I was lucky enough to have a Tiger 1200 and 800 xc. When my wife passed her test I didn’t need the 1200 for touring and reluctantly sold it to get a Fantic 500 Rally. I love it. It sounds amazing. It’s light and agile, makes me grin when i ride it. It’s the bike I ride when I am not going anywhere, when I just want to ride. The engine isn’t smooth like a honda twin, it’s characterful. You have to ride it, by that I mean you have to use the gears, plan ahead and keep it on song. If you do it’s very rewarding.
I've owned a Fantic Caballero Flat Track 500 for over two years and have done over 17,000 kms on it in Southern Portugal. My view? It's light, agile, stable, and actually so much fun it's difficult to stop grinning when you're on it. I have a friend who owns 30 bikes including an H2, GS, Harley, FJ, Multistrada, etc, and he swears by his Fantic. They really are that good...
Bought the similar Rally second hand 6 months old and drove it to Italy, 1800km, in 3 days after a few touring mods - compact MRA vario touring screen, rack/crashbars, handguards, Metzeler Karoo street replacing knobblies. Almost as good as my former BMW 800cc twin, which did it 10 times, but 40kg lighter at around 162kg with fuel. Knowing that if you stop a bit off balance, eg on an uphill bend behind a car, you can hold the bike upright is a big plus. And it leans into bends, without effort. Cruises all day at 120 kph/ just under 5000 rpm without significant vibes, plenty in hand for overtaking and stable around lorries, even in the wet. The screen makes the wind pressure tolerable for 6 hour days, without helmet buffeting. Although the flat seat does not look much, it allows you to change position - add the progressive suspension with good damping, and long days are pain free. Takes bad roads in its stride at 80kph +, even potholes that would upset heavier tourers, let alone firmly suspended sports bikes. Downsides? A bit lumpy below 2500rpm, not for touring couples and the high exhaust gets in the way a bit. For ageing downsizers, taller than 5ft 7 it's a good allrounder, not just a week end toy. I wonder how the RE 450 and Triumph match up?
@@fractalawareness Only done short, low speed trips 2 up. Seat shortish, high, uncomfortable rear pegs, enough power to potter, but not for higher speed motorway cruising/overtaking. Plus, bikes with short wheelbases rarely make good 2 up tourers.
I was lucky enough to have a Tiger 1200 and 800 xc. When my wife passed her test I didn’t need the 1200 for touring and reluctantly sold it to get a Fantic 500 Rally. I love it. It sounds amazing. It’s light and agile, makes me grin when i ride it. It’s the bike I ride when I am not going anywhere, when I just want to ride. The engine isn’t smooth like a honda twin, it’s characterful. You have to ride it, by that I mean you have to use the gears, plan ahead and keep it on song. If you do it’s very rewarding.
I've owned a Fantic Caballero Flat Track 500 for over two years and have done over 17,000 kms on it in Southern Portugal. My view? It's light, agile, stable, and actually so much fun it's difficult to stop grinning when you're on it. I have a friend who owns 30 bikes including an H2, GS, Harley, FJ, Multistrada, etc, and he swears by his Fantic. They really are that good...
Bought the similar Rally second hand 6 months old and drove it to Italy, 1800km, in 3 days after a few touring mods - compact MRA vario touring screen, rack/crashbars, handguards, Metzeler Karoo street replacing knobblies. Almost as good as my former BMW 800cc twin, which did it 10 times, but 40kg lighter at around 162kg with fuel. Knowing that if you stop a bit off balance, eg on an uphill bend behind a car, you can hold the bike upright is a big plus. And it leans into bends, without effort. Cruises all day at 120 kph/ just under 5000 rpm without significant vibes, plenty in hand for overtaking and stable around lorries, even in the wet. The screen makes the wind pressure tolerable for 6 hour days, without helmet buffeting. Although the flat seat does not look much, it allows you to change position - add the progressive suspension with good damping, and long days are pain free. Takes bad roads in its stride at 80kph +, even potholes that would upset heavier tourers, let alone firmly suspended sports bikes. Downsides? A bit lumpy below 2500rpm, not for touring couples and the high exhaust gets in the way a bit. For ageing downsizers, taller than 5ft 7 it's a good allrounder, not just a week end toy. I wonder how the RE 450 and Triumph match up?
Why is it not for touring couples?
@@fractalawareness Only done short, low speed trips 2 up. Seat shortish, high, uncomfortable rear pegs, enough power to potter, but not for higher speed motorway cruising/overtaking. Plus, bikes with short wheelbases rarely make good 2 up tourers.
@@aurigacap8584 thanks 👍
@@aurigacap8584 what about reliability? I'm worried about the fact that the engine is chinese.
Nice little review. Thanks.
Wish they'd bring these over to the US.
It’s a lovely looking bike 😎
Are this available in the US ??
Yeah, that is the question I have also. It doesn't look like it is, but they do show the Caballero 700 for the US market but I do not see any dealers.
I like that bike.
May I ask how tall you are?
Great looking bike from a historic maker. My only reservation would be that it's made in China... I'd go for the 700cc with the Yamaha motor.
So cool❤❤❤❤
This or the triumph 400x?
Hate those cheap looking lcd clocks otherwise nice bike if a different colour.
Very bad quality. I bought one and after less than a year that crap doesn’t start anymore. Very expensive, but bad quality…
Can you tell more please? What problems have you got?
If it is only 1 year old why don’t you take it to the dealer? It’s still in the waranty.
Available in the states?