CFMoto 675SR-R Coming Soon

[Hugh Janus]

CFMoto Aspar riders Izan Guevara and David Alonso ride in the 675SR-R’s teaser video. (CFMoto/)

We’re approaching the first anniversary of CFMoto’s initial announcement that it was developing a three-cylinder 675cc sportbike with the public display of a disguised prototype last September. However, a new teaser video has been released that suggests the wait for the production version is nearly over.

Simply titled “Coming Soon” with the hashtag #RacingTriple, the 18-second teaser comprises the usual cliches of such videos. Darkened room? Check. Flickering lights illuminating close-up glimpses of the bike? Check. Dramatic music? Check. But it then cuts to a racetrack—it looks like Valencia in Spain—with two clear, undisguised examples of the bike in action. The riders appear to be Izan Guevara, competing for the CFMoto Aspar team in Moto2 this year, and current Moto3 championship leader David Alonso, also a CFMoto Aspar rider.

CFMoto’s 675SR-R looks production ready. (CFMoto/)

While the other intriguing CFMoto sportbike being launched this year, the four-cylinder 500SR Voom, is still officially only destined for the domestic Chinese market, the larger 675cc triple is intended to be a global model. CFMoto showed its engine at last year’s EICMA expo in Milan, and throughout the project it’s been clear that the company is courting an international audience.

What new details can we glean from the teaser video? The first is the name. The bike wears “675SR-R” badges, matching the name given to a race-spec, one-off variant that was gifted to the Aspar team earlier this year. For previous sportbikes, CFMoto has tended to make a standard “SR” version and a higher-spec “SR-R” model follows, but it appears the new triple will be launched in full SR-R spec. For the US market, the SR title on smaller CFMoto sportbikes is replaced with the letters “SS” so over here the bike might be called the 675SS or 675SS-R.

The 675SR-R has unique check mark–shaped headlights. (CFMoto/)

We already got a good preview of the street-legal version of the 675 triple last month when the bike was type-approved for sale in China, with documents including a good photograph of the production-spec model, so the styling comes as no surprise. The front end is dominated by check mark–shaped LED running lights, with the main headlights underneath, flanking a central air intake. While the race-spec SR-R gifted to Aspar earlier this year had oversized winglets, the street version has a more subtle look. There are still aero components on the fairing sides, but they’re more like the panels of the 2022 to ‘23 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, with their main elements running parallel to the fairing sides, so it looks like they’re intended to control the airflow rather than to create large levels of downforce.

Although clearly a sportbike, the 675SR-R isn’t at the extreme end of that market. The bars appear to be high and wide enough to be comfortable, and while there’s a pillion seat cowl to give a race-style look, it can be replaced with a seat, as seen in the type-approval image last month. Passenger footpegs are visible on the bike used for the indoor shots of CFMoto’s video, too, along with mirrors—missing from the bikes in action on the track—that incorporate the front turn signals.

The video shows the 675SR-R on the racetrack, at what we believe is Valencia in Spain, though the track markings have been colorized. (CFMoto/)

We know from last month’s type approval that the 675SR-R has a 55.1-inch wheelbase and weighs in at 429 pounds including fuel, but there’s still a question mark over the peak power for the international version. At the engine’s unveiling at EICMA last year, CFMoto claimed “over” 100 hp, while the type approval put it at a more modest 94 hp (suggesting it might be a restricted version). The engine is understood to share the same 72mm bore and 55.2mm stroke as the company’s 450cc parallel twin, used in the 450SS, which is a logical move, as it means combustion chamber design can also be borrowed from the smaller bike, and perhaps even components like the pistons and valves to keep costs down. However, the triple—which features a counterrotating balance shaft—will be a much higher-revving engine than the twin. CFMoto says it will spin to 12,300 rpm. In comparison, the 450SS hits its 50 hp peak at only 9,500 rpm.

The type-approval document seen recently shows what we think the production streetbike will look like. (CFMoto/)

CFMoto’s “Coming Soon” message doesn’t put a timescale on the bike’s official unveiling, but the new teaser video means it’s likely to be imminent.

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