Any vehicle that is equipped to take you across massive distances is overengineered. It needs to be, because it will be a flagship product. And as a flagship product that is usually sold globally, it needs to work no matter the location or the season. There is no better example of this than adventure bikes.
They are engineered to go anywhere, in any weather, and to carry a pillion and luggage while at it. This makes them some of the best-engineered two-wheelers on the planet, although they might not seem like it. And that is why they are priced like the premium bikes that they are.
Adventure Bikes: Go Big Or Stay Home?
There is a lot more tech than you’d imagine under the skin of a premium adventure bike. It’s a marvel that they don’t seem more complicated than they are – heck, these days you can even get some of them to do your gear shifting for you, and follow the vehicle ahead and reduce speed on their own! We’ll keep coming back to our initial point: the engineering. Electronics are notoriously sensitive if they get too hot, or wet, or cold, or… you get the picture.
So that is the cost, both to develop and install. And there are a bunch of electronics simply to manage the power and weight of it all. That means having to spend the big bucks if you want the big fun. Or so you’d think!
The CFMoto Ibex 800 E Proves You Don’t Need To Spend Big
CFMoto is familiar to anyone who has looked for a motorcycle that delivers value. Everything from its cheapest product to its most expensive delivers a surprising number of features for the money, making you think twice about looking at established brands, even if you’re brand loyal! It might seem suspiciously cheap, but CFMoto has also gradually built up a reputation for products with quality. It was even used to build engines for KTM, and they were more reliable than the ones coming out of Austria. Go figure.
The result is that products like the Ibex 800 E offer so many features, you might start questioning all your vehicular choices. The Ibex 800 E is priced like a regular midsize adventure bike, but the features it sports are on par or better than what most full-size, premium ADVs offer! That is why it is the adventure motorcycle that proves you don’t need to spend big.
A Fun-Size Price For A Fun-Sized Motorcycle
The Ibex 800 is available in a few different variants globally, but CFMoto has decided to offer only the top-spec Ibex 800 E in the US market. It is priced at $10,299. That’s less than a few other midsize ADVs that are built to a value price! And it has all the features that you’d ever want on a long ride. If there is one thing we can nitpick about, it’s the fact that there is no opportunity to upgrade it because everything is already available from the factory.
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The Parallel Twin Engine Has Sprightly Performance
The Ibex 800 E has a very familiar parallel twin engine. It is a 270-degree one that displaces 799 cc, has a compression ratio of 12.7:1, and generates 94 horsepower at 9,000 RPM and 56.8 pound-feet at 6,500 RPM. It runs it through a six-speed gearbox with an assist and slipper clutch and a standard two-way quickshifter.
If it sounds like this CFMoto engine has some parallels with a KTM engine, that is because it is true. The Chinese manufacturer has worked extremely closely with KTM over the years, and there is some relation between the Ibex 800’s engine and that of the 790 Adventure. However, this makes it a last-generation engine now, but its reliability is very good.
A Modern Frame Underpins It All
A steel trellis frame forms the backbone of the Ibex 800, with aluminum the material of choice for the subframe and swingarm. The aluminum subframe has been chosen for the weight reduction, but it isn’t a common choice for adventure bikes, with manufacturers choosing the extra strength and better repairability of steel over aluminum for this genre of bike.
KYB provides the suspension. The front 43mm inverted forks have adjustment for preload, compression, and rebound, and offer 6.3 inches of travel. The rear mono-shock has adjustable preload and rebound with 5.9 inches of travel. The front J.Juan brakes are impressively large, with twin 320mm discs paired with radial four-piston fixed calipers. At the rear, another J.Juan 260mm disc is paired with a two-piston floating caliper. These brakes are identical to what is on its bigger sibling.
A 19/17-inch wheel rim combination with tubeless laced rims completes the set. This makes it the odd one out in the CFMoto ADV lineup: both the bigger and smaller siblings use a 21/18-inch wheel rim setup.
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This Is A Fairly Large Motorcycle
The Ibex 800 E is normal-sized for a middleweight adventure motorcycle. It is nearly 88 inches long, 33.6 inches wide, and has a 60.3-inch wheelbase. The seat is also quite reasonably low, at 32.5 inches. It is a little heavier than one would expect, at 509 pounds, but some of it can be explained away by the sheer level of electronics and other features that are standard with it.
The Feature Set Is Where The Ibex Is Exceptional
Until the Ibex 1000/1000 MT-X makes it to the U.S. market, the Ibex 800 is its flagship adventure bike. Judging by its feature set, it is a flagship motorcycle by any standard. Our top two picks from the list are the radar-based blind spot monitoring system, and the steering damper. The eight-inch TFT touchscreen display is bigger than any other in its segment, and has Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, and navigation. There is also tire pressure monitoring, all-LED lighting, and a manually adjustable windscreen. These are all standard features on the Ibex 800 E.
The by-wire throttle and six-axis IMU also offer a lot of leeway in setting up how the Ibex can be ridden. There are six ride modes, a standard two-way quickshifter, cruise control, cornering traction control, cornering ABS, and wheelie control. The traction control intervention level changes depending on the mode you use, and it can be customized in the user ride modes.
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Value-Driven ADVs: A Tiny Sample
There aren’t too many adventure bikes that deliver exceptional value, not in the way the Ibex 800 E does. There are none in its segment, let’s get that out of the way first. If you’re looking for something premium, the Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT is what you should look at. It has electronic suspension, a dual-clutch automatic gearbox designed for use off-road, and a retail price of $18,599, which undercuts most full-size adventure bike base models!
If you want to go cheaper than the Ibex 800, there is another manufacturer worth looking at. The Moto Morini X-Cape 700 operates in a space between the midsize ADV and small ADV segments, but its price of $8,299 puts it firmly among the lower segment. It’s got some serious hardware despite the price: Marzocchi forks, KYB shock, Pirelli Scorpion STR tires, Bosch switchable ABS, braided brake lines, TPMS, a seven-inch TFT screen, adjustable hand levers, and an aluminum swingarm. You get the drift.
Source: CFMoto USA