Kove is a brand that burst onto the international market not so very long ago and they are rocking the proverbial boat somewhat… We recently tested their 450 Rally, (which you can read about here if you missed it), and our riders were pretty impressed by the quality and the performance.
We chatted to the local S.A. Importer and we believe that there are 40 plus new Kove 450 Rally’s on the water en route to South and more than 50% of that shipment is already pre-sold. That says a lot about buyers’ confidence in the brand and the product in general.
While we were wandering around the countryside we heard murmurings, tall tales, rumours and speculations about an 800cc Adventure bike from Kove being a fairly definite possibility, so we investigated… and said utterances do seem to be quite true. Whether they might be finding their way to our shores, well – Who can say for sure? We tackled the local importer on the issue, but they are quite good at remaining tight lipped and stony faced, however the barely perceptible mischievous glint which picked up in their eyes does give us a little bit of hope in seeing the 800 X “Pro” here in SA sometime in the future.
So, What is it then….?
Quite gorgeous is what it is, quite the looker, sort of T7-esque with a bit of a ‘Rally Raid’ headlight set up, tidy bodywork, athletic body lines and a very eye-catching matte dark green colour. If the pictures are to be believed a steel or aluminium bash plate and crash guards seem to be standard fare. Overall it looks agile, well sprung and more than just a little bit ready for action.
The Engine
Kove claims 71 kW at 9,000 rpm and 80 nm at 7,500 rpm from an electronically fuel injected, twin cylinder, liquid cooled, DOHC 799cc mill and a top speed of 210 kmh. If those figures are to be believed, then this is going to be one very special bike and will properly shake up the mid range adventure bike market, especially if their pricing strategy remains as aggressive as that of the 450 Rally.
The Chassis:
Needless to say, that kind of mill will need a chassis to match and to get all that power and torque to where it needs to be. According to Kove, the frame is a Diamond shape, dual-wing beam, with a 35° steering angle and a rake of 26.15° all sprung on KYB, preload and damping adjustable front suspension, and a preload and damping adjustable rear shock absorber mounted to a serious looking swing arm. This whole lot is balanced on Pirelli shod spoked wheels. They claim a 185 kg wet weight that will be stopped by dual discs, 4-piston opposed callipers with ABS in front and a single disc, single piston calliper and ABS out rear.
It does seem to have quite interesting dimensions on the whole, with 275mm ground clearance and a seat height that ranges between 865 mm and 875 mm. The overall length is 2238 mm, while the width is 880 mm and the height to the top of its mirrors is 1,399 mm. However, it is the wheelbase that is quite interesting at 1,510mm – read into that what you may. The bit of information that really interests us is the claimed “guaranteed” fuel cruising range of in excess of 400 km’s from the 20 litre fuel tank. That’s an easy 20 km per litre by our calculations, important information in this day and age of excessively punitive fuel pricing.
OH! And it runs on tubeless rims and tyres front and rear, so puncture repairs on the road are going to be as easy as can be and it also has a TFT screen, but we couldn’t find anything about connectivity.
We really do hope that the KOVE 800 X “Pro” finds its way to South Africa…. along with a lot of the other models on their website, they all look pretty tasty.
Want to know more or book yours now, go to https://www.kovemotosa.co.za/
