This Hot Motorcycle Has Intakes In Its Headlights And Looks Like Every ’80s Bike You Love

Neo-retro design is alive and well with car buyers and motorcyclists alike piling into dealerships for a modern taste of the past. One of the brands cashing in on nostalgia is an unexpected one with CFMoto. The motorcycle maker, once known as the place to go to when you couldn’t afford a Honda, is now making motorcycles that look so cool you might buy one over the Honda. Its latest motorcycle, the 500SR Voom, is another stunner. It looks like the bikes from the 1980s, has the power to back it up, and oh yeah, the headlights are also air intakes.

A few months ago, I brought home a tiny motorcycle with the looks of a 1980s sportbike. I plunked down $4,500, not much cheaper than the final price of a Honda Grom, to buy a 2024 CFMoto Papio SS. Why did I buy the Chinese version of Honda’s coolest street-legal minibike? CFMoto is doing something that Honda isn’t and it’s producing motorcycles that nod to the the rad designs of the 1980s. You get those neo-retro looks everyone’s into right now, but without having to sync a rack of four carbs.

The CFMoto 500SR Voom is the company’s latest entry into the neo-retro space and it’s surprisingly well-equipped for the job.

Retro Done Right

The motorcycle industry is no stranger to following the trends and one of the big ones right now is retro design. The biggest brands out there all offer a motorcycle made to look like a bike decades older.

CFMoto is the last company I expected to jump on the retro bandwagon, but I’m glad it’s here. It’s sort of amazing because CFMoto came onto America’s shores in 2007, sold us some sketchy Honda clones and a bizarre scooter-based motorcycle, and then bowed out after 2015. But it came back with compelling motorcycles ranging from naked bikes to adventure bikes. CFMoto was also smart to pounce on the neo-retro movement with the 700CL-X, a naked with vintage style in the same vein as the Ducati Scrambler and the Yamaha XSR700.

Then the company came out of left field in January 2023 when it decided to lean into the retro vibes even harder. The CFMoto Papio SS is like if you took a Suzuki GSX-R750 and scaled it down to a 126cc thumper. But it also blends the old-school look into modern tech like LED lights and cute RGB dot displays on the sides of the tank. It sure caught me hook, line, and sinker.

Chinese motorcycle makers have been in the news lately because they’re beginning to bang out some wild stuff like flat eight engines, chunky electrics, V4 engines, and bikes with girder-like forks. Oh, and CFMoto wants some of that Triumph Daytona action as it recently unveiled a neat three-cylinder sportbike.

Now we have another weirdo.

The CFMoto 500SR Voom

This motorcycle was first unveiled back in May, but as typical with Chinese companies, we got photos but no specifications. Thankfully, China’s type certification system makes specs public and thanks to Cycle World we now know more.

The headlining feature of this motorcycle is its engine. There’s a 500cc four bolted to the frame, which makes it a bit of an oddball. It’s smaller than the 600cc powerplants commonly found in faster sportbikes but larger than the 400s you find in smaller bikes. The engine pumps out 78 HP and the bike is capable of a top speed of 130.5 mph. Sadly, we don’t know all of the specifications yet, but we do know that it weighs 430 pounds and has a 54.9-inch wheelbase. The 500SR also rides on 120/70-17 and 160/60-17 tires.

Other goodies come in the form of dual-rotor front brakes, single-rotor rear brakes, inverted forks, and KYB suspension.

The design is something else that stands out. The CFMoto 500SR Voom features styling that seems like every 1980s and early 1990s sportbike blended into one. But then there are bits that are all over the place. The bar-end mirrors are a bit out of place, as are the winglet-looking structures. Still, it’s a fantastic design.

The lights are also properly weird. The headlights are split into two sections. The LED circles just under the windscreen? Yeah, those are air intakes with sizable ducts leading into the motorcycle’s airbox. Obviously, these lights aren’t bright enough for road use, so the main beam is hidden underneath.

The specs we do know put it in close competition with the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR. That motorcycle weighs 414.5 pounds, rides on a 54.3-inch wheelbase, and makes similar power depending on the market. The CFMoto weighs a little more but makes more power than the 399cc four in the Kawasaki. The 500SR Voom makes 22 HP more than the American-spec Ninja ZX-4RR and 4 HP more than the European version of the Kawasaki (below).

Unfortunately, CFMoto has not made an official announcement just yet in regards to pricing or expected markets. However, CFMoto has been pretty good about sending new bikes our way. With that said, Chinese products are becoming more controversial, especially in light of the latest EV tariffs and concerns about forced labor in the region, so I could see it going either way.

If the 500SR Voom seems like your kind of ride and if it comes here, it’s sized like a 400cc sportbike and has roughly the performance to match. Yet, the engine is a touch bigger than what you’d expect. The biggest question will be about pricing. The Kawasaki costs $10,349 after the destination fee. CFMoto could have a winner if it comes in under that.

(Images: Manufacturers, unless otherwise noted.)

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