Each year, some of the most interesting stuff at Milan’s EICMA show is the machinery we don’t see here in North America. For 2022, that include the Fantic Caballero 700, a made-in-Italy scrambler with a Japanese engine.

In case you’ve forgotten, Fantic is based in Italy, but has strong ties to Yamaha (unlike so many other Euro brands, which are tied to Chinese OEMs). Fantic is best-known for its small-cc commuters and its dirt bikes, but in recent years has explored other interesting ideas, such as a 450 rally bike (Fantic actually entered a factory Dakar team), and the Caballero series of scramblers.

For 2023, Fantic is offering the Caballero 700, based around the same CP2 engine that Yamaha uses for the XSR700, MT-07, and so on. It’s one of the most successful middleweight platforms in motorcycling today. The 689cc parallel twin should make a very practical 75 horsepower and 50 pound-feet of torque. The only drawback is that in the EU, that means only A-licensed riders can buy this bike (but Fantic would no doubt be happy to sell them the 125 or 500 Caballero models while they work their way up to the full certification).

It’s a scrambler, not a full adventure bike, and that means you’re going to get less ground clearance thanks to the 19-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels. Those wheels run on spoked rims, though, so they’ll handle bumps in the dirt without folding up like a cast rim.

Photo: Fantic

Fantic includes a 3.5-inch TFT screen on the  bike with Bluetooth connectivity, and full LED lighting.

The frame itself is cheap, sensible chromoly steel. Marzocchi supplies the USD fork and preload-adjustable shock. Seat height is a very manageable 36.7 in (830 mm). Dry weight is 397 lb (180 kg), and asking price is expected to be 10,000 euros.

Hm. That’s a bit dear, but some buyers will no doubt like the reliable Yamaha engine and sleek styling, and want a made-in-Italy bike instead of the made-in-Thailand series of Ducati Scramblers. It’s not like Fantic is planning to flood the market with these machines anyway; its production volume will be a fraction of Ducati’s Scrambler production, and no doubt the bean-counters know exactly how many of these Caballero 700 models they can expect to sell.