What's the one thing that will make or break an adventure tourer? Give up? Quite simply, how well it tours. Yes, the adventure part matters but trust me when I say a competent rider can get a naked bike into most places an adventure tourer will go if you're only chasing a little dirt-lite action.

CFMOTO's new 700MT is, according to the Chinese manufacturer, an adventure tourer. So, what better way to test its touring credentials than a Melbourne-to-Sydney border run at the height of winter? Highway miles, dirt, pock-marked back roads - all in temperatures hovering around zero and most of it in torrential rain. I regretted my decision to test the 700MT in such an obtuse way as I shivered into Gundagai in the dark at the end of day one, but you know what? Despite its astonishingly affordable $10,499 price tag, I rolled into Sydney about as dry and comfortable as you can be on a mid-winter ride across state lines.

Now, here's what you get for ten and a half grand. You can yell at the sky all you want about it being Chinese made, but you can't deny the value for money.

The 700MT is powered by a plucky 693cc parallel twin putting out 50kW at 9,500rpm and 60Nm at 6,000rpm. It won't set pulses racing, but it'll drag you down the highway at speeds that will get your licence confiscated in NSW and land you in jail in Victoria. I'm 105kg of solid lad plus about 50kg of weather-shielding gear**, so I didn't perish on the side of an alpine road. Add** to that a week's worth of luggage strapped to the standard rear rack and the MT is lugging a fair bit of weight. Despite this, the peppy mill did its thing - I had no trouble overtaking, no problem ripping down the highway, or - umm - pulling the occasional wheelie (by accident, of course).

The fairing is voluminous, and the manually adjustable riot-squad-sized screen offers excellent protection. Crash bars are standard to safeguard the 20-litre tank, and handguards keep your paws protected as well.

The seat is long-haul comfortable and, just 800mm off the deck, you sit in the bike rather than on it. The result is a machine that's comfortable, unintimidating, incredibly well balanced, and very accessible to shorter riders.

Braking is handled by J.Juan (owned by Brembo), and they're decent stoppers - no complaints. The suspension is rudimentary, but whether it was fanging down the Hume, smashing potholes on the Snowy Mountains Highway, or blasting dirt fire roads out the back of Adelong, it worked far better than expected.

What really makes the 700MT stand out is the electronics package. Standard kit includes heated grips and seat, switchable ABS and traction control (deactivated with a press-and-hold of the dedicated button), Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, USB Type-A and Type-C ports, and a five-inch TFT dash with all the info you could want. The dash connects to your phone for on-screen info, turn-by-turn navigation, and a bucketload of features via the CFMOTO Ride app that I don't have the word count for.

The only real shortcoming is the lack of cruise control. The MT uses old-school throttle cables, not ride-by-wire, so it's never going to be an option on this model unfortunately. If you've never had it you won't care, you you're used to it, it's hard to go back.

Value-for-money? Big tick. But does it do what it says on the tin? Absolutely. You won't be fooled into thinking you're on a $30,000 BMW, but it sure as hell isn't $19,500 less of a motorcycle.

As a comfortable, go-anywhere, well-appointed adventure tourer at an affordable price, I'd say it's hard - if not impossible - to beat.