2025-on CF Moto 675SR-R review: CF Moto SR-R delivers full-blooded supersport thrills for just £6699

Its riding position is classic supersport with a low reach to the ‘bars and high pegs, but it isn’t too extreme and there’s decent room for taller riders to move around, thanks to those wide-clip-ons. The seat height is 810mm, but taller (830mm) and lower (795mm) seats are also available as accessories.

Developed in CF Moto’s R&D centres in Italy and America, as well as China, the SR-R’s most impressive trait is the confidence it plies you with in corners. Before our test CF Moto twiddled with the suspension adjusters for the track, with more preload, rebound and compression damping and dropped the tyre pressures.

With this racier set-up it doesn’t take long to get comfortable and feel how composed, stable and sure-footed the 175kg (dry) 675 SR-R is around this wild, undulating circuit. It has the feeling of a small, agile supersport weapon with light, accurate steering and a supportive front end that oozes feel as you trail-brake into corners. The footpegs’ hero blobs touch the tarmac too easily at every turn, but CF Moto says they’re there to stop the exhaust scraping…. which would be a bigger issue with even stickier tyres.

Its non-lean sensitive ABS is too intrusive for track use. Unlike the traction control, it can’t be switched off, but we asked CF Moto to disconnect the system to get a proper feel for the brake set-up. Without ABS, the braking performance matches the rest of the chassis with an impressive amount of power, feel and consistency.

Even when you’re pushing hard, there’s never a sense the CF Moto will get out of shape or suddenly lose grip, which leaves you to enjoy the ride. I’ve only ever wrestled Portimao on a superbike or splashed around in the wet before and never clicked with it, but the 675 SR-R has made me love it.

Gliding around lap-by-lap, session-by-session with the time to perfect lines, nibble away at brake markers and get on the throttle ever sooner, has never been so easy, or fun. The more you ride the CF Moto, the more you realise how well sorted and balanced it is and even with the tyres looking like they’d been in a fight with a cheese grater after my sessions (but still offering loads of grip), I could’ve razzed around all day.

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With stickier tyres and more ground clearance, you’d really be able to ride the wheels off the SR-R, especially at smaller UK tracks like Cadwell, Mallory and Brands. Like Portimao, it would make a technical circuit like Oulton, a joy to ride.

CF Moto’s 675 SR-R may not quite be able to match the speed or grace of a Triumph Daytona 675 around a track, but it’s a fair chunk more fluid, fun and easier to ride than MV Agusta’s old F3 675. Who’d have thought we’d have ever said that about a Chinese-made supersport bike?

Euro 5+ versions make 88bhp, which will equate to just over 80bhp at the back wheel. That may not sound like much in a world where an adventure bike can make more than double, but it’s enough to make you fizz, even on a wide-open MotoGP track.

OK, it’s always nice to have more (and non-Euro 5+ versions make 93bhp), but the triple spins up quickly, there’s plenty of grunt and enough power to get you smiling when you stretch the throttle cable (there’s no ride-by-wire). And because there isn’t an excess of bhps, it’s easy to use them all and bask in the angry rasp of the engine at full song.

With modest power and surprisingly capable CST tyres that have lots of consistent grip, even during half-hour-long sessions, the traction control is never troubled. The only complaint from the engine is its rev-limiter that cuts the power so abruptly, it almost sends you through the screen. You quickly get used it, though and realise you can change gear way before the 11,000rpm redline and use the three-cylinder’s grunt.

TECH SPOTLIGHT - CF Moto’s first ever triple!

This is CF Moto’s first three-cylinder engine and it fits neatly in a sportsbike line-up that includes the single-cylinder 250 and 300 SR, parallel twin 450 SR, and a funky inline four-cylinder 500 called the Voom, which we don’t get here, but looks like an MV Agusta Superveloce. They also unveiled a 1000cc V4 superbike engine at last year’s EICMA international motorcycle show, but no details as to what it’ll go in have been announced yet.

The SR-R’s 675cc inline triple which also powers the naked 675 NK version makes 87bhp@11,000rpm and 50lb-ft@8250rpm in Euro5+ trim. Non-Euro versions that don’t need to adhere to such tight emission control have juicier engine mapping and make slightly more power and torque (93bhp and 52lb-ft).

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CF Moto claim a 137mph top speed and 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds. Rider aids come in the form of ABS and two-stage (plus ‘off’) traction control. A quickshifter is available as an accessory. It's hard not to draw comparisons with the two other great three-cylinder sportsbikes of recent times: MV Agusta’s F3 675 (now the F3 800) and the Triumph Daytona 675 (evolved into the 765 Street Triple and the Moto2 control engine).

With its 72mm x 55mm bore and stroke, the CF Moto is less ‘square’ than the revvier Triumph (76mm x 49.6mm) and the even revvier MV (79mm x 45.9mm). It makes less power than both, but more torque than the MV. The triple is mounted in a tubular steel frame with an aluminium ‘banana’ style swingarm.

How the CF Moto will stand the test of time is an unknown, but out of the crate the paintwork is nicely finished (it comes in grey, black, white) and parts like the switchgear don’t feel loose or plasticky. There’s nothing about the CF Moto that feels cheap, or indeed Chinese. It’s no secret that some Chinese-built machines bikes we’ve tested have been unrefined, heavy, poorly finished and agricultural, but the 675 SR-R has the feel of a premium sportsbike.

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Experienced riders might want more performance from their supersport steed, which is fine, but you’ll have to pay a lot more for the privilege. Honda’s CBR600RR costs £10,529, the Kawasaki ZX-6R, £10,599 and the new Yamaha R9 is £12,250. More expensive still is Ducati’s £14,995 base-spec Panigale V2 and the entry-level £16,900 MV Agusta F3 R. They’re all more powerful, quicker in a straight line and will no doubt lap faster than the CF Moto. Does that mean they’re more fun? Probably not. The 675 SR-R will also be an idea stepping stone for newer riders moving up from their A2 licences.

It’s hard not to compare this funky looking 675cc triple with a Daytona 675 or F3 675 and the way it looks has a heavy dose of MV about it. Its stitched seat, top yoke and the splayed angle of its clip-ons are all familiar and the 15-litre fuel tank has hints of Husqvarna Svart/Vitpilen about it. The low screen screams noughties supersport and just as hard to tuck under, but a taller racing screen is available as an accessory.

It’s a cacophony of designed, too, from its from its wings to its front brake ducts, banana swingarm, underslung exhaust, rear hugger, Moto2-style front mudguard and a vented tail section that tips a hat to the R1 or Panigale. Front LED lights strobe when you turn them on and the rear light cluster looks like the old Foggy FP1 road bike. Usually, the preserve of superbikes and MotoGP missile, the SR-R also has brake scoops, which are more for show, but they look the part… and every bit helps on track.

The 5in colour dash (with in-built type A and C USB chargers) is as classy as anything from a premium European brand and features a lap timer and tyre pressure monitors. As well as being able to choose the traction control levels (including ‘off’) within the dash functions, it can also be set with a single button on the left switchgear.

Chassis goodies includes J.Juan four-piston radial monobloc calipers and fully adjustable KYB suspension. Trick-looking cast ali wheels are shod with dual compound CST 3SN rubber, which we’ve never ridden on before, but as we discover on track, they perform better than a lot of established manufacturers’ OE rubber. There are a plethora of accessories available, too, including, crash protections, lever guards, heated grips, racing brake and clutch levers, a billet aluminium top yoke, racing clip-ons and fuel cap, rearsets and a tail tidy.

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You could never accuse CF Moto’s designers of being conservative. The SR-R’s sculpted bodywork is a riot of race-inspired slots, scoops, strakes and aero. If it had a BMW logo on the tank, you wouldn’t think twice.