It’s been a year of new for the SA market. Earlier this year, we featured the Beta lineup that is imported and looked after by the folks at Russel Campbell Racing and now, Fantic has hit our shores.
Who is Fantic?
Fantic is an Italian manufacturer. Fantic Motor began in 1968 by manufacturing and exporting enduro motorcycles, mini-bikes and go-karts.
In October 2020, Fantic bought Minarelli from Yamaha.
They still collaborate with the Yamaha factory and as we understand it, use Yamaha’s technology as a basis for their enduro bikes.
The Fantic 300 is the bike that most have their eye on with a few sold and spotted competing at regional events around the country.
It goes without say that the 300 two-stroke is the biggest-selling enduro bike around. manufacturers like KTM, Husqvarna, GASGAS, Beta, Sherco and TM all build them and compete for a piece of the pie.
Fantic has now also entered the fray.
The chassis components (main frames, swingarms, suspension, brakes) might be manufactured in Japan but as soon as it’s all uncrated at the factory, Fantic adds Italian.
The bike has a fuel injected two-stroke engine, Athena engine management systems including mapping functions and traction control, Fantic airbox design, plastics, seats and exhaust. The cooling system has fans as standard, handlebars, grips, wheels, tyres, electrics and lights are all in house.
“Designed, engineered and manufactured in Italy” is their anthem.
The new XE300 2T comes with electric start. It was developed from the start for enduro with a 300cc engine that they claim has the highest performance on the market. It has has twin throttle body injectors developed with Athena to be Euro5+ compliant, an electronic exhaust valve to deliver a “full torque curve at low rpm”, separate fuel and oil tanks (not pre-mix), adjustable mapping and traction control with handlebar mounted switches and a hydraulic clutch.
Looks great!
Let’s see if we can get our mitts onto one for a story some time…
In the interim, Click here for the official Fantic page.
