Just over a year ago, we had the first contact with CFMOTO’s project to create a production version of their 2017 V.02 NK prototype, which is a streetfighter equipped with a KTM engine and two V-cylinders to compete with models like the Super Duke.
The V.02 NK was a fantasy with futuristic style and engineering, including a radiator under the seat. The exhibition version, presented in the company’s patent documents, will adopt similar style themes, but a more conventional mechanics, with a conventionally positioned radiator. Both the prototype and the future production model share a twin-cylinder engine derived from KTM. It is likely to be the same 1,279cc engine used in CFMOTO’s 1250TR-G tourer in the Chinese market, an engine that is loosely based on KTM’s LC8, but with different capacity and design details. In the TR-G, the CFMOTO engine delivers 140 hp.
The latest documents show the same machine we saw in CFMOTO’s patent in early 2023, but the illustrations now include more detailed drawings of various main components, including the frame and parts of the fairing. All the images feature a level of detail that points to a machine that is close to production.
The frame has a steel trellis design, similar to the layout that CFMOTO uses in several of its current models, and although there are external covers on the complete bike that give the impression of an aluminum section on the swingarm pivot, the reality is that they are purely cosmetic. The steel tubes go all the way to the swingarm. At the back, there is a bolted subframe, again made of steel, but with a separate cast aluminum structure at the rear, under the passenger seat section.
Any doubts about the position of the radiator are firmly answered by the latest patent, which shows detailed drawings of a curved radiator, mounted in the front, with two cooling fans mounted at the bottom, which direct the hot air out through ventilated side panels. The radiator under the seat of the 2017 concept is not clearly being produced. However, the swinging arm of a face, which was a feature of that bike, remains in the latest design, although its visual impact is mitigated by a large exhaust muffler on the right side. The illustrations of the new patent show details of the rear wheel, including a chain adjuster that includes the support for the motorcycle’s rear Brembo brake caliper.
The latest patents also provide a detailed view of the fairing that was designed to enclose the fuel tank and air box, composed of six distinct pieces and with air outlet openings on both sides.
With an NK range that already includes 300cc, 450cc, 650cc, and 800cc models, and a 125cc version that is expected to be launched soon, after being presented with the 125NK concept at last year’s EICMA fair, the next logical step for CFMOTO is to launch a high-end, large-capacity model, as seen here. If the company follows its usual path, a full engine version could follow, joining the growing categories of high-displacement sport motorcycles manufactured in China that have emerged in recent months.
