COMPARO

CFMOTO 650MT /
BENELLI TRK 502
Unknown unknowns Words the bear photos NICK WOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

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 “ There are known knowns; there
are things we know we know.
We also know there are known
unknowns; that is to say we
know there are some things we
do not know. But there are also
”
unknown unknowns — the ones
we don’t know we don’t know.
AMM_69_design_corrupt.indd 55
Did you know that there are adventure bikes
you don’t even know about? No, of course you
don’t. Otherwise you’d know about them...
P
eople made fun of Donald
Rumsfeld for saying that, and I’m not
sure why. He’s establishing an important
point. Actually I suspect they made fun of
him because it was fashionable to make fun
of Mr Rumsfeld whose family, by the way,
comes from just near where I was born. Just
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 c o m pa r o

thought you might like to know.

When I first considered writing about
these relatively unknown bikes, I was
looking at a straightforward comparison
test. My comparison tests are different
from most other people’s, because I
rarely if ever choose winners. There
are several reasons for this, but one of
them is that a winner means losers; and
some of you out there will have bought
the bikes or might be considering bikes
that ‘lose’, and will feel disappointed
about your choice. That is unfortunate,
because nothing about that bike will
have changed except my opinion; all the
reasons that made you choose it in the
first place will still apply.
But you might well be unhappy about
riding a ‘loser’ (and your friends’ thinking
you’re riding a ‘loser’) when it is no such
thing – from your point of view.
So I was thinking of doing the usual
no-winner-no-loser comparison test,
but when I took a closer look at the
bikes, I wasn’t quite sure. They don’t
look as if they are meant for the same
market. Their main similarities seemed
to be that both come from China, and
that you’re unlikely to have heard of
either of them. But it turns out that
they hit pretty much the same target, if
from different directions.

CFMoto 650MT
Many Italian stylists are still having
trouble getting their heads around
adventure bike design. Ducati gets it
these days, more or less; the Multistrada
has worked its way from looking like
a praying mantis to a perhaps slightly
too elegant fit-for-purpose appearance.
But others, including Moto Guzzi
and Aprilia, are still trapped in a world
where motorcycles are good-looking.
Unfortunately for these people, the
parameters for the appearance of
adventure bikes are, and pretty much
always have been, set by BMW. That
may change now that Harley-Davidson
is on the scene with the Pan America
and a look straight off a science fiction
magazine cover, but it will take time even
if it does take. Meanwhile, despite being
designed in Austria, the 650MT does
not look like an adventure bike. It is, on
the other hand, good looking and also

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 c o mp a r o
appears well-made.
But is it an adventure bike? In a world
where that title is often awarded more
on appearance than functionality, I’d
have to say “maybe”. For a start, it
comes with 17 inch cast wheels and
pretty much road tyres. If you’ve ever
attempted any kind of muddy track
with these kinds of hoops, you will
know that it’s no fun. There are plenty
of more dirt focused hybrid tyres
around; equipping the bike with road
tyres places it as, primarily, a road bike.
Not, as I often say, that there’s
anything wrong with that. The rest of
the bike scrubs up well, too. An eight
valve DOHC 650cc parallel twin with
Bosch fuel injection puts out 41.5kW
at 9500rpm and a pleasantly present
62Nm at 7000 revs. Wheel travel of
140mm at the front and 145mm at the
rear is adequate for coping with our
crap roads and even a lot of off roads,
although it would be nice to have a
bigger front tyre and wire wheels.
The Shad 32 litre panniers that come
included in the $7990 ride-away price
are a trifle small for adventure work
and don’t look quite right, but the
quality is fine. The brakes look better
than they work, but they offer ABS
and are still fine for anyone but a
boy racer – who is not likely to find
himself on a 650MT. It’s nice to have
a USB port, but it’s hardly unusual. My
Ducati Scrambler has one too.
On the road in pretty ordinary weather,
the first thing I noticed after the
reasonable 840mm (optional 820mm)
seat height was the large and effective
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(and adjustable) screen. It’s perhaps a
surprise that the MT weighs 213kg but
some of that is accounted for by the
large 18 litre tank which gave me a fuel
range of almost exactly the claimed
400km, which is all you want, even
on an adventure bike. The bike was
stable, capable of overtaking easily and
comfortable. It is also available as a
LAMs version.
Once on gravel fire trails, the MT
surprised me with its effective setup.
It was easy to handle standing up,
something I don’t like doing because
of my trick knee, and happy to tackle
ripples and wheel tracks at low speed.
Fit more dirt-capable tyres and you’ll
cope with most Australian adventure
conditions quite well.
That doesn’t change that the bike is
essentially a tourer, but you won’t need
to turn around when the road turns to a
track. Whether it’s a ‘real’ adventure bike
depends on you. And your tyres.
Benelli TRK 502
Unlike the CFMoto, the Benelli looks
every bit a traditional adventure bike.
That neatly contradicts my comments
about Italian stylists, above, but as Walt
Whitman said, “Do I contradict myself?
Very well, I contradict myself.” It might
not have the asymmetric headlights
of a BMW (indeed, the headlights are
distinctly Benelli) but it fits right into the
Adventure canon. It also impresses with
its build quality, and it’s worth noting
that BMW itself now has at least one of
its adventure bikes made in China.
SPECS
CF Moto 650MT
PRICE: $7990 (ride away)
WARRANTY: Two years,
unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every
10,000km or 12 months
ENGINE: Liquid-cooled parallel twin
cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4
valves per cylinder
BORE x STROKE: 83 x 60mm
DISPLACEMENT: 649.3cc
COMPRESSION: 11.3:1
POWER: 41.5kW @ 9500rpm
TORQUE: 62Nm @ 7000rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi-
plate clutch, chain final drive
SUSPENSION: Front, 43mm inverted
fork, non-adjustable, travel 140mm.
Rear, monoshock, adjustable preload,
travel 145mm.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 840mm,
weight 213kg (wet), fuel capacity 18
litres, wheelbase 1415mm
TYRES: Front, 120/70/17.
Rear, 160/60/17
FRAME: Tubular steel
BRAKES: Front, twin 300mm discs
with twin-piston ABS calipers. Rear,
240mm disc, single-piston ABS caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: N/A
THEORETICAL RANGE: N/A
COLOURS: Blue, Black
VERDICT: Choices, choices
One thing you would probably not
expect on something that looks like
this is a relatively low seat; the one on
the TRK check in at 800mm which
will make the bike accessible to a lot of
people who might have given up on the
idea of an adventure bike, and it’s even
a Learner Approved Motorcycle. Wait a
little before you rejoice, though.
No, I’m not going to carry on about
the fact that the company that owns
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Benelli, China’s QJ, is part owned by the
company that makes Volvos, namely
Geely. No. But let’s see what you’re
actually getting.
The power comes from what I’m told
is a newly-designed 500cc liquid cooled
8 valve DOHC parallel twin which
puts out 35kW at 8500rpm and 45Nm
at 5000rpm. That makes it rather less
powerful than the CFMoto, and you
can feel the difference both on the road
and once you hit the gravel. The TRK
also feels heavier than the other bike.
Not that it feels heavy as such. In fact
– and I hope I am not about to give the
wrong impression – it feels a little like
a toy. The TRK is fun; giving it a squirt
is not going to give you a power slide
in the gravel, but it will give a nice little
spurt forward.
The Benelli TRK 502 is pretty close
to the ideal LAMs bike. It has the looks,
it has enough power and it handles
predictably and steadily. The brakes
look better than they are, with the rear
especially limited, but there is Bosch
ABS. Ralph did the fuel figures on this
bike, and reckons it has almost a 600km
range. Woo hoo!
On the gravel it is pleasantly neutral
although it would benefit from more
dirt-oriented tyres. Whipping around
the fire trails in the Blue Mountains
was enjoyable and never threatening,
which is another recommendation
for a LAMs bike.
Overall the design is as ‘traditional’ as
it looks. The steel tube trellis frame is
neatly welded, and the front suspension
is by a 50mm diameter upside down
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fork. The rear has a central shock
absorber with spring preload, hydraulic
rebound and compression setting all
adjustable. The ergonomics match
the appearance and offer more than
adequate room to move for even
somewhat bigger people. Wheels are 17
inch and cast, rather than the adventure
bike preferred wire.
Unexpectedly, the bike vibrates a bit
and the service intervals are quoted at
7000km. Check the price, too; seeing
what the CFMoto goes for, $8790
ride away seems a bit steep especially
as you’ll need to fork out another
grand for the panniers. If you find the
specs a bit tame, wait for the more
aggressive TRK 502X which is in this
issue also and offers things like wire
wheels with a 19 inch front.
As it stands, or rather rolls, the TRK
502 is a pleasant bike on the road with
limited power; mind you, the only
time that’s likely to annoy you is when
attempting to overtake.
As you will probably have noticed,
despite looking quite different
these two bikes will appeal to
much the same demographic. Isn’t
it great to have a choice!
Whodunit?
You will have noted, above, that both
of these bikes might be made in China,
but neither is designed there. The Benelli
credits go to Benelli’s old-established
studio in Pesaro, in Italy. The CFMoto’s
looks come from Kiska Design in
Austria (they do a lot of work for
SPECS
Benelli TRK502
PRICE: $8790 (ride away)
WARRANTY: Two years,
unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every
7000km or 12 months
ENGINE: Liquid-cooled parallel twin
cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC,
4 valves per cylinder
BORE x STROKE: 69 x 66.8mm
DISPLACEMENT: 500cc
COMPRESSION: 11.5:1
POWER: 35kW @ 8500rpm
TORQUE: 45Nm @ 5000rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet
multi-plate clutch, chain final drive
SUSPENSION: Front, 50mm inverted
fork, adjustable preload and rebound,
travel 135mm. Rear, monoshock,
adjustable preload, travel 130mm.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 800mm,
weight 213kg (wet), fuel capacity 20
litres, wheelbase 1525mm
TYRES: Front 120/70/17,.
Rear, 160/60/17
FRAME: Tubular steel
BRAKES: Front, twin 320mm discs with
four-piston ABS calipers. Rear, 260mm
disc, single-piston ABS caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: N/A
THEORETICAL RANGE: N/A
COLOURS: White, Red, Grey
VERDICT: Decisions, decisions
KTM) . Both studios are among the
most accomplished in the world. So if
we just get back to Donald Rumsfeld
for a moment, he once said, in a quote
that might have come from Confucius
himself, “When starting at the bottom,
be willing to learn from those at the
top.” These bikes make it clear that at
least some of the Chinese motorcycle
manufacturers are beginning to listen to
those words. D
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