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Motorcycles

CFMoto announces the 1250TR-G, China's most powerful motorcycle ever

By Loz Blain
September 23, 2020
CFMoto announces the 1250TR-G, China's most powerful motorcycle ever
The CFMoto 1250TR-G is a serious luxury touring bike using high-grade components
The CFMoto 1250TR-G is a serious luxury touring bike using high-grade components
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The CFMoto 1250TR-G is a serious luxury touring bike using high-grade components
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The CFMoto 1250TR-G is a serious luxury touring bike using high-grade components
A massive digital dash, and radial Brembo ABS brakes, round out a quality component list
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A massive digital dash, and radial Brembo ABS brakes, round out a quality component list
The bike was launched at the Chongqing motor show
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The bike was launched at the Chongqing motor show
The biggest, most powerful Chinese production bike ever
4/5
The biggest, most powerful Chinese production bike ever
CFMoto's 1250TR-G attempts to launch the brand as a serious global touring bike manufacturer
5/5
CFMoto's 1250TR-G attempts to launch the brand as a serious global touring bike manufacturer
View gallery - 5 images

China's CFMoto has long held ambitions to break out of the small-capacity bikes that sell in volume in its home country and start making bikes to play with the big boys internationally. At this year's Chingqing Moto Expo, the brand announced the most powerful Chinese bike ever, due to hit showrooms in 2021.

CFMoto has been manufacturing engines and bikes for Austria's KTM for many years now, and it owns the rights to the 990cc LC8 V-Twin that powered KTM's original Super Duke 990s, among other bikes. It has redeveloped this motor into a 1279cc version for this bike, which, according to Bennett's, will make a little over 140 horsepower in this application.

The bike, which rocks a look disconcertingly similar to BMW's grand tourers, will be called the 1250TR-G, and CFMoto has partnered with Brembo to deliver an ABS braking system, as well as JBL for a Bluetooth-connected stereo system, operated through a massive full-color dash. KTM-owned suspension specialists WP will provide an electronically-adjustable suspension setup, so the important bits are all coming from excellent sources.

There's a cruise control button on the left switchblock, as well as an electronically adjustable screen, heated bars, heated grips, tire pressure monitors and a tight-looking three-piece luggage kit including two hard panniers and a top box with a built-in backrest for passengers.

A massive digital dash, and radial Brembo ABS brakes, round out a quality component list
A massive digital dash, and radial Brembo ABS brakes, round out a quality component list

Will it have the magnificent self-levelling headlights, bidirectional quickshifters or flat-out "intercontinental ballistic touring" performance capabilities of the mighty BMW K1600GT? I doubt it. But it might not have to; BMW charges German prices for German performance and bleeding-edge technology. CFMoto will be able to sell these things at Chinese prices, and it'll be fascinating to see what that means once it lands internationally, as well as how it measures up on the road.

As the biggest and most powerful bike ever made in China, it has a good chance to sell big numbers domestically. But if CFMoto manages to nail the export price to performance ratio it could be a hero bike for the brand globally, and the kind of machine that could start the slow process of changing Western riders' opinions about Chinese bikes. A significant motorcycle indeed!

Short video below.

1250TR G

Source: CFMoto via Bennett's

View gallery - 5 images

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MotorcyclesChinaCFMoto
5 comments
Loz Blain
Loz Blain
Loz leads the New Atlas team as Editorial Director, after nearly two decades as one of our most versatile writers. He's also proven himself as a photographer, videographer, presenter, producer and podcast engineer. A graduate in Psychology, former business analyst and touring musician, he's covered just about everything for New Atlas, concentrating lately on clean energy, AI, humanoid robotics, next-gen aircraft, and the odd bit of music, motorcycles and automotive.

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5 comments
guzmanchinky
There is currently SO much anti Chinese sentiment in the West, particularly in issues concerning copying (of which this is a blatant example in extremis) that I just don't see it selling well. People I know are already extremely disappointed that some of the new KTM models are being built there instead of Austria. Personally I would rather have a used BMW for the same price...
CAVUMark
Not for me, thanks anyway. Much prefer the real deal instead of supporting a knock off. You always get what you pay for.
JemThomas
Like it or not the Chinese have come a long way, it was only 10 years ago that a chum of mine in Shanghai was considering buying the only large capacity bike available him, a copy of a copy, the Chang Jiang CJ 750. But the bike was so bad and the admin hoops so labyrinthine that he decided against it.
I am sure that there were folk in the west saying exactly the same thing about Japanese bikes in the sixties, look how that played out.
Mike Johnson
This is a very interesting development as it demonstrates how manufacturing continues to migrate. Companies must form partnerships to develop their products at a sellable price for global markets. WHERE do all those parts and sub assemblies originate?
BMW will have shared production with Chinese manufacturers as well and apparently many more products are truly global from research, design, and production.
Austria has less then 9M people and the median age is close to age 45 so while you might be disappointed Austrians are not going to make too much of anything for global markets. Vienna is about 35% foreign born and a lot of Euro industries are staffed by migrants. Does it matter if KTMs are manufactured by China or by Chinese and others who have migrated to Austria?
Worzel
I was in Singapore in the middle sixties, and Chinese tools were just starting to be sold there. A full ring spanner set could be bought for the price of just ONE European or US made spanner. A bench pillar drill could be bought for £40, while in the UK, the same item would cost £400 minimum. (£400 was around 4 months pay for a working man then.) About 30 years later, they were still about the same price. Now, in Europe, its difficult to find ANY tools that are not made in China. I can see no reason that motorcycles will not follow the same route, regardless of political attempts to block sales, and make China the ''New Bogey Man!'' Depending on price, this machine and others like it, could do just the same as Japanese bikes did, and become ubiquitous. China has the advantage of an enormous home market, and in engineering cost is all about numbers. This 1250TR-G, looks like it can compete with the Honda Pan European, and similar machines, and can probably beat them on price.