FANTIC CABALLERO 500 SCRAMBLER (2019 - on) Review

Progressive, long travel suspension and a firm seat, allowing you to move around, delivered remarkable comfort during 3x7 hour days and all sorts of roads en route to Italy. I did not miss the bmw with its comfort seat. It's a bit, tip-toe tall for me at 5ft7, but light weight means that one 70 year old leg will do when off balance eg stopping on a cambered hill - risky with the bmw. And changes of direction are easy, without sacrificing motorway stability. Front brake plenty one up and effective 2 way damping manages dive. Rear a bit spongey but ok. At its best on French country roads, cruising around 60 and takes bad surfaces in its stride.

Its wide, sweet spot is from 3-6000rpm when the torque delivers instant, progressive, acceleration in 4th and 5th. Not quite up to my BMW 800cc, but close enough not to miss it much . Below, in town, it's a bit lumpy, needing the right gear, and the fan is on a lot. Above and the vibes become noticeable, without delivering much extra kick. Cruised all day at 70mph on Italian motorways without strain and plenty in hand for overtaking, even in 6th. It sounds right too.

Everything looks solid and well put together, though the switchgear feels fragile and the cabling is a bit messy. No failures in my rather demanding first 3000km, though returning in London traffic from pick up the engine cut out a few times at low revs. Rectified with a remap by Spark motors of Shoreham, who know their bikes. Time will tell.

A pampered 9 month old/700mile bike for £1000 less than new, convinced me as good value. Serviced just before. Oil consumption in 3000km within limits. Changes (only 1 litre) at every 5000km service along with valve clearance, which is diy capable. A bit of chain slack so far.

You are paying for capable, quality basics - suspension, engine/exhaust, brakes, chrome moly frame and lots of machined alloy - rather than the kit. That's why strangers love the look of it! The rest is uncomplicated and works, though I would have preferred a bigger speedo with a proper rev counter, a gear indicator, and robust switches. The headlamp is excellent. I immediately ditched the Michelin knobblies for more road friendly Metzelers, but still up to the white roading I do. If you plan to cruise, add a small but efficient screen, like my MRS Vario Touring, to make motorways tolerable, a luggage rack and crash bars, to protect the exposed rad.

The Caballero 500 anniversary scrambler is a great back road motorcycle .light weight and and agile but would not recommend long journeys on A roads and definitely not a motorway bike.

Old style simple.

The build quality is ok for the price but definitely not premium.a lot of plastic and wiring not the best.the battery failed after 8 months and i replaced it with a superior one.no corrosion but i keep it in a carpeted garage which is attached to my house.

The running cost is ok 60 mpg on average.

The Yamaha mt 07 engine is fantastic,it’s more than enough power to have fun on uk roads.

Bike being made in Italy the finish is excellent,it’s a Yamaha engine so should be good.

Havent had a service yet so can’t say,first service will be free from the dealer.

The bike is very well equipped,has cornering abs + traction control,lacking a usb port,i use quad lock so will just add there charger.

Nice riding position easy to ride good for fun not good for town (gear ratio to high for town) I could ride it till it needs fuel 150 ish miles

Great for its size

As above. It's been reliable no problems the wiring could be better when used in the wet main beam light comes on all the time

Not had a service yet will probably do it myself. It is very economical on petrol giving over 80mpg overall

Not the best equipped bike but has what it needs

Why don’t all bikes come with such good suspension ? It’s not as if it’s all singing multi adjustable, it just works. I’ve even managed a pillion for a few miles.Brakes have bedded in and work well. The back makes short work of fast downhill turns at speed. The front has just enough that I know longer think about it.

Perfect. Please Fantic don’t spoil this with whatever the new engine is. I had thought it a bit lumpy and surging at slower speeds. I discovered that I’ve been holding too lower gear, it can do most things in 5th despite it being a single. I’ve learned that it will blast past most things on back roads, but it’s not an A road bike.

A year in and it’s faultless.

There’s really not much to service. I’m getting it dealer serviced purely for the warranty, it is simple to work on for a home mechanic.

It’s the lack of equipment that endears it. Just jump on and ride the thing. No faffing with modes and suspension settings. The ABS can be disabled at a touch of a button. The only thing it lacks is a temp gauge and gear indicator. Tyres are excellent, I’m right on the edges, very confidence inspiring.

It’s a backroads bike, a farm bike. Handling is push bike light. Suspension copes well with everything within its envelope. Start pushing bumpy B roads at 80 + and it begins to feel less composed but never ragged. Back brake is powerful, front isn’t startling but adequate. I’ve done 2 hrs on it and it does give a few aches in the backside and legs. I’ve taken my wife on the back, but you really wouldn’t want to venture far. It likes to go light off roading and is confidence inspiring.

Strong for its size. Very eager and will rev hard but if you do the penalty is high frequency vibes. It can be jerky at low speeds and begs to be ridden faster. At cruising speeds it’s fairly smooth. It doesn’t make a great town bike.

No issues with mine at a 1K miles on the click. Apparently the oil sight glass was leaking according to my dealer on the first service. He replaced the entire casing no hassle and it was ready in a couple of days. I was warned by my dealer that the finish is prone to winter salt - isn’t an issue for me as I don’t ride in winter. A lot of his customers do however use their bikes all year around and they take the abuse but don’t look very pretty.

Pretty cheap to run. If you do your own servicing it takes less than 2 litres of oil and filters are £10. Everything is easy to get at. The air filter is in the side panel. You can pull the fuel filter and disconnect the hoses without taking the tank off. There’s only one spark plug and its right out in the open. You could probably do the valves without removing the tank if you were lazy. Oil filler is in a silly place, but you don’t need to use it.

Nothing outstanding, but it looks great. Standard tyres are fantastic. I’d get the little tank bag as it is perfect for phone, glasses, keys and wallet. If you want to take it off road-where it will happily spend its time, then the rad guard, bash plate are good insurance. Finally, there is a little gap at the tail end just beyond the mudguard which allows muck to cover your back/seat, there’s an expensive carbon fibre option, or you can just cut a piece of flexible plastic ant ty wrap it into place.

excellent brakes and suspension

smooth and predicable

Quality seem good, no issues

Great tyres suspension and exhaust are lovely

A very easy and confidence inspiring bike to ride. 43 hp should not be this much fun on local A and B roads. I have only ridden to the maximum period of an hour so far and it has felt comfortable at this.

Feels lively and is capable of covering ground very very quickly. Friends on 1000cc superbikes initially laughed seeing me turn up for a Sunday blast on the 'scab' but were soon to be shocked by it's pace as well as cornering abilities once it gets going.

As above. Many early bikes required revisions at first service after running hot and with hesitant fuelling. My TPS (throttle position sensor) also had to be adjusted but I have known no others requiring this. On delivery I covered all exposed fasteners with XCP rust blocker, something I do on all of my machines and I can see no corrosion anywhere whatsoever.

I was really unlucky as my supplying dealer (an MV dealer) had ceased trading by the time first service was due and so I had to journey 40 miles to next nearest. The early bike warranty work (TPS, revised tappets and map) which I thought would have been F O C but I felt that labour charges for the service were inflated in order to offset this as I paid double what most others in the owners club had paid. It has to be noted that Fantic UK have no control over what dealers charge for their labour. (This was my answer after I queried it with them).

Tyre choice 10/10. Not a bike intended to be lavishly equipped. The tank range is low and fuel gauge could be more accurate. I have rerouted my exhausted header to be neater (just my personal choice) and have fitted ex military canvas camo panniers using a simple rail to secure the n/s safely away from the rear wheel. I have sometimes carried extra fuel in these whilst assessing tank range.