CFMoto

CFMoto 450SR officially launched in China
By Ben Purvis

More power and less weight - it's a reliable formula for sports bike success and CFMoto is following it with the new 450SR, now officially unveiled in China.
We have known about the 450SR for a while and included the first leaked picture of the production model in our last issue, but the official details make for impressive reading. The bike, which was teased by last year's SR-C21 concept, features an entirely new, 450 cc twin-cylinder engine that uses a 270-degree crankshaft to mimic the firing interval of a 90-degree V-twin. CFMoto claims the engine is entirely self-developed, with 4500 hours of continuous dyno testing to prove its reliability.

With 37 kW (50.5 hp) at 9500 rpm and 39 Nm (28.8 lb-ft) of torque at 7600rpm, the engine is claimed to be more powerful than most 500 cc rivals - it certainly outguns the Honda CBR500R, although the bike's 35kW (47hp) is tailored to suit A2 licence restrictions in Europe.
Just as Honda's original FireBlade intended to combine 1,000 cc-class power with 750 cc-class weight, the CFMoto 450SR has the power of machines a capacity class above it with the weight of much smaller bikes, coming in at only 168 kg wet - that's 24 kg less than the CBR500R.
It's a promising combination, and the 450SR doesn't disappoint in chassis terms either, with 37 mm USD forks and a monoshock rear suspension, allied to Brembo brakes at both ends with ABS as standard. There's a colour TFT dash to continue the impression of a high-end machine, and all the lights are LED.
The styling was done in Europe by Modena 40, CFMoto's Italy-based design operation, and it's a resounding success, ticking all the sports bike boxes without being a slavish copy of larger superbike. There are even MotoGP-style winglets on the fairing sides and carbon-look panels on the fairing and tank. Iit is expected that CFMoto will launch a higher-spec 'SR-R' version of the machine with a single-sided swingarm to even more closely match the original SR-C21 concept bike.
Although an official European launch isn't expected until later this year, CFMoto has already filed for European trademark rights on the 450SR name and logo. There is little doubt that this machine will be offered in Europe in the near future.