Steve's CFMoto 650 NK（春风 650 NK）

[themicah]

I cant see how the operating temp of that little 650 is going to be much affected by the weather. I just keep the coolant above the line and it seems all good, never seen the bars go above 4, and that only when I'm sitting in traffic. I don't really tax it too hard though, Miles82 has been riding with his girlfriend on back all weekend and his seems to be running fine as well. For sure it's going to feel like a sauna when you're sitting in traffic, but haven't noticed any performance issue because of it.

That said, I'm a complete noob and probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway, so take that with a grain of salt ;-)

[ZMC888]

To Steve, Micah and any other NK owners. How many problems have you had vs how many kms do have you done on your bikes?

[themicah]

To Steve, Micah and any other NK owners. How many problems have you had vs how many kms do have you done on your bikes?

Hi ZMC,

I have had the bike since may and have put about 2800 km on it. I ride mostly 3-400km at a stretch and do not ride in the city. Last weekend I took it to Moganshan and rode some pretty messy single track, then got back on the road and pushed it to about 180km/h on the return trip.

I say this only to describe the way I ride it, which may have a great deal of influence on how you take my answers, or not ;-)

Since buying it, I've had a bad connection short out the fuel pump, causing it not to start and I've had a minor leak of radiator fluid from a loose hose clamp. The headlamp shorted out for some unknown reason and the cable actually burned. The front brake is a bit sticky and may have to be bled, but it works itself out during riding. That's it.

In my brief experience with the bike, it has suffered from poor assembly QA and some very cheap components like connectors and cables. So far, nothing serious at all.

[Steve_Halt]

To Steve, Micah and any other NK owners. How many problems have you had vs how many kms do have you done on your bikes?

Hello, ZMC,

I've had the bike since October last year and so far have put 3400 kms on it. I do city riding only, that is: traffic jams, filtering, downtown, all that fun stuff.
Problems I had so far: mist in my speedo/tacho assembly - speedo assembly changed by dealer on warranty. Leaky front fork leg seal - whole leg assembly changed by dealer on warranty. Poor controller connection to fuel pump - just reconnected it back. Bike gets hot in traffic, especially when riding 1st-2nd gear in +40C humid weather. Lighter traffic conditions would definitely solve that problem.
Nothing else so far - in fact I'm quite impressed with the overall quality of the bike and believe it was a great buy. I have had quite a few Japanese bikes here in China before (all illegal) and I can't say CFMoto falls short.

[ZMC888]

Great responses, I'm really thinking about getting a NK by next spring or sooner. I'll be using it the same way Micah does with mountain blast escape type rides.

I've recently swayed away from the Benelli because a 4 cylinder engine like the one it uses should easily be able to rev to 14,000-16,000, yet it has been detuned to only rev to 11,000, that makes my alarm bells ring. Clearly the CF engine is more 'bulletproof' than the Benelli.

[euphonius]

Qianjiang/Benelli 4-cylinder vs CFMoto twin: Twice as much to go wrong! Sixteen valves? Maybe that's why they're limiting its revs...

euphonius

[Steve_Halt]

ZMC888, hope you enjoy it!
euphonius, most likely so.
I have a friend here who bought a brand new red QJ-Benelli 600 and complained "the bike just didn't feel right". Don't know what he meant exactly, but I guess rider's experience is worth mentioning here.

[euphonius]

I test rode the Benelli here in Shanghai about 18 months ago, and posted about it in MCM. Build quality was dodgy. The bike had been dropped once at slow speed (by another test rider!) and the plastics suffered this insult very badly, essentially shattering. The foot controls felt loosey-goosey, I think flimsy is the word I used. I can completely understand what your friend meant when he said it "just didn't feel right". I had very much the same feeling.

euphonius

[998S]

I test rode the Benelli here in Shanghai about 18 months ago,

and posted about it in MCM. Build quality was dodgy. The bike had been dropped once at slow speed (by another test rider!) and the plastics suffered this insult very badly, essentially shattering. The foot controls felt loosey-goosey, I think flimsy is the word I used. I can completely understand what your friend meant when he said it "just didn't feel right". I had very much the same feeling.

euphonius

I can really not understand all this mud slinging at the Benelli.
My friend bought a brand new one almost a year ago, and it is me who have clocked most of the miles on it.

I do not recognize any of the negative comments about this bike.

I think the bike is far better built then any other Chinese bike, the used hardware and materials are superior (just look at the bolts used on a Benelli, and compare them to any other bike), and it did not have a single problem at all.

It engine is surely not comparable to a screaming Yamaha R-6, but neither is the 650NK comparable to it's Kawasaki cousin.

There is of course a big difference in riding a Twin or L-4, and that is pretty personal, but I do want to defend the Benelli! In my opinion there is no better built bike in China then this one.

E.

[euphonius]

Dear 998S,

The bike you, TB-Racing and I saw back in January 2012 may have been an early test build. I'm not making any claims about the bike in its current production state, and should have made that doubly clear.

I hope this bike is as good as you say it is!

euphonius