[cycleworld.com] - CFMoto 1250NK Close To Production

[Ninjette Newsbot]

CFMoto is building a range-topping open-class sportbike to compete against partner KTM’s Super Duke.

Click here to view on their site.


Based on its V.02 NK concept bike from the EICMA show back in 2017, the 1250NK looks like it will soon become a production model. (CFMoto/)A little over a year ago we got the first glimpse of CFMoto’s project to create a production version of its 2017 V.02 NK concept bike, which is a KTM-engined, V-twin streetfighter to rival the likes of the Super Duke.

The V.02 NK was a flight of fancy with futuristic styling and engineering including an underseat radiator. The showroom-bound version seen in the company’s patent documents will adopt similar styling themes but more conventional mechanicals with a conventionally positioned radiator. Both the concept and the prospective production model do share a KTM-derived V-twin. It’s likely to be the same 1,279cc engine that’s used in CFMoto’s Chinese-market 1250TR-G tourer, a motor that’s loosely based on KTM’s LC8 V-twin but with a different capacity and design details. In the TR-G, the CFMoto engine puts out 140 hp.


CFMoto’s 1250TR-G sport-tourer uses an engine loosely based on KTM’s LC8. (CFMoto/)The latest documents show the same machine that we saw in CFMoto’s patent from early 2023, but the illustrations now include more detailed drawings of several major components including the frame and parts of the bodywork. All of the pictures show a level of detail that points toward a machine that’s close to production.


The frame is a steel trellis unit. (CFMoto/)The frame is a steel trellis design, similar to the layout CFMoto uses on several of its current models, and while there are external covers on the complete bike that give the impression of an aluminum section at the swingarm pivot, the reality is that they’re purely cosmetic. The steel tubes run all the way to the swingarm. At the back, there’s a bolt-on subframe, again made of steel but with a separate cast-aluminum structure at the very rear, under the passenger-seat section.


Unlike the concept V.02 NK’s underseat radiator, the production bike will use a conventional radiator. (CFMoto/)Any doubts over the radiator position are firmly answered by the latest patent, which shows detailed drawings of a curved, front-mounted radiator with twin, low-mounted cooling fans that direct hot air out through vented side panels. The underseat radiator of the 2017 concept is clearly not reaching production. However, the single-sided swingarm that was a feature of that bike does remain on the latest design, albeit with its visual impact dulled by a large exhaust muffler on the right-hand side. Illustrations in the new patent show detail of the rear wheel, including an eccentric chain adjuster that includes the mount for the bike’s rear Brembo brake caliper.


The huge exhaust silencer partially obscures the view of the open wheel and single-sided swingarm. (CFMoto/)The latest patents also give a detailed look at the bodywork that’s designed to wrap over the fuel tank and airbox, made of six distinct pieces and featuring air outlet vents on either side.

With an NK range that already includes 300cc, 450cc, 650cc, and 800cc models, and a 125cc version expected to be launched imminently after being previewed with the 125NK concept at last year’s EICMA show, CFMoto’s next logical step is to launch a large-capacity range-topper, as seen here. If the company follows its usual route, a full-faired SR version could follow, joining the growing ranks of Chinese-made, large-capacity sportbikes that have emerged over the last few months.


CFMoto’s 800NK should give us an indication of what the final styling will look like. (CFMoto/)