When "Complimentary" Becomes a Subscription: My Experience With CFMoto

I am writing this for future riders, not to vent, and not because I think CFMoto is going to suddenly change course because of one unhappy customer.

They will not.

But if you are researching CFMoto bikes, especially the 800MT, you deserve to understand what changed after purchase, and why that change matters.

The Bike vs the Ecosystem

The physical bike is fine. No issue there.

For context, my bike is a 2022 model, purchased in January 2023. It has around 45,000 km on it, all of which I put there. This is not a garage ornament or a weekend toy. I use the bike, and I am familiar with how it behaves in the real world.

What changed is everything around it.

When I bought my CFMoto 800MT Touring, one of the selling points was the CFMoto Ride app. At the time, it was advertised as a complimentary feature of the bike, not a paid service.

That app provided:

• Navigation through the bike display
• Vibration alerts if the bike was moved
• Location tracking
• Trip history
• Riding behaviour data

These are not gimmicks. They are features that meaningfully affect how you use and secure the bike.

At purchase time, there was no suggestion that these features would later be paywalled.

You can still see how the bike was advertised at the time via the archived product page.

The app was described as complimentary. That matters.

What Changed

After customers had already bought their bikes, CFMoto moved the app to a subscription model.

Those features listed above simply stopped working unless you pay.

CFMoto later announced a two-year reprieve for existing customers. This appears to be an attempt to soften the backlash rather than an acknowledgment that something fundamental changed.

That two-year period will run out.

When it does, features that were present when I bought the bike will be disabled unless I pay an ongoing subscription.

CFMoto's own Australian distributor statement is here.

Trying to Resolve It

Before going anywhere near regulators, I raised this directly with both CFMoto Australia and Mojo Motorcycles.

The response was consistent and disappointing.

The change, I was told, was made by "Zhejiang CFMOTO Power Co. Ltd." not by them.

They claimed they never represented the app as part of the deal.

Mojo Motorcycles distanced themselves entirely.

In other words, no one involved in selling the bike accepted responsibility for changes to features that materially affected ownership.

Regulators Were No Help

I then approached the ACCC and Queensland Fair Trading.

The outcome was essentially this:

Because the bike was purchased from a dealer, and the dealer did not explicitly represent the app as free at the point of sale, there is no enforceable obligation to preserve those features.

What was advertised on CFMoto's own website did not matter.

Legally, this may be correct.

From a customer trust perspective, it feels hollow.

The Bigger Concern

This is not really about an app subscription.

It is about precedent.

If features delivered via software can be removed or locked behind a subscription after purchase by the manufacturer, what stops that model from expanding?

Navigation today.

Performance modes tomorrow.

Heated grips, rider aids, or engine mapping later.

Other manufacturers have already explored this territory. Once the line is crossed, it is hard to uncross.

Will People Forget?

Probably.

New riders will enter the market having never known anything different. Marketing will continue. The bikes will still look good on paper.

But some of us will remember.

I will not buy another CFMoto.

Not because the bike failed, but because trust did.

If you are comfortable with features being withdrawn or monetised after purchase, this may not bother you.

If you are not, you should factor that risk into your decision.

That is the only reason this post exists.