Tastes have evolved in recent years in the adventure category. People want smaller, lighter, even at the expense of power. Not everyone of course, but there has been a shift, there’s no doubt about it. The Rieju Aventura Rally 307 is something of an unknown quantity, though its spec sheet raised a lot interest from the adventure bike fraternity right from its public debut. At $8990 rideaway it undercuts most, and after a day riding it through a wet-as-a-shag Cobaw State Forest, I came away convinced it is one of the most quietly impressive adventure bikes I’ve thrown a leg over this year. It is a surprise package, and remarkable value for what it delivers.
Photography by Tommaso Fossati
Earlier this month INFO MOTO rode with Rieju’s local distributor Urban Moto Imports, the crew responsible for Royal Enfield (among many others) in Australia. We rode out of Melbourne towards Lancefield and into the dirt, or mud, or horrible sloppy nightmare sauce. The timing was not ideal. Torrential rain had turned the Cobaw trails into something closer to a banana peel pit, the kind of conditions that expose a bike’s weaknesses fast.
At a glance, the bike might seem like a direct rival to the Royal Enfield Himalayan and the CFMOTO 450MT, and in showroom terms it is. Ride all three back to back and the Rieju separates itself as the one built to work hardest on the dirt. Where the Himalayan and the 450MT lean towards touring with strong off-road capability, if not a bit lazy, the Rally 307 is pointed at the trail first and asked to commute second. That focus is the whole story of this bike.
It starts with weight. At a claimed 138kg dry (lets call it 150kg with a bit of fuel) the Rally 307 is genuinely light, and you feel it the moment you pick it up off the side stand. There is none of the top-heavy reluctance that plagues bigger adventure bikes when the going gets tight. In the slop it meant I could point the front end where I wanted it, hold slides without theatrics and pick the bike up when my talent ran out and the mud inevitably had its way. Lightness is the single most useful quality an off-road bike can have, and Rieju has prioritised it.
The 293cc liquid-cooled thumper has been seen before in other applications. It’s a Chinese-built Loncin unit, which has its final assembly and inspection at Rieju’s plant in Figueres, Spain. It’s worth being clear about that split, because Rieju leans on its heritage as the last 100 per cent Spanish motorcycle manufacturer, and the engine is the part of this bike that isn’t Spanish.
What matters is that it works. Peak output is 25kW (33.5hp), which Rieju is happy to call the most powerful in the 300cc adventure class, and the six-speed gearbox and slip-assist clutch make the most of it. It is smooth and tractable, with enough drive to loft the front over obstacles and enough legs to sit on the freeway. With patience it will see around 140km/h, and it will hold highway speeds for long stretches without complaint.
The fuelling isn’t perfect. There’s a slight lurchiness low in the rev range, the sort of on-off abruptness that catches you out in technical going where smooth throttle is everything. It’s minor, and you learn to ride around it, but it’s there.
Which brings me to the Power Up Kit, and this is the part worth paying attention to. Rieju offers a factory upgrade combining a high-performance ECU with revised ignition mapping, a high-flow air filter and a full IXIL exhaust system. The claimed gain is 5hp at 8900rpm and 4Nm at 7000rpm, lifting the bike towards 38hp while shedding weight and lowering operating temperatures.
On a bike this light, that’s a meaningful chunk of extra power, and my strong suspicion is the revised mapping would also clean up the standard bike’s fuelling manners. It reads like a no-brainer addition. If it delivers what Rieju claims, it turns a good bike into a properly sharp one, and I’d want to ride a kitted example before drawing a final line under the engine.
The suspension was the day’s biggest revelation. The Rally 307 runs a 43mm fully adjustable inverted fork and a fully adjustable progressive rear shock, both with 235mm of travel. I didn’t touch a single clicker, and the standard setup soaked up everything Cobaw threw at it, including some large, unseen hits that would have seen lesser bikes buckle. It’s genuinely impressive for the money. The hardware is unbranded and presumably Chinese-made, which makes the quality of the tune all the more surprising. For riders who want to go further, Rieju lists upgrades among its power parts, but the standard gear is good enough that most owners won’t feel the need.
The tyres deserve credit too. Standard fitment is a dual-sport pattern, and in that Cobaw mud I fully expected to be sliding around helplessly. Instead they found grip where I didn’t think it should be. They are a compromise tyre by nature, and they telegraph the bike’s dual-sport intent rather than pure enduro focus, but they punch above their first-glance appearance.
Braking is a 300mm wave disc up front and a 240mm rear, both with switchable dual-channel ABS that fully disengages for off-road work, which is exactly how it should be done. On the dirt the setup is spot on. On the road the front is the one area I’d flag. There’s plenty of bite, but the relaxed rally rake means you have to brake with precision through your right hand, metering the lever carefully rather than grabbing a fistful. It’s a characteristic of the geometry rather than a fault, but road riders coming off something sharper will notice it.
The 21-litre tank is the other headline, and it’s the feature that reframes what this bike is for. Rieju claims up to 500km of range, and paired with the low weight it opens up genuine long-distance dirt touring in a package you can still manhandle through a technical section. That combination of light weight and big range is rare at any price, let alone this one. It’s the clearest signal of the bike’s purist touring intent: built to travel lighter and further, not to carry more.
Elsewhere the 7-inch vertical TFT display is a smart, modern piece of kit with Mirror Link smartphone integration and clear standing-peg visibility. It looks the part and functions well, though the screen resolution is a step below the clarity you get from more premium offerings, and side by side that difference is visible.
Not everything suited me. The rider ergonomics aren’t to my personal taste. I prefer a wide, flat, higher-mounted handlebar for standing comfort over long off-road stints, and the Rally 307’s bars sit lower and narrower than I’d choose. That’s a preference rather than a criticism, and Rieju offers +20mm handlebar risers in its accessory range for riders who feel the same. There are also 20mm-lower links available for shorter riders wanting to bring the 890mm seat down.
None of my gripes are dealbreakers. Take a step back and the Rieju Aventura Rally 307 is a lightweight adventure bike that does the dirt brilliantly, tours further than its capacity suggests, and costs less than almost anything comparable.
It has enough on-road ability to get you to the trail and back, and to sit on the freeway when it has to, but make no mistake, the dirt is where it belongs and where it shines. As a package it is efficient off-road, and as a value proposition it’s hard to argue with. If the Power Up Kit does what Rieju says, it becomes better still.
Thumbs up from me gents.
Editorial Director at infomoto.com.au. Loves Rally bikes.
