Just a couple of days back, we showed you CFMoto’s 2023 lineup for Canada, including seven machines for next season. We’ve just seen another bike that maybe, maybe we’ll see here in the future—but we doubt it would be here next season.
The bike is the CFMoto 300CL-X, a roadster/neo-retro/scrambler machine very much in the vein of Yamaha’s XSR line. Certainly not a true retro with air-cooled engine, spoked wheels and lots of real metal trim. But, it has enough design cues from the past that it appeals to buyers who want a machine with some old-school charm, but still a modern bike underneath.
As far as small-cc machines go, Honda has already explored this territory thoroughly with the CB300R, and it’s likely that’s where CFMoto got the inspiration for the 250CL-X, which debuted in Asia earlier this year. That’s the machine pictured above; while that quarter-liter bike is already headed to markets where 250s are the largest motorcycles that most people can or will buy, there is reportedly a 300 version of this bike in the works, using the same liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine that CFMoto already imports to Canada in the 300SS and 300NK entry-level models.
That single makes 28 horsepower, which is more than enough for urban commuting and even some carefully-planned trips out of town on the busy highways—certainly sufficient for two-lane secondary roads.
If CFMoto brought in a CL-X with this engine, with a $5,000ish MSRP similar to its other 300 models, there would no doubt be plenty of interest, especially when you tack a five-year-warranty on top of that. With supply of Japanese bikes running short, a Chinese-made machine like this is much more appealing if you need or want a bike right away.
Since the 300 engine is already approved for sale in Canada, it shouldn’t be hard to bring this bike here. However, even the Chinese factories are affected by the vagaries of international trade and supply chain shortages—for that reason, we wouldn’t expect to see this bike in early 2023, and realistically, not until 2024, if it does indeed come.
You can see the specs for the 250CL-X here, but remember that these are only for the 250 model, and the 300 would be somewhat different.
Find me a dealer – oh wait, there aren’t any….
What “design cues from the past” does it have that suggest it to be retro?
After 1 year it will be worth 1/4 of the price and very hard to sell on the used market.
Unless it’s half the price of a similar Japanese bike it will be a hard sell.