CFMoto is seriously getting involved in the sporty mid-range Naked segment. The Chinese have released first images of the 800NK, the second model after the 800MT to be powered by the KTM LC8c parallel twin, which suggests that the launch will be imminent.
Say what you will about China, that they don’t care much about human rights, use hot air balloons to spy and blatantly copy everything because international patent law for their own market is not accepted, but Xi’s country is developing rapidly as a leading engine manufacturer.
The future will show to what extent it is superior or inferior quality, but the Chinese are proving at a fast pace that they are no longer the country of Copy & Paste, but that Chinese engines are no longer inferior to European or Japanese engines on a technical level .
In the case of CFMoto also thanks to KTM, which entered into an intensive partnership a few years ago, which cuts both ways: profit for KTM, which can have its LC8c model line produced cheaply in China, profit for CFMoto, which has all technology of the LC8c and may use it for its own purposes.
On its own Facebook page, CFMoto has now lifted a corner of the veil on the 800 NK, the second model based on the LC8c. The 800 NK is derived from the NK-C22 prototype, design drawings already leaked in the middle of last year, after which the first images leaked in December.
With the 800 NK, CFMoto focuses on the upper class of the sporty mid-range Naked segment, which once started with models such as the ER-6n/Z650, SV650 and MT-07, but has since been replaced by the Suzuki GSX-8S and Honda CB750 Hornet and the KTM 790 DUKE is outclassed.
At the heart of the 800 NK is the same LC8c that KTM uses in its 790 DUKE (and is produced at CFMoto), but with slightly better specs. The Chinese claim a top power of 74 kW (100.6 hp) at 9,000 rpm and 81 Nm of torque at 8,000 rpm for the international version.
However, we wonder whether these values ​​will also apply to the European market. A 70 kW version seems much more logical to us, to comply with the A2 regulations, just like KTM did with the 790 DUKE and CFMoto itself with the 800 MT. The block also has 3 driving modes: Rain, Street and Sport.
What else we know now is that the 800 NK has a curb weight of 186 kilos, which is even a few kilos lighter than the Honda Hornet and also lighter than the 790 DUKE, which is quoted by KTM as a dry weight of 174 kilos and including all fluids and battery is over 190 kilos.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.