QJMotor SRT450X to rival CFMOTO 450MT
By Ben Purvis
Big adventure bikes might have ruled the sales charts for the last two decades but the ever-increasing performance and size of those machines is at odds with an aging motorcycling demographic as a growing number of owners opt to swap their litre-plus monsters for something a little easier to handle. That's opening a door for manufacturers for a new breed of middleweight adventure models offering the same comfort and all-round ability but with less performance and weight.
.jpg)
CFMOTO's 450MT is one example, with a more serious approach to its offroad ability than the likes of Honda's NX500, and, now rival Chinese brand QJMotor is heading into the same market segment with an upcoming model likely to be called the SRT450X.
Recently type-approved in China, the new bike packs QJMotor's own 449cc, 39kW (53hp) parallel twin engine (expect it to be detuned to 35 kW/47 hp should it reach European markets to match A2 licence rules). It's shown wearing 'SRT400X' badges, but the SRT450X name makes more sense given its capacity and its rivalry with the 450MT. It's the same engine that's to be used in the upcoming QJMotor Super4 sports bike, and already features in several other bikes in the company's range.
Fitted to a steel tube frame for the SRT450X, with long-travel upside-down forks and suitably offroad-style wire wheels, 21 inches at the front, 18 inches at the rear, the resulting machine has a very similar stance to the rival CFMOTO 450MT, including a Dakar-inspired shape with a near-vertical windscreen. However, it also features styling cues from QJ's larger SRT800RX - a 799 cc parallel twin adventure bike - including an unusual triple-light setup at the front, with a small central headlight bolstered by two larger, lower-mounted lamps tucked into the fairing just ahead of the fork legs.
Weighing in at 185 kg, according to QJMotor's approval documents, the bike's mass is in the same league as the rival 450MT, which comes in at 175 kg dry but around 195 kg ready-to-ride.
Four versions of the upcoming QJMotor have been type-approved. As well as the variant seen here, there's one with a low-mounted front mudguard wrapped close to the tyre, and both styles are also approved in fully laden form with three-piece aluminium luggage sets, a change that ups the weight to 204 kg but clearly adds a substantial load-carrying ability.
