CCM 450 great handling
 

Both me and my girlfriend are looking for new adventure bikes, and not being tall means that our choice is a little limited, the advice that we have been getting was to keep the weight down.

Last week I visited the Bolton CCM factory and went for a day test ride with Darren Soothill, we rode everything, motorways, country roads and off road gravel, mud, rocks the lot. Other than mountain biking, I had no prior off road experience and was somewhat nervous about the prospect.

With Darrens excellent mentoring and the exceptional ease of handing, the CCM 450 was amazing, it grips the road surface whatever the condition, the lightness makes handling easy. With lots of power you can get out of anything. I was astonished at what I could do as a complete novice on this bike, its like mountain push-biking with an engine.

I was so impressed that I ordered two new bikes.

Now I need to sell the camper van to finance both bikes, still keeping the wheel count the same.

Welcome to the gang, great light bikes.

Charles

CCM moving along
 

Anyone with an eye on what CCM plans are will know that the GP450 model is discontinued, the 450 cc engine being killed off by the EU emissions regulations.

CCM have announced that the GP450 will be replaced with a new model of around 600cc (a GP600??) with an engine that likely will come from Italy (same one that is to be fitted in the SWM bike)..

Meanwhile, CCM will not stand idle: Here's their recently announced Spitfire - a limited production run starting in the Autumn (that's "the Fall" to some of you).

http://www.ccm-motorcycles.com/_incl...es_Updated.pdf
This style of machine is quite the rage for some people and the Spitfire should keep the CCM employees busy until the GP600 is on the assembly line.

the Spit reminds me of my G650X Country.

Seems that I will have to look for second hand GP 450....
greets trolik

Take a look at uk Ebay, usually a selection for sale at prices between £5500 and £7000, chose a later bike......

I’m hoping that the Gp600 will be showcased at this years NEC bike show in a couple of weeks time, but it maybe that they are are spending too much time and energy fabricating baubles for the hipster generation.

The last time I looked at the "NEC Motorcycle live" web page, the bit about CCM was not promising anything specific about the GP600.
Certainly, the Spitfire will be on display.

The SWM part of that same web page said that they are selling the 600 engine to more than one other bike manufacturer: from memory, that included some entity known as "MAC" (I think that is what it was - I wasn't taking much notice at the time, basically).

there was some chatter on the various CCM facebook pages, indicating that there might be a GP600 at the NEC.......Good if there was they must be getting to an end of the Spitfire variants, they do say that there will be a 'flattracker' on Show.

Those speculating on an upcoming CCM600 (or the SWM superdual and AJP PR7 which both use the same engine) a word of warning! While short service intervalls might be acceptable for the spitfires, which are probably just used for the sunday ride to the favorite cafe, it is totally unacceptable to do valve clearance checks every 5000km and replace the valve timing chain, chain gears and tensioner after only 20.000km on a bike that is used for long distance touring!

Too true! I'm a bit behind on what's going on with these bikes.
I'm assuming CCM's engine supply was cut off by either BMW ... or by the producer of the GP450 motor, Kymco (Taiwan).

It's a shame CCM could not make a deal to continue production ... or better yet, add a 600cc engine to the line up.

Not sure about the long term reliability will be on the motor mentioned above that is
apparently) being used in several bikes ... none of which I've ever seen in person. Tell me again WHO makes the motor
you're talking about?

bier

I understand that Kymco ceased production of the 450 engine, CCM are currently making a range of Hipster style bikes based on the 600 cc engine used in the SWM adventure bike. I understand that the engine “is a peach” .

I can’t comment on the likely reliability of the 600 engine, but similar comments were made about the BMW 450 engine, which has generally been reliable in service (most people’s issues have been with ancillaries). Ben Clews said that CCM will be making a GP600, using the same bondlight frame technology as the 450, but it’s likely to be a 2019 bike. The engine is a bit heavier an extra 10KGs or more, but I’ll take that in exchange for much better road manners than the 450 which was a bit too highly strung.

So far nobody knows much about the long time reliability of the 600 engine which will probably be used for a new CCM Adventure. The engine is already used by SWM and AJP and checking their service table made me shake my head.

5000km intervall for oil changes and valve clearance check is already at the VERY lower edge for a bike which is intended for long trips. What kills it is in my opinion the replacement of the valve timing chain after only 20.000km! For a cafe racer (=spitfire) which is not making big mile per year this is ok, but for a travel bike replacing the chain every year or in the middle of a RWT trip is a very costly endeavor!

Good points. :thumbup1: A lot will depend on this new engine and how it's holding up to hard, long use. If the engine ends up being "Japanese tough", like a DR650 or something, then I feel owners may be able to stretch valve checks, maybe even cam chain service.

But if it's a sensitive engine ... well, not good. :nono:
May not make the ideal travel bike.

I assume the new engine is made in China? Which company makes it? and what Chinese bikes is it currently used in?

The Chinese 250cc ADV bikes are sold in USA now. Things are slow but progress is being made. Where will this lead? No idea. :innocent:

But it's damn sure the Chinese companies are not sitting on their hands regards this ADV trend. Hopefully they won't jump from a 250 to a 600 but rather do a nice, reliable 400 or 450cc bike for real ADV travel.

The current ADV 250 bikes are fully set up and look like "mini GS's", cost about
$3500. This bike up graded to a 450, perhaps offering better suspension and other things, would make it very hard for CCM to compete with. Their current bike sells for "about" US $12,000. :helpsmilie:

The SWM is around £8k, if the CCM version is 20kgs lighter, uses the same Tractive rear suspension as the 450 and is under £10k it should be competitive, but this will be a crowded space with various 270 degree, twins coming to the market over the next couple of years


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:eek3: "Crowded space" indeed. :oops2:

Seems to me both the SWM and proposed CCM may have priced themselves right out of the market ... at least here in USA.

The new KTM 790 P-Twin (not set for release until late 2018 or early '19) "should" sell from $11K to $12K USD. The new Yamaha Tenere' T-7 probably will sell for "about" same amount. All these "rough" prices gleaned on line.

IMO, a 10K UKP 450 ADV bike (around USD $15K) will be a very hard sell in USA considering competition.

Most riders ... if they are honest ... are going to look closely at their requirement for travel and may realize that a Kawasaki KLR650, Suzuki DR650 or Honda XR650L will do the job perfectly for 95% of what they intend to do. Relatively cheap and reliable. Not flashy or trendy, but tough and competent, won't win any Moto Cross races or Enduros but cheap to run and great to load up and GO!

I can buy 3 DR650's for cost of ONE CCM. doh

I wish CCM well, hope they can break through with a new engine and get it certified Euro 4. For USA, that is the toughest hurdle for small OEM's.

Molliedog,
None of those bikes are currently available in the UK.