PHOTO CREDIT: All photos Zac Kurylyk
After making a promising play for the Canadian market around 10 years back and then pulling out, CFMOTO is back selling motorcycles in the Great White North. This time, they’re selling bikes that are even better than the 650 twins they had a decade back. For 2025, they’re bringing in the new CFMOTO Ibex 800 Explore, and in early February, I had a chance to test-ride it in the southwest US. Here’s what I found out.
The engine feels like a KTM
This parallel twin feels exactly like you’re riding a KTM, because—you’re basically riding a KTM. The Ibex’s 800 is an LC8c design, pretty much the same as KTM’s 790. That’s because CFMOTO builds the 790 for the Austrians, and make their own version as well.
What are the main differences? Aside from the fuel injection system (DKK Dell’Orto for the CFMOTO, instead of the KTM’s Bosch components), I’m not sure there is much difference at all. The CFMOTO makes slightly less torque (57 lb-ft @ 6,600 rpm, vs 60 lb-ft for the KTM). Horsepower is basically the same, about 94 hp @ 9,000 rpm. In a back-to-back comparison, a rider would no doubt discern a change in the power curve, but really, it feels like the same thing. Same six-speed, same basic power delivery, same sound, same fun—I personally think the faster-revving 790 engine is more enjoyable than the bigger 890, and the 800 feels the same to me. And it will still haul you along all day long at 140 km/h with ease, with room to quickly pass all the way up to lose-your-licence speed.
But there is one big difference: While KTM charges extra for the quickshifter, that’s included for free on the CFMOTO, along with all the other electronics. More on that later.
The road-going chassis is a great compromise
KTM sells road-oriented versions of its V-twin adventure bikes, and its new 390 series also comes with your choice of a model with 21-18 wheels or 19-17 wheels. But they’ve never done this with the 790/890 series, of Husqvarna’s 901, and I’ve always thought it was a mistake. The Ibex 800 Explore has a 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear, and I think it’s a good way to fill that hole in the KTM lineup, sort of.
There are significant differences between the KTM and the CFMOTO chassis; the frame is basically the same, but as soon as you see the gas tank on the CFMOTO, you notice it’s mounted high in the traditional location. KTM’s 790 Adventure keeps fuel low, in a tank with lobes that wrap around the engine. This helps handling, especially when you’re in the dirt (and also protects the bike in a tip-over). On the CFMOTO, you end up with a higher center of gravity.
I don’t think that’s as big a deal for street touring, unless you’re far exceeding the speed limit. If you were off-roading on this bike a lot, then yes—but you’d probably buy the KTM 790 Adventure in that case, right?
I did go off-pavement on this bike, on ranch roads and recreational tracks of varying quality. I was pleasantly surprised to see the KYB suspension hooked up very well on the easy stuff (inverted 160mm fork, fully adjustable, and 150mm preload/rebound-adjustable shock). I wasn’t geared up for hard-core off-roading, and I was by myself, so I kept these adventures simple and easy. However, I think that many riders will find this bike is far more capable in the dirt than they might at first.
On the street, this suspension is super-comfortable, smoothing out the beat-up backroads of northern Arizona quite nicely. If you wanted to tighten things up for harder cornering, you could twiddle the clickers on the fork and shock, but I felt no need, as I was trying to stay out of Johnny Law’s crosshairs, since the bike’s insurance and registration paperwork had been left at head office when it shipped out. I had no desire to stay in a small-town sheriff’s office for a weekend while it was all sorted out.
Braking comes from J Juan, with 320mm dual discs up front, and radially-mounted four-piston calipers. In back, there’s a 260mm single disc with two-piston floating caliper. I had zero complaints through almost 2,000 kilometres of riding, including some very twisty stuff through Utah. J Juans are very common in the budget bike world, and while a performance-oriented rider might want the sharpest Brembo offerings, again, that rider would be on a different bike. These are the perfect match to this machine, keeping cost down while getting the job done.
The reality is that this might be a Chinese bike, but almost all these components are now ordered out of a catalog from companies who’ve been building them for decades. As long as you match the components properly to the forces they’re trying to control, you should have little drama. Problems mainly arise when someone tries to save a nickel or two by mismatching parts to the job they’re built for (see also: the now-defunct Harley-Davidson Street series).
Curb weight for the Ibex is 230 kg, with 18.9 litres’ fuel capacity. This is the real bugbear that many riders will have with the CFMOTO, as the KTM is lighter by 10-12 kg. That, and the price… he said, ominously.
The CFMOTO is long-haul comfortable
Not much to say here, except the seat kept me happy through some very long days, with butt cramps setting in only once, at the end of about nine hours of riding with minimal breaks. That’s a long day any time of year, but especially mid-winter, when you aren’t built up to it. The windscreen kept the weather off me, and the heated grips and seat were roasty-toasty through some pretty chilly air. In fact, I couldn’t run the seat at its full setting, as felt like it would melt my underwear at that temperature.
It’s always a compromise, trying to figure out how much bodywork to put on a bike, keeping you out of the breeze without making it too bulky. I feel like CFMOTO struck a good compromise here, and as an aside, it also looks pretty good. That’s because it was designed by KISKA, the same outfit that does all KTM’s designs. There is nothing awkward or ugly about this machine, not at all.
The Ibex 800 Explore comes with a lot of “free” add-ons
KTM charges hundreds of dollars for advanced electronics; the CFMOTO equivalent comes with many of these for free. There’s no upcharge for the quickshifter or cruise control (which is inoperable past about 130 km/h). And while the Ibex doesn’t come with the adjustable-on-the-fly Rally Mode that KTM offers for the 790 at extra charge, it does have the following ride modes:
SPORT: provides the sharpest throttle response and maximum torque output with a low level of TC intervention. Perfect for experienced riders out for a spirited ride on the tarmac.
OFF ROAD: provides a softer throttle response than SPORT with the lowest level of TC intervention.
OFF ROAD+: provides a softer throttle response than SPORT with the lowest level of TC intervention. The rear wheel ABS is also deactivated.
ALL TERRAIN: provides a softer throttle response than OFF-ROAD with no TC intervention. The rear wheel ABS is also deactivated.
ALL TERRAIN+: provides a softer throttle response than OFF-ROAD with no TC intervention. The front and rear wheel ABS are deactivated.
RAIN: provides the softest throttle response and the gentlest power curve with the lowest maximum output and the highest level of TC intervention best suited for wet and slippery conditions
I found the TFT screen interface was a little more awkward than KTM’s, but that might be because I’m used to KTM’s system. I also had trouble with the CFMOTO app, which controls music streaming through your headset if synced, as well as turn-by-turn navigation. I think this is because I didn’t have 5G Internet, but it could have been because the bike was a demo model as well.
One thing I really liked while riding the Ibex in the city—there’s a blind spot monitoring system that tells you when a car is in your blind spot. You still need to do your shoulder checks, but it was a nice add-on for cutting through Las Vegas’ clogged roadways, telling me when the next lane was occupied.
The free perks aren’t all electro-wizardry either. The Ibex comes with pannier racks included as standard, so you can easily attach whatever bags you want. This is smart; these racks are super-cheap to produce and take very little time to install, costing CFMOTO a few bucks but theoretically giving the buyer a lot of value for their money. And speaking of pricing:
The Canadian price tag is… high
CFMOTO has a $16,899 MSRP on the Ibex 800 Explore in Canada for 2025, with a five-year warranty. That doesn’t include taxes and fees. From what we’ve seen, KTM is offering the 790 Adventure for $14,299, and that includes a four-year warranty.
In the US, the KTM is $12,490 USD and the CFMOTO has a $10,299 MSRP (which would translate to roughly $15,000 CAD, and bikes are almost never as expensive in CAD when you factor in the exchange rate). In the States, the Ibex is a great deal.
In Canada, I’m not sure how CFMOTO ended up with the higher price tag; if it’s a tariff issue, you would think the 790 would face the same tariff as it is made in the same place.
So. While I highly enjoyed the CFMOTO, if I was buying in Canada, I would be headed to the KTM shop for now. Or maybe to a Honda dealer, as the Africa Twin is only $600 more, before taxes and fees, and it comes with a much larger engine. The Transalp’s base MSRP is $4,300 less than the CFMOTO. Honda’s 750 makes about 20 hp less than the CFMOTO, but has a much better reputation for longevity than the LC8c engine.
The bottom line is this: UuntilCFMOTO’s reputation is on-par with their Japanese and Euro counterparts, few riders will be excited about paying the same price as an established brand, or even more. C’est la vie!
