CFMOTO

CFMOTO Papio XO Racer

By Ben Purvis

The growing confidence of the Chinese motorcycle industry is increasingly and clearly illustrated not only by the fast-improving technology and performance, but by an increasing adoption of light-hearted bikes that have overtone of some of the mini sportbikes of Japan's late 80s bubble era - and never more so than by the new CFMOTO Papio XO Racer.

The Papio (that means Baboon - a clear nod to the Honda Monkey and Gorilla models) has been around for a while, and the XO Racer has existed before as the sportiest version of this 126 cc single-cylinder offering, which features 12-inch wheels for an appeal akin to Honda's MSX125 Grom, but the latest version ups the ante with a new, more extensive fairing to make it into a full-on miniature race-rep.

There's a retro hint to the dual, circular headlights - a signature of the Papio XO range, with an 'O' and an 'X' featured in the lights themselves - and the bar-end mirrors, but where the previous XO Racer looked like a 1970s endurance racer that had been put through a hot wash, the new version takes more of its cues from modern MotoGP bikes. 

Updates include not only a full fairing and bellypan, where the original had a half fairing, but also stubby winglets on the fairing sides, just behind a pair of neatly integrated turn signals. Do they do anything? Of course not: it's a 126 cc, air-cooled single making a peak of 7 kW at 8,250 rpm and 9.2 Nm at 6,500 rpm, but the Papio is all about appearance and fun, not performance. Colour options include a replica of CFMOTO's own works Moto2 racers, plus an orange and white variant that has hints of Honda Repsol colours and an all-white version that could be a blank canvas for modifications. 

The bike's compact dimensions extend to a 1,204 mm wheelbase, making for an overall length of just 1,740 mm, while it's only 1,000 mm tall and 700 mm wide.