675NK CFMOTO: Danny Kushmaro rides the bad boy of the block

I thought to myself, this is exaggerated.

Over two hundred kilometers on the long roads of the Arava, climbing the rough Scorpions’ Ascent road, crazy laps on the track, and to top it off, enjoying the legendary Sodom-Arad road—and all this on a medium-sized naked Chinese motorcycle, edgy, with no wind protection—it had to be exaggerated.

But it isn’t.

Because at the end of the ride, when I reached the final point with more vapors than fuel in the tank, I wanted more. It’s already become a kind of cliché, but it’s true this time as well because, well, CFMOTO did it again.

Without involving parents or European siblings—as in previous collaborations with KTM—this time CF did everything alone. Maybe except for the design by Kiska, the workshop known for providing services to KTM and delivering here a machine that looks modern and aggressive, with a mix of colors and angles, a short, powerful exhaust, an aluminum frame (a pity it isn’t in a more striking color), and a strong, double-sided aluminum alloy swingarm.

There are also hints of a raging bull—in the somewhat aggressive headlight that gives unique lighting or in the rear indicator design in a single piece, which looks like the horns of an angry stag. There’s also a deliberate design choice to highlight the triple engine, the first time CF develops and manufactures such an engine completely on its own—liquid-cooled, 675 cc, 90 hp, and almost 7 kg·m torque, among the highest figures in the category.

Some motorcycles captivate you already when you sit on them, from the feeling of lightness when standing and tilting the bike between your legs while it’s still cold, and this intensifies when you start it. The sound is a nice, noticeable subwoofer-like bass, but not the kind that annoys neighbors on an early Saturday morning mountain ride; rather, it feels like it’s tuned specifically for the ears inside the helmet.

Taking off makes it clear that this joy continues while riding. This engine is particularly happy, capable of exploiting the best of both worlds between two and four cylinders. It has the playful torque of a twin, and like four-cylinder engines, it loves to climb and lives well in the thin air above 7,000 rpm.

It feels small in height and weight, with an upright riding position, everything falls naturally to your hands, giving confidence even to shorter riders. It’s excellent for city weaving, and surprisingly, the lack of wind protection works very well even at, let’s say, very high speeds.

The brakes are by J.Juan, a Brembo subsidiary; there’s an excellent upshift quickshifter, a 5-inch rounded TFT display, the CFMOTO RIDE app, charging ports, Bosch ABS, two-level switchable traction control, tire pressure sensors, cable throttle (not fly-by-wire). As is common in this category, the rear seat is small, likely uncomfortable for a passenger on a long ride.

Later, we also went to the toughest place for any vehicle: The racetrack, with aggressive braking and repeated hard accelerations. The dusty Arad track tried to challenge the bike (and us), and even there the CF simply danced from corner to corner. Despite the pressure conditions for modest motorcycles, the brakes didn’t give up and performed excellently throughout.

We did notice a very minor issue: Opening the throttle at low speeds can feel a bit jumpy. On the other hand, it is very friendly there too, flows with your whims, and I stayed there for a long hour—it’s simply fun to do sport with it.

CFMOTO, which launched three new models earlier this year, especially the small 450 MT Adventure, is now trying to enter the growing mid-sized naked segment, which accounts for 22% of the motorcycle market, where the Suzuki GSX-8S, Yamaha MT-07, Kawasaki Z650, Honda Hornet 750, and especially Triumph triples like the Trident 660 compete.

Against all these, the 675NK presents a very complete, smooth, and high-quality machine that suits riders moving up a step, but also experienced riders seeking great value for money. The NK is, if you will, a kind of bad boy of the block. It has something refreshing and young; it’s simply an excellent sport bike and, most importantly, it’s not shy about being Chinese—in fact, it’s proud of it.

It has a 6-inch toughened screen, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, independent SIM connection, and an SOS system for real-time safety alerts, including “dead zones.”

It features a reinforced aluminum alloy structure with shock absorption, an anti-theft bracket mounted directly on the motorcycle during installation, and high water resistance in extreme temperatures. It also has an automatic SOS feature in case of accident or fall, tire pressure monitoring (TPMS), and a Parking Monitoring Mode that alerts to bike movement and allows live tracking via smartphone.

Today, it’s hard to imagine driving a car without Waze or a music app; now you can do the same on a motorcycle. Price: NIS 3,000–3,500.