New Patents on KTM-Powered CFMoto 1250NK

Admin · April 5

Although these new patents relate to adjustable footpegs, they show that the KTM-powered 1250NK is in fact moving forward. (CFMoto/)

The tie-in between KTM and CFMoto has been established for years but the companies’ cooperation has deepened recently with the launch of several KTM-based, Chinese-made machines. The next bike they are collectively working on looks set to be the long-awaited V-twin-powered CFMoto super naked based around the Austrian brand’s LC8 engine.

CFMoto’s 800NK uses the LC8c engine that it manufactures for KTM. (CFMoto/)

We got our best look yet at the bike back in February when a patent application from CFMoto revealed particularly detailed drawings of the bike’s chassis and styling as well as several individual components. It’s very clearly the logical progression from machines like the CFMoto Ibex adventure bike and 800NK roadster, both based on KTM’s 799cc LC8c parallel-twin engine, as well as the China-only 1250TR-G tourer that uses a highly modified version of KTM’s larger V-twin motor. In patent drawings it appears that this bike uses the 1250TR-G’s 1,278cc, 140-hp V-twin, but it’s possible that the engine could be a more powerful twin like the 1,301cc “1290″ KTM variant or even the latest, 1,350cc “1390″ motor, which puts out nearly 190 hp.

CFMoto already uses KTM’s LC8 in its Chinese-market 1250TR-G touring machine. (CFMoto/)

What’s very clear from several patents filed by CFMoto over a period of years is that the bike is a direct descendent of the V.02-NK concept the company showed back in 2017—a machine that previewed both the styling direction of more recent CFMoto “NK” models and the growing KTM connection, as it featured KTM’s V-twin engine.

The latest in the drip-feed of clues about the bike is an intriguing patent that shows details of an adjustable footpeg system, illustrated on simplified pictures of the upcoming CFMoto V-twin machine. These show a system that allows simple and rapid movement of the pegs and the associated gearshift and linkage on the left-hand side. The brake on the right-hand side isn’t illustrated but the patent says the footpeg adjustment operates in the same way on the right peg.

CFMoto has filed multiple patent ideas for its adjustable footpegs. The designs allow the footpegs and shifter and brake pedals to move with the assembly. (CFMoto/)

It’s not quite as elegant as the completely tool-free footpeg adjustment system seen recently on another patent from BMW, but the CFMoto design appears to offer a wider range of movement, with the peg and shifter mounted on a pivoting mounting bracket that lets the peg move upward and forward in an arc as it rotates around its main securing bolt. To adjust the peg, the patent says you only need to loosen that central bolt (“153″ in the drawings) and remove the upper fastener (”1523″). Then you can rotate the whole assembly before locking it into place by reinserting the upper fastener and tightening the lower one. The upper fastener sits in a notched slot in the footpeg assembly, allowing multiple different positions to be selected.

An exploded view of the assembly. (CFMoto/)

A second version of the idea simplifies it further by giving the upper fastener an elongated shape on its shaft, so instead of removing it you only need to rotate it 90 degrees to allow the whole assembly to move. Finally, a third version replaces the upper fastener with a toothed gear that engages on matching teeth machined into the arc-shaped slot. That design gives scope for finer adjustment instead of limiting it to just six positions, like the other versions, and raises the possibility that the gear could even be motorized, allowing on-the-fly changes to the riding position.

This variation has a geared cog and toothed track. Could this be motorized? (CFMoto/)