Watch Out Kawasaki Ninja 500, The CFMoto 450SR Just Got Better Than Ever

In many ways, CFMoto’s international onslaught can all be credited to the 450SR (sold as 450SS here). It made headlines in concept form, then kept the hype up when it hit the dealerships a few years back. Since then, the Chinese giant is slowly and steadily making it better with time. We saw a new variant in 2023, mild updates in 2024, and the sports bike is getting a mild refresh in 2025 as well. Here’s what CFMoto has done to the 450SR now.

The 2025 CFMoto 450SR Boasts A More Powerful Twin-Cylinder Engine

The 450SR flaunts a 449cc, parallel-twin engine with a 270-degree crankshaft. This mill has some mild tweaks in 2025, including a new exhaust, to promise an output of 51 horsepower and 30 pound-feet. Both have gone up slightly over the previous model, and the throttle response is said to be retuned, although the six-speed transmission looks unchanged.

A neat party trick is the ability to reverse the shift pattern–a useful thing in case you’re hitting the track. With these numbers, the 450SR sits at the top of the leaderboard in the 400-500cc sports bike class, alongside the Kawasaki Ninja 500. Both of these bikes weigh the same, too, even though the 450 gets you better equipment and more features. More on that in a bit.

An Updated Design Helps The CFMoto 450SR Look Sportier

If you like the current 450SR’s design (we do), you’ll dig the new one, too. Instead of overhauling things, CFMoto has made fine tweaks to up the swagger. Up top, you get a new fender with aerodynamic slits, along with superbike-like brake ducts. This is followed by what looks like a reshaped fuel tank for better knee support in corners. Rounding things off are two new liveries. Nebula Black is a black-red colorway reminiscent of the 2024 model, but with bright red wheels, while Nebula White is a gleaming white-blue livery with matching white wheels.

Coming to features, the 450SR is way more loaded than its arch-rival, the Ninja 500. So much so that to match the package on offer here, you’d have to get the Ninja 500 SE, and even then, you would miss out on a few things. As a refresher, the 450SR boasts:

• 5-inch curved TFT
• Smartphone connectivity and phone mirroring
• USB port
• TPMS
• Dual-channel ABS

The New CFMoto 450SR Has Yet To Reach America

Although the new 450SR is listed on CFMoto’s global website, it has yet to be launched in the US. So you can expect this to be a part of the company’s MY26 lineup in America, with a debut towards the end of 2025 or early 2026. Whenever that happens, you can expect a slight price revision, given all the updates. For reference, the 450SS currently sells for $5,699 here. That makes it cheaper than the Kawasaki Ninja 500 ABS, Aprilia RS 457, and the Honda CBR500R.

2025 CFMoto 450SR Specifications