OZ ATV :: The Australian ATV Forum

[BigMitch87]

My name is Mitchell and I live in Townsville. I have a CFMOTO CF500 that I purchased just before Christmas, my own present to myself, and at this current point in time I am waiting for the rear suspension to get sorted by motosport Yamaha. I go riding with my mate Clint, he has a 2001 Honda Cr125. Always on the lookout for other riders and new spots to go so if anyone is keen hit me up. Cheers and hope to see you out there.
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CF MOTO CF500 stock as a rock... not for long

[Barney]

HI Mitchell , and welcome ot the forum , look in the Qld section and im sure you will find plenty other people to ride with
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2012 Can am Outlander Xt 1000cc
Can Am Full set of Armour ,Grip and thumb warmer
Fox Podium Shocks and springs front and back
GME Tx 4600 UHF with Helmet Mic
Hema Gps

[Robert82]

Hey Mitch I am also from the Townsville region and looking at getting a CF500 also.

How is yours going?? Have you had any more issues with it??

[BigMitch87]

No other issues mate. It has been a pearler of a bike. Best 6500 i have ever spent. If you wanna take it for a ride one weekend just let me know, that way you can try before you buy.
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CF MOTO CF500 stock as a rock... not for long

[Robert82]

What was wrong with your suspension on the moto??

Another mate of mine just bought one about a month ago and he is also rapped in it. He has only done about 200km on it so far though.

Might go up to Townsville this weekend and price some. I am a honda man at heart so it is going to be hard to buy another brand!!!

Where do you go riding up in townsville??

[BigMitch87]

The lugs on the shock absorber that hold tension on the coil let go so it was a little lop sided getting back to the car. Consider this when getting a price, honda 500cc or equivalent will set you back almost double the price of the cfmoto and they dont come with a winch or a tow ball. Same goes for suziki and polaris and can am. And Yamaha are almost 3 times the price. Like i said offer stands if you want to take it for a drive. I usually go to the bohle/mt louisa but like going to ollera creek, insulator creek and bluewater range.
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CF MOTO CF500 stock as a rock... not for long

[Robert82]

Yeah thanks for the offer.

I will take my mates for a ride tomorrow see how it goes. Just thought I would ask anyone who has had theirs for a while if they have had any dramas with them.

[Dino]

Robert, I've got the earlier model 500A in a 2 seater, in Aug 2009. I've used it for trail riding, touring, hunting, some farm work and mudding.

The warts is that I got mine from a dodgey importer, whose "service mechanic" looked and behaved like I wanted "fries with that order".
I only had two issues originally. The CVT did not behave as it should and exhaust leaks. This importer was no joy, at all, and got given the flick by me.
This "dealer" was reported to CF Moto China, who have sinced dumped him. The official distributor in Australia is now Mojo Motorcycles in Melbourne, and by all accounts, the new dealer network is a vast improvement, having been operating for over two years, throughout Australia and in the imorted power sports for over 10.

The CVT problem was caused by a small bits of debris fouling the wieghts in the primary sheave. Where they came from is still unknown. The wieghts and roller service were scored uppretty badly by the time I pulled it apart myself, and CF Moto China sent me a complete replacement primary sheeve assembly gratis. I subsequentally replaced the wieghts and secondary spring with a Dalton kit, which has proven itself well. The newer models use a CV Tec system out of Canada, and that is very good CVT out of the box. They have a fair bit more engine braking than mine also.
The exhaust issue was where the header pipe met the tail pipe with a special flexible collar material. The cures tried gave me other issues and I should have just replaced that to begin with. The header pipe cracked right through as a result of metal fatigue from constant heating and rapid cooling just recently, after three year hard yakka. This has now been solved by replacing it with custom job, done by a local exhaust shop, at a moderate cost.
Otherwise, I've had a CV boot torn, a dickey vacumn operated fuel relay, numerous front brake pads( mud eats them up!) and replaced a auxilary starter relay and a speed sensor. Given that the poor thing was my own first quad, and spent a lot it's life in mud and swamps while I learned the limits of what a farm quad can/should do, it's been a pretty fair account.
One other wart, on mine anyway, was that the parking brake has been fairly ineffective and the interchange with the gear selector made the gears heavy to change. I backed the brake off a bit and find trees or suitable placed objects to do the job.

The bike cost me $6 957 registered back then, brand new. Parts are a third of the cost for many similar parts in CanAm, Polaris and Yamaha ranges, and I've not had any major dramas cross refencing filters or obtaining common service items throughout the dealer network.

First and foremost, they are designed as a farm style quad. Set the suspension to your needs, and set the toe in properly, and they are not bad at all. They ride and stop well, and mines been frugal on the juice.

Yes, they are a lot cheaper than the big names. For the dealers, they certainly don't have the (very expensive) strings attatched that the big names demand.
And yes, they are made in China, as are so many other goods sold to us today. They are certainly better quality than many of the knock offs from the same neck of the woods, and buggered if I can see why brands they compete with, that are 4 to 7 grand dearer, are not the same amount better.
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Remember. We elect politicians, but we have to deal with bureaucracy.
Notice that crazy in the bureaucrats.

[Robert82]

Thanks for the info Dino. Appreciated.

I took my mates for a good ride on the weekend and it went well. It only has 400km on the clock. I think I will get one. The 500 single seater. I just use it for recreational riding and fishing and camping so it will more than do the job that I require from it.

Cant wait to get one now!!!