CF Moto's 1250 TR-G touring bike bucks the Chinese trend of small-capacity bikes. Uses the 1279cc V-twin from KTM road and adventure bikes.

CFMoto 1250 TR-G Is a Big Touring Bike From China

The Chinese motorcycle industry has traditionally concentrated on copying small capacity bikes from the Western manufacturers for their huge home market, with only a few attempting to get a toe hold in the European and American markets.

This new bike from CFMoto, however, signals a new intention to penetrate further into those markets with a bike Europeans and Americans might actually want to buy.

This is the new 1250 TR-G touring bike, powered by the 1279cc v-twin that does service in both road and adventure KTMs. CFMoto and KTM have an engineering and production partnership, so that comes as no surprise.

CFMoto claims a 105kW power output for the KTM V-twin engine, which equates to about 140bhp, which is less than KTM claim for the engine so undoubtedly, it has been de-tuned although, for what reason is not clear. 120Nm of torque is also quoted, so performance shouldn't be a problem, de-tuned or not.

As you'd expect, the 1250TR-G follows the specification of rival KTMs closely, with a hydraulic wet slipper clutch, six-speed gearbox; electronic throttle; and four riding modes. However, these are called Sport, Street, Rain and 'Athletic'! If that latter is a track mode, it would seem rather superfluous for a touring bike!

At the moment, the bike rides on Marzocchi suspension but it wouldn't be a stretch of imagination to see WP being used for the European market. Brembo handles the braking, aided by cornering ABS from Bosch. A dry weight of 304kg is quoted and the gas tank holds 23 litres of fuel.

The bike comes with panniers as standard and a top box is an option. As you might expect, the price is right! German magazine Motorrad predicts a price around $17,500, which undercuts rivals from BMW - and KTM! - comfortably. It might be running KTM mechanicals, but can the rest of the bike hold up in terms of quality of construction?

For that, we can only wait and see.