, turned out to be far more street leaning than anything hard-core adventure riders are after. Then finally, at last November’s EICMA show, a concept bike that looked more ready to go head-to-head with KTM’s 790 Adventure was unveiled.

Happily, the differences between that concept bike and the bike headed to production seem few. We know it will be powered by KTM’s proven 799c LC8c liquid-cooled parallel twin, which is no surprise since that mill has long been manufactured at the CFMoto/KTM joint-venture factory in China. 

According to the type-approval documents recently reported on by Cycle World, that engine will produce 94 hp, the same as KTM’s still relevant 790 Adventure. While no torque figure was provided, it makes sense the MT-X would deliver the same 57 lb-ft of torque provided by the 790 and Ibex models, via the same slipper clutch and six-speed transmission. It was also confirmed, as expected, that the MT-X will utilize KTM’s fuel cell design, with two connected low-slung tanks on either side of the bike fed through a single cap located in front of the seat — a setup that aids stability during off-road maneuvers by lowering the machine’s center of gravity. 

However, clues from the filed paperwork hint at frame geometry, including a 60.2 inch wheelbase, that reads more like KTM’s aggressive 890 Adventure R than the standard 790 Adventure model. This could be a means of accommodating a taller suspension setup so key to making an adventure bike off-road worthy, while the MT-X’s 21/18 inch wheel combo, spec’d to run 90/90-21 and 150/70-18 tires, confirms its adventurous intentions. 

The curb weight for CFMoto’s new adventure bike is listed at 471 pounds, a sack of groceries less than the KTM 790’s wet weight of 480 pounds, as measured by Cycle World, though the MT-X could hold less fuel. A luggage ladened variant of the bike is documented to have a wet weight of 518 pounds. 

Instead of KTM’s familial WP suspension components, we’re sure to see a Japan-made KYB setup on the MT-X, in keeping with other CFMoto machines, though instead of the 6.3 front and 5.9 inches of travel provided by the current Ibex 800s, we assume that at the least, travel on the MT-X will be comparable to the 790 Adventure’s 7.9-inches, front and rear.

Additional computations listed in the documents include a highpoint measurement of 54.9 inches, or 53.5 depending on the applied windscreen, an end-to-end handlebar width of 37. 2 inches and an overall length of 91.8 inches. 

The production MT-X will use the J.Juan calipers favored by KTM, not the showy Brembos with shrouded rotors seen on the show bike in Milan, and the Akrapovič exhaust will also be jettisoned in favor of a proprietary, street-legal CFMoto design. Passenger footpegs, deleted on the show bike, have been added to the real-world design. 

Another interesting revelation found in the paperwork are applications for up to eight variations of this off-road eager MT-X, offering different combinations of options, such as standard luggage, high or low mounted fenders and different windscreens. 

While the type-approval documents don’t reveal timing of production, they do confirm that production of this CFMoto 800MX-T adventure bike (perhaps an Ibex 800X for us) is imminent, and since the show bike debuted on European soil, we know it is pointed at the wider global market, which hopefully includes America. 

How well it will be accepted here is a different story. It will be the first time KTM’s partner CFMoto has challenged the Austrian giant in the market of off-road intended adventure bikes, such a lucrative market here in the States. Will buyers shun the CFMoto entry as a knock-off, or will the high cost of living these days act like rose colored glasses. 

Either way, it’s never a bad thing to have options.  

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.