CF800-U8 Tracker 800 at the Quad Relay

CF800-U8 Tracker 800 at the Quad Relay

Vitaly Abramov

At the end of April, the multi-kilometer “Quad Relay Race” started, the route of which runs from the Black Sea coast to the northernmost point of the Kola Peninsula. This is not only the largest tourism event, but also a tough test for technology.

The first stage of the Quad Relay, which took place over the passes of the Caucasus Mountains, became a very indicative test drive of the CF800‑U8. To be honest, I have always disliked all-terrain vehicles with transverse seats for their obviously lower cross-country ability than an ATV, height restrictions when driving under fallen trees in the forest and width restrictions in narrow areas. The Side is significantly heavier than a quad for the simple reason that a team of travelers usually uses it as a truck for transporting general property, fuel, spare parts and other heavy items. However, despite all of the above, the CF800‑U8 Tracker proved to be an excellent “rogue”, almost never inferior to classic ATVs, and in some places even surpassing their capabilities. For example, in deep ruts left by logging equipment. High ground clearance and long-travel suspension give it a significant advantage in deep mud and, if necessary, jumping over fallen trees. The powerful 800 cc engine accelerates the Tracker very quickly from the start and allows you to “drift” without any feeling of power deficiency.

CF800-U8 Tracker 800 at the Quad Relay. Photo: Vitaly Abramov

The wheelbase of the CF800‑U8 is just right! Short enough to be maneuverable in dense forests and long enough to not tip over on steep climbs. By the way, we had to transport an enduro motorcycle that had retired from the pass from the pass, having significantly exceeded the permissible load on the trunk. The Tracker coped with the task heroically, making the team only slightly nervous on particularly steep climbs due to its critically high center of gravity.

Overcoming deep fords is a particular delight. According to the instructions - up to 65 cm! Even in mountain rivers with strong currents, a loaded Tracker behaves stably and confidently, and the high seating position allows you not to wet your pants in situations where you no longer understand whether it’s a quad or a hydrik underneath you.

CF800-U8 Tracker 800 at the Quad Relay. Photo: Vitaly Abramov

Fastening the windshield with Velcro fasteners turned out to be a very convenient solution. When moving fast, it perfectly protects from the oncoming air flow, and in conditions of limited visibility, when it is covered with mud, but at the same time you have to storm areas with difficult terrain and you need to clearly see what is directly under the wheels, the glass is easy to remove and move to the rear frame pipes.

I liked the CF800‑U8 Tracker not only for its vigor and maneuverability, but also for its versatile convenience - as an expeditionary vehicle. The spacious body allows you to transport personal equipment of two riders, and “general team” things - food and utensils, fuel and spare parts. The spacious drawer under the seat and the spacious glove compartment above the passenger's knees can be filled with those items that you don't mind getting dirty, but should always be at hand.

CF800-U8 Tracker 800 at the Quad Relay. Photo: Vitaly Abramov

The mountain test is perhaps the best test for any type of equipment. On the passes of the Caucasus there are all imaginable obstacles - deep ruts, sticky mud, steep slippery climbs and thick logs lying across the path. The road to the Grachevsky Pass did not cause any difficulties for the CF800‑U8 Tracker in any place, and we did not regret for a second that it was one of the all-terrain vehicles participating in the Quad-Relay.

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Last fall, my fourth season ended. He is the fourth only formally. I myself consider it the first full-fledged one, because it was in this season that I began to travel far beyond the borders of my small cozy town, finally received a driver’s license and from April to mid-October I drove 5 times more than in all three previous seasons. The reason for this was the purchase of a new motorcycle - CF Moto 650TK. Its “naked” brother, the NK model, gained some popularity even outside the Chinese circle and, in general, showed a very good level of reliability coupled with an acceptable cost, availability of spare parts and low cost of ownership. It would seem that this is an ideal set of qualities for people who count their money and are not fooled by show-offs.

Street “brother” - 650NK
Despite this, exactly the same motorcycle in a touring body kit has not gained much popularity in our market. The reason, in my opinion, is banal - the year sales began (2016) fell exactly at the height of the notorious economic crisis, and there were few people willing to shell out more than 350 thousand rubles for a “Chinese” car. What exactly made me join the suppressed minority and shell out 449 thousand rubles (sic!) for a motorcycle ex-showroom is a topic for a separate post, and I strongly urge readers not to waste time on comments explaining to me what a sick bastard I am and what these money I could buy almost new $brand_name $model_name. I will only say that I had my own subjective reasons and personal beliefs for this. Among the new motorcycles in the sports-tourist class, with the stated performance characteristics and level of equipment, the 650TK simply has no competitors. That’s why I wasn’t particularly overcome by the agony of choice - having received the financial opportunity to buy it at the salon, I did it without much hesitation. Its characteristics and how shamelessly its appearance is similar to the Honda ST1300 have been written about more than once, and I see no point in repeating someone else’s words. Instead, I offer you the most honest and objective review from a real owner, after 14 thousand kilometers.

On the day of purchase

Let's start in order - with the first impression of the purchase and a small disclaimer about what this motorcycle is made of. Since I bought it at the end of November 2022, I had four and a half painfully long months before the first ride, and I did not fail to use them wisely, disassembling the motorcycle’s body kit in order to equip it with various goodies ahead of time and personally check the quality of the pre-sale preparation. Impressions from the materials remained generally positive, despite the fact that in literally several places, the interface of the body kit with other elements conveyed greetings from heaven, gaping with half-centimeter gaps. Plus, a couple of tertiary threaded connections still reminded us of the origin of the motorcycle with their quality. However, all the important components are assembled neatly and with attention to small details that is atypical for stereotypical China.

Now it's naked

At this point in the story, I consider it necessary to dispel the persistent misconception that all Chinese motorcycles are entirely made in China. The CF Moto concern is a serious and world-famous manufacturer of motorcycle equipment, which understands that “reinventing the wheel” in areas where sufficient personal experience has not yet been accumulated inevitably affects the quality of the product. Therefore, looking at the recent flagship of their motorcycle line, we will see “brains” from Ducati, injector from Marelli, Austrian KYB suspension, ABS block and stock tires from Continental, J.Juan brakes. And yes, the Asians still assemble the engine themselves, but even that one is a licensed copy, although not an advanced one, but a proven unit from Kawasaki. The copy is so neat that you can put parts from the “ruff” into it without any problems. By the way, I found out who served as the “donor” for the Chinese by chance, after the acquisition, and, remembering that before the sharp increase in prices I had been dreaming of buying a new Kawasaki Versys 650 for many years, I was pleasantly pleased by this fact - yes, let it be It sounds funny or naive, but in the end, I, without knowing it, still got on the desired motorcycle, even if it had changed citizenship and class. Finally, with April, the long-awaited moment of the first trip and a tedious but necessary break-in, one and a half long, arrived. thousands of boring kilometers. Needless to say, after three seasons on a small thirteen-horsepower two hundred, 62 frisky Chinese horses caused nothing but delight, accelerating to a hundred in five seconds. Now, after the season has passed, I understand that this engine is an example of calm, linearity and predictability, but then...

After a carefully completed run-in by mid-May and zero maintenance from the officials, I was able to fully appreciate the dynamic characteristics of the motorcycle. There are no special revelations about the engine - again, watch any test drive of the Versis and you roughly know how its Chinese clone drives. It accelerates my 90 kilogram carcass without difficulty in any gear. Once I reach cruising speed on the highway, I can spend the entire trip in sixth, clicking down only at traffic lights or traffic jams. The 650 cc engine still feels the weight of the passenger, and with my beloved woman behind me, I sometimes switch to fifth before overtaking some heavy truck. With a permanent passenger

Well, I confess - a couple of times I “gave it” on an empty daytime highway, accelerating it to the required maximum speed of ~190 according to GPS purely for experimental purposes. Just “shhhhh”, in fact I’m a very careful and calm driver. This whole Chinese herd needs to say “Shhhhhh!” in time. A responsive and fairly powerful front brake allows you to quickly and effectively stop in “emergency” situations with a slight movement of your finger, and a moderately soft rear brake helps control traction on serpentines and in traffic jams, and brake as smoothly and without pecks as possible before coming to a complete stop. The only thing (technically “advanced”) that I had a chance to compare with is the BMW R1150RT, whose combined brakes, although more “uncompromising”, but at the same time, the rear brake, in principle, did not allow me to maneuver at low speeds, because it instantly “dug in” » motorcycle, which the owner also complained about. Perhaps this was a feature of a particular instance, but I liked the braking force control on my motorcycle more. There is not much to say about ABS, except that it is there, it works and does its job perfectly. I managed to activate the system on the front wheel only a few times on sandy ground, and then only by deliberately braking “to the floor” in order to make sure that it was working at all. About ergonomics and comfort. The landing is almost touristic, but with a straight back, the arms remain almost straight. And although in visual comparison the posture on the same R1150RT looks more relaxed, on my motorcycle I don’t stretch or lean on the handlebars, I don’t want to straighten my back, and my hands never went numb. In general, the position seems natural and familiar to me, and on long roads only the butt asks for mercy, steadily numbing every ~1.5 hours spent in a street-style hard saddle. Another thing is the position of the legs. With my height of ~180 centimeters and a disproportionately short torso, my legs on the footrests are still bent somewhat more strongly than I would like. And my arthritic knees regularly remind me of this, as if to say: “Dude, either you treat us, or in a couple of years you buy yourself a cruiser.”

At a glance about landing

Suspension: although it has no settings other than the preload on the rear shock absorber, it is, in my humble opinion, very well tuned from the factory, handles typical road irregularities without any complaints and generally has a pleasant balance between softness and controllability, which was noted not only by me , but also my comrades. And speaking of handling. The steering of this vehicle is what delighted me from the first trips and continues to delight me to this day. Excellent weight distribution, no steering or heaving, the motorcycle goes where you want and how you want without the slightest effort. I can put it up to the step at speed and effortlessly go through serpentines, I can weave in a traffic jam at a speed of ~1-2 km/h without moving my legs, and I can easily turn around on a one-lane road. In general, of all the heavy (>200 kg) motorcycles that I have ever driven, only this one did not force me to get used to the controls. This is a definite 5 points. Up to this point, almost everything said could be applied to the NK version of the motorcycle. But what amenities does a tourist body kit offer the owner? Firstly, of course, wind protection. I admit, I cannot share comparative impressions about the 650TK classmates, but from personal feelings and experience, the wind and mud protection on it is not very bad. It happened more than once to drive along a two-lane road after rain, abundantly irrigated by fine streams from under oncoming trucks: the motorcycle was covered with a uniform layer of mud to the very top, but I was for the most part dry, clean and happy. Light drizzle at speeds above ~60-80 km/h can also be ignored. Even the aerodynamic “ears” of the turn signals do a good job of diverting the oncoming flow away from the wrists. This can be clearly felt only by lifting your hand from the grip and lifting it a few centimeters. But I won’t deny that the windshield would have been higher. I partially solved this problem by installing a spoiler, which I ordered in the motorcycle’s homeland back in the winter (in fact, I never rode without it). But even with it, at speeds over 100 km/h, air hits the upper part of the visor, causing discomfort with a terribly annoying roar in the ears. It is possible that the problem lies in the design of my helmet, since it is almost completely eliminated by replacing the visor with cross-country glasses. And yet, for the insufficiently high and non-adjustable windshield - a four.

To place your belongings, the motorcycle offers two quite roomy, and also waterproof 30-liter cases (although water still began to seep into one of them when washing with high pressure - you need to glue the seal). With a decent capacity and carrying capacity, the Chumadans, alas, are embarrassed - the inscription “3 kg max.” is emblazoned on the end. Of course, I don’t carry weights in them, but sometimes when I return from the store with groceries, no, no, I exceed the norm. Until they fell off. The panniers, unfortunately, are not quickly removable, so in the off-season I will take the trouble of ordering inner bags. Small things can be folded into two waterproof and also quite roomy “glove compartments” on the sides of the dashboard. One of them is locked with a key, and in it, back in the winter, I immediately built in a USB socket with a voltmeter, which I connected from the standard cigarette lighter (yes, there is one too). The controls do not stand out in any way, everything is like a typical Japanese one, with the exception, just, of the presence of a headlight/low beam switch. The grips are made of soft, pleasant-to-touch rubber, the levers are adjustable. The mirrors located in the turn signal housing are located below the level of the steering wheel, while providing excellent visibility on both sides. The panniers come into view just a little from the edges, which allows for better control of the situation when maneuvering in narrow places or when reversing. For lovers of classic mirrors, there are brackets covered with rubber plugs into which, if desired, you can screw in accessory holders. The dashboard gives me mixed feelings. On the one hand, with its appearance it sends us greetings from the 2000s - the huge analog speedometer with tachometer and “conventional” indicators do not shine with graceful lines. On the other hand, indicators perform their function flawlessly. They are so huge and bright that they can only be eclipsed by the flash of a nuclear explosion. It depends on you, but personally, I don’t like tiny light bulbs gathered in one pile in the area of ​​a matchbox, so for me this is a definite plus. The small LCD display conveniently houses the odometer/tripmeter, for once an accurate fuel level indicator, an engine temperature indicator and a clock. In general, a standard minimum set. In the evening, the dashboard emits an unobtrusive white moonlight. However, the biggest minus I give is the lack of a gear engaged indicator. Heck, even my Stels Flame 200 had it, and I refuse to accept any arguments about its absence on the 2016 motorcycle! As a result, the tidy, alas, is a C grade, both in visual design and functionality. Well, the last point of review is the light. The headlights are traditional halogen lamps, one for low beam and the other for high beam. They don’t grab the stars from the sky, they just shine and allow you to move moderately comfortably in the dark. All other light is LED, bright and noticeable. Huge front turn signals and a massive rear light are clearly visible both at night and during the day. There are even daytime running lights. It's a small thing, but nice. Finally, about operation and ownership. As expected, the new motorcycle, having been carefully run in, did not cause any particular trouble. A couple of times I applied under warranty with ordinary sores. The first time was with a faulty throttle position sensor: the officials didn’t bother with it, but simply changed the entire throttle assembly for me, saying that by order from above, for some time now they, regardless of the problem, are changing the entire assembly. The second time was completely nonsense: the “frogs” of the brake light were stuck with dirt. I decided to enjoy the warranty period to the fullest and at the next maintenance I asked to have the problem fixed. According to tradition, instead of cleaning, faulty devices were simply replaced. Well, and, among the annoying misunderstandings, the rear part of the muffler, which had a more decorative than functional meaning, was inadvertently lost somewhere on the way to St. Petersburg. I no longer know whether the loss was a consequence of my intervention or an oversight on the assembly line; I only heard from fellow TsF motorists that I am not the only lucky one. The last thing that significantly annoyed me during operation was the drive chain, which I killed with my own careless attitude towards timely maintenance. In view of the absence of a central step and undercarriage, I lubricated and cleaned it somehow and for the last 2-3 months of the season I “enjoyed” the increasing crackling and crunching, loudly notifying those around me of my presence. In the coming season, I don’t intend to repeat my mistakes, but I’m already thinking about a cardan drive. Quite a few small things: clips on the panniers snapping off on bumps and here and there “crickets” and creaks appearing in the area of ​​the tidy (which, as far as I know, suffers from many “plastic” motorcycles to one degree or another). The motorcycle was tested on a number of mini-long trips in the surrounding vast regions, the most extensive of which was a trip to Karelia, on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, with a mileage of about a thousand kilometers over the weekend. There were trips on it in the heat, and in the cold, and in hellish downpours, and wandering along creepy night roads in the middle of unfamiliar forests with a dead navigator, and even evacuation to a special parking lot, when, after driving 160 km, I was stopped by a brave motorized battalion 200 meters away. to the destination :)) “Ushasty” was never capricious and never let us down on a long journey. And I, in turn, getting ready for another weekend getaway 300-400 km from home, never doubted that this proud white Chinese would take us to our destination without any worries. In general, over the 14 thousand kilometers traveled, I never once had the thought of a lack of dynamics or the desire to switch to a “liter”. My driving style and scrupulous attitude towards traffic rules practically exclude situations in which I would want a more powerful moped. More comfortable - undoubtedly, someday. But I simply don’t see the point in increasing power. I intend to ride it for the next 3-4 seasons, unless my plans are dramatically changed by any external circumstances. For the coming summer, my beloved woman and I are planning our first trip to Europe (and the first trip abroad in general in my 30 years), as well as, if possible, a number of larger long-distance trips across the country. For these events, it is planned to modernize the touring properties of the motorcycle: installing gel and heating in the seat, installing heated handles; possibly a rear case, additional light, gear indicator; as well as minor decorative modifications.

Epilogue. I understand that it is difficult to hear an absolutely unbiased and objective opinion from the owner of any item. After reading this ode of praise, you might think that all I wanted to do was justify my choice to someone. And I’ll probably surprise you even more if the question “Do I recommend buying this motorcycle?” I will firmly answer “No.” And yet, let me be a little more detailed. To answer the question posed, answer yourself a few statements: • You don’t care about the show-off and nameplate of a famous brand on your motorcycle • You don’t have the time/money/desire to carefully select a motorcycle “from hand” • A crystal-clear history of motorcycle ownership is important to you • An official guarantee is important to you • You don’t like to repair/maintain your equipment yourself and don’t want to figure it out • You live in a city where it is difficult (or even impossible) to find a good motorcycle service • You are not going to sell this motorcycle in the next 3- 4 years If you, like me, are one of those very few, in my opinion, people who can answer positively to all the points on the list - this motorcycle is for you. If you answered “No” to at least one point (except for the warranty), then, without a doubt, any used motorcycle for 450 thousand will be the best choice for you. Of course, whether my personal choice was successful will only be shown by mileage exceeding at least 50 thousand. The CF Moto 650TK is not a dream come true, not a dream bike, not the pinnacle of technical progress or design, and certainly not the world's best sports tourer. But it's just a good bike that, in my opinion, is worth the money.

PS Unfortunately, according to dealers, since the year before last the Russian distributor CF Moto has practically stopped supplying motorcycles to our market. Those copies of the 650TK that can still be found for sale are, apparently, remnants from the first and, it seems, only batch imported in 2016. And this is all the sadder because the concern from the Middle Kingdom regularly modernizes and replenishes its motorcycle line with new, very attractive devices. So, the object of today’s article was replaced by the bomb-looking 2019 model 650GT, and touring-enduro lovers could be pleased with the “Versys smoker” - 650MT. Whether we will ever see these and other new products on our market is a big question. At least the good news is that CF Moto all-terrain vehicles are in constant demand, which means the dealer network lives and will continue to live, providing motorcycle owners with spare parts for their most popular engine.