CFMoto CL-X 700 Heritage to kick start European push in June

CFMoto has confirmed the first of its all-new trio of middleweight motorcycles - the CL-X 700 - will Italian showrooms in June as part of a dedicated effort to relaunch the Chinese marque on European shores.

CFMoto has been threatening to make a big push into European markets for some time and while UK audiences may be familiar with some the models it currently offers - such as the 300NK, 650GT and 650NK - it is the all-new CL-X 700 that will spearhead a bid to be considered a more serious player against established brands.

Of course, Chinese manufacturers aren’t foreign to these pages and while there have been numerous examples of motorcycles not being terribly fit for purpose - or just blatant copies of other motorcycles, for instance this- there is evidence that some of the bigger names, such as Voge and QJ/Benelli, have European markets firmly in their sights.

Of these, CFMoto is perhaps the best-known of the Chinese flagged motorcycle brands, if we ignore the likes of Lexmoto who specialise in low displacement and scooters, through its close association with KTM, with whom it will be sharing the running gear for many of its upcoming models. 

Which is where the 700 CL-X comes in. Launched at EICMA in 2019, the new midweight platform was revealed in three guises; Heritage (Retro), Sport and Adventure, with each boasting a distinct style that needs no explaining. 

What is the CFMoto CL-X 700 and when can you buy one?

Interestingly, though it has been some time since it was revealed in pseudo-production ready form all those months ago, it seems CFMoto has been waiting until the right time to launch it in Europe at the same time as it has in Asia, unlike previous models which get fed to us further down the line. 

This demonstrates the CL-X 700 has been developed from the start to hit the ground running in Europe, rather than be adapted latterly and it is an approach that is likely to set the tone for a number of upcoming models from Far East that replicates what Japanese firms Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki did decades before.

It seems Italy will be the first to get a taste of the new trio with a distributor having been sought for a mid-June launch date. Only prices for the Heritage have been revealed, placing it at €6,400 (around £5,500) which compares very favourably with a Yamaha XSR 700 (£7,702) and Honda CB650R (£7,299).

The Adventure and Sport [pictured above in concept form] variants of the CL-X 700 are set to arrive in 2022, together with the recently revealed 800MT adventure bike that is based on the KTM 790 Adventure.

There is no firm word yet on when the CL-X 700 will land in the UK but with CFMoto’s European push ramping up with this Italian announcement, it’s bound to be before the end of the year.