Drivers don’t want subscription-based options in their cars, so it stands to reason that riders don’t want them in motorcycles, either. Unfortunately, it looks like we may be stuck with them on two wheels as well, reports RideApart. While one might assume it’s BMW trying again after its subscription heated seat fiasco, it’s newcomer CFMoto that’s trying to foist subscription features on at least some of us.
YouTuber Yammie Noob initially reported that CFMoto was going to start charging U.S. customers to use the RideSync app, which provides owners with easy remote access to telemetry, tracking, and geofencing features. This turned out to be false, as he confused the RideSync app for the U.S. with the Ride App used in other parts of the world. CFMoto issued a press release to clarify this. The current RideSync web page makes it abundantly clear that the app and its features are free. Yammie Noob has corrected himself, updating the description of his original video with a clarification and releasing a new video on the subject as well. The similarity between the “RideSync” and “Ride App” names reasonably explains his initial confusion.
But while Americans are off the hook, even CFMoto’s press release states:
CFMOTO Global’s Ride App serves Europe and other parts of the world.
A subscription may be charged in those regions.
CFMOTO’s global site notes that the subscription policy does not apply to the United States.
CFMoto’s Ride App web page lists monthly, quarterly, and annual subscription fees to unlock some of the app’s most useful features, including a digital key, over-the-air updates, geofencing, and real-time location tracking. It even lists these fees in U.S. dollars as well as Euros. While CFMoto promises not to charge Americans for these services, promises can be broken.
A bait and switch
CFMoto provides connected services through a device called a T-Box that plugs into the motorcycle and syncs with your phone. It’s standard equipment in some areas, and optional in others as a way to keep the motorcycle’s base price down. RideApart obtained the following statement from CFMoto:
“I can confirm that prior to August 15, 2025, the CFMOTO Ride App offered free service to CFMOTO T-Box owners. On that date, the app transitioned to a paid subscription that offers different subscription options, with the highest-featured option totaling 44.90 Euro, or $49.90 USD.”
In other words, the Global Ride App also offered free services to all users, just like the U.S.-spec RideSync app. But then, CFMoto updated the app and retroactively paywalled features that were previously free. Current users were automatically enrolled in a “free trial period,” after which they must pay for previously included features. This is bad news for anyone who bought a CFMoto motorcycle that originally included these as standard features. It’s far worse for people who bought a T-Box separately to gain access to these features and must now pay a subscription on top of the original purchase price. It would have been far more fair to make this a paid subscription for new customers, but keep the service free for existing customers who rightfully believed that’s what they had originally paid for.
Manufacturers may think we want subscription services, but we really don’t. What stands between Americans and a similar fate? CFMoto’s word that they won’t, and a simple change in the RideSync app. We’re not saying that CFMoto will do this. But it has already done this elsewhere in the world, and it wouldn’t take much technologically to do it here as well.
