If you’re looking for a middleweight motorcycle in Malaysia, the sweet spot may not be 650 cc or 700 cc. A little down the range in engine capacity, you will find a plethora of choices from 390 cc to 500 cc, and, from market data Malaysian riders are buying into the segment.
KTM has the 390 Duke and 390 Adventure, Kawasaki the KLE500, Honda with the NX500, Royal Enfield the Himalayan 450 and BMW the newly launched F 450 GS. CFMoto has built an entire 450 cc family around this engine capacity, while QJMotor, Voge, Morbidelli, Moto Morini and ZXMoto are crowding into the same territory.
The best part is most are priced between RM25,000 and RM35,000, making this motorcycle choice affordable for a large number of riders in Malaysia. But what are your current choices?
CFMoto is already well established, with the 450NK at RM25,888, 450SR at RM28,888 and 450MTX from RM28,888, broadly covering the three main riding styles, road, sport and adventure-touring. QJMotor’s SRK450RR is a RM25,888 sportsbike with a 421 cc four-cylinder mill that produces 76.4 hp and comes with Brembo brakes, Marzocchi suspension, traction control, launch control, TFT instrumentation, TPMS and cameras.
Then there is the recently launched in Malaysia ZXMoto 500RR at RM29,988, now entering dealer showrooms. Its 470 cc four-cylinder produces 84 hp and 46 Nm, with a quickshifter, traction control, launch control and six-axis IMU, making it a performance sports bike in every sense of the word.
The 500F retro naked is retailing at RM28,888, with 73 hp from the same basic engine, giving Malaysian riders the option between sports riding or a more all-round style. Voge takes a different route with the SR450X, a 398 cc two-cylinder adventure scooter priced at RM29,888. Moto Morini’s Alltrhike 450 adventure-tourer costs RM28,888, while Morbidelli’s T502X is also tagged at RM28,888.
In other words, the Chinese brands are no longer simply offering cheaper alternatives. They are offering more performance and equipment for the same money, although long-term reliability and spare parts availability is still a concern for many Malaysian motorcyclists.
Meanwhile KTM has been in this territory in Malaysia for years, and the latest RM31,800 390 Duke makes the point particularly well. Its 398.7 cc single-cylinder engine produces around 45 hp, while the lightweight chassis, WP suspension, ride modes, traction control and aggressive naked-bike layout make it a genuine performance motorcycle rather than simply an entry-level big bike.
The 390 Adventure takes the same engine from the 390 Duke into the adventure segment, with the more off-road-focused 390 Adventure R pushing the concept further with taller suspension and off-road sized wheels. The standard 390 Adventure starts from around RM33,800, while the Adventure R is around RM37,800, placing KTM directly into the increasingly crowded middleweight adventure market.
KTM’s importance here is that it demonstrates the displacement sweet spot does not actually need 450 cc. A lightweight 400 cc motorcycle can deliver the performance most riders need.
Let us not forget the Japanese manufacturers who are now fighting directly in the same price band. Kawasaki’s dual-purpose KLE500 costs RM32,900, while Honda’s NX500 is priced at RM34,099, and Suzuki offers the DR-Z4 S and SM, priced and targeted slightly outside the segment at RM42,888. Conspicuously absent from this market segment in Malaysia is Yamaha.
The KLE500’s 451 cc twin produces 45 PS and 42.6 Nm, with 21/17-inch wheels and long-travel suspension while the NX500 takes a more road-focused approach, purposing its 471 cc twin for commuting, highway riding and touring. From Indian sub-continent comes Royal Enfield’s Himalayan 450, which starts from RM30,600, offering a 452 cc single, 21/17-inch wheels and a basic but rugged adventure chassis.
These Japanese bikes have an obvious advantage over newer Chinese brands, having established brand names and longer track records in Malaysia along with an extensive dealer network, but the price gap is no longer huge. At the top sits the BMW Motorrad F 450 GS at RM39,900 with a 420 cc parallel twin that produces 48 hp and 43 Nm, bringing the Munich motorcycle maker into a price bracket that previously belonged largely to Japanese and Chinese middleweights.
Traditionally, a rider in Malaysia would progress from a Kapchai or 125 cc motorcycle to the 250 cc class, then upgrade to 500 cc before moving upwards into the large displacement category. This was reflected in the Malaysian motorcycle licence categories, which, with the advent of the performance capabilities of the current crop of sub-500 cc motorcycles, renders it somewhat obsolete.
Today, a modern 390–500 cc motorcycle can deliver enough performance for highway riding, enough chassis capability for touring and adventure use, and enough equipment to make moving up to 650 cc unnecessary for many riders. Many manufacturers now competing in this space, and buyers are likely to get more choice, more equipment and more performance for their money than before.
