If you follow our socials and this site, you’ll know that the Kove brand is steadily making its way into the SA Market. The first shipments of the 450’s have all sold and the new 800’s have been homologated and are raising many eyebrows. We got the bike for a day or two and took it for a blast.
By: Glenn Foley, Donovan Fourie. Pics, Motomedia
Kove touts this one as “The world’s lightest and most powerful ADV”. That’s a big claim. In this class they are, however, correct on the lightness. This bike, fully lubed weighs in at just 196KG’s, making it the lightest ADV bike in the middleweight ADV class.
As a comparison, the BMW GS800 weighs 214KG’s and the T7 comes in at 205, the Trans-Alp at 208.
In terms of power, the 799cc fuel injected Parallel twin, DOHC water-cooled engine produces 95 hp at 9,000 rpm and 59 lb.-ft. of torque at 7,500 rpm.
That’s pretty impressive. And, we’ll tell you for free that riding the bike, you feel both the lightness and the grunty power that the bike delivers as you wring that throttle. As a by – it sounds snarly and aggressive, we wouldn’t change the pipe.
Speaking of throttle, sports mode in the gravel is just a bit too abrupt, we set it into the softer mode and found that the bike became more manageable – and there was still more than enough performance for tearing along the trails.
On the tar – 200 KMs per hour comes along very quickly in sports mode. She tops out at just over 210. The performance is really good fun – and that’s seriously important. No seriously – this motor really is fun! The clutch is soft and the gears and gearing feel spot on.
The bike is well shaped, easy to move around on and comfortable sitting or standing. One top thing for us is that normal sized people can comfortably get their feet to the ground.
Wide pegs, a narrow 20 litre tank (that slips under the seat to lower the centre of gravity) and flattish saddle make it easy to get your mojo on.
The only thing we’d change are the bars (For stand-up gravel stuff). They are good quality tapered units and all that, but personally, for the dirt, a slightly higher bend would be nice. No complaints for tar.
Life in the cockpit is grand with a big, easy to read TFT screen transmitting all the dope you need to know. One lekker thing is that – if you turn off the traction control – it stays off. You don’t need to check that all the time.
The bike comes with two different power maps Eco and Sport as well as ABS and traction control. The ABS can either be on, rear wheel off or both wheels off. Just like the traction control, the setting stays.
And they have thought it all out with simple, easy to understand adjustments.
Donovan Fourie from The Bike Show spent most of this feature on the road, he shares some thoughts:
The first time we rode a Kove it was the 450 Rally, and before beginning my on-screen drone about it, there was one thing to double check – is it really Chinese? Were we about to rain praise upon a motorcycle that was actually just owned by the Chinese and instead designed and built in some fancy facility in Germany, as the feeling suggested.
Yes, it is entirely assembled in China. How about that?
The same feeling of disbelief spawned as we weaved through traffic in Pretoria having left Off-road Cycles where we picked it up. If the answer was instead “No, it’s actually built in a fancy facility in Germany” I wouldn’t have second-guessed this.
The motor feels really good. It’s smooth, responsive, and not over-powering while also being powerful enough to occasionally get your adrenal gland milking.
It’s somehow very off-road capable while not being three metres tall like many adventure machines are guilty of. If you look at an actual Dakar Rally bike (from which the entire Kove brand spawns) they’re not that tall either. It makes you wonder why so many manufacturers seem to find the stilted adventure bike so necessary. Thus, you have no problem zig-zagging between mindless drones in their cars.
More so, it weighs about as much as a helium balloon so, again, darting in and out of near stationary automotive chicanes is a doddle.
Out on the freeway, it’s smooth and relaxed. Where there could be some small changes is perhaps a slightly beefier screen. The rally-styled one fitted standard blocks most of the gales but there are a few breezes sneaking around it. The seat is a little bit hard and narrow which is grand for off-roading but might be a butt-ache after 12 hours of road travel.
Apart from that, the Kove feels like every great European adventure bike ever made.
Things we know you are going to ask:
Build quality: The bike has a quality fit feel about it. No rattles or shakes, positive handling, smooth and comfortable. When we did our first feature, the bike was partially stripped, so we got a good look. Welds are neat, plastics all clip in and line up properly. As good as any bike we’ve ridden.
Equipment: Read above, it’s a properly modern bike, rider modes, TFT screen, ABS, TC… and it’s all easy to figure out and set. Some would like to see cruise control and a quickshifter. The bike comes standard with crash bars and a beefy bash plate.
Components: KYB Suspension. Tubeless spoked wheels. Steering damper. We are not familiar with the Taisko brand of brakes, but they felt good to us. The parallel twin is a tried and tested design and really talks to you.
Performance: It’s fun to ride. From the very start, the bike emits a fantastic growl that makes you want to hit that throttle. The Throttle is pretty abrupt but you’ll get used to it. The bike is light and nimble with lots of very useable power on tap.
Ergonomics: They have done a good job, comfortable on the road, wide pegs, seat, bars all natural. Riding in the dirt is much the same – we’d just get a higher bend set of bars. The screen is not adjustable, and it did the job at speeds. We are pretty sure bigger touring screens and all that are in the pipeline…
Parts: A full selection of accident components is on the water. Levers, panels, wheels suspension and all service items.
More important stuff:
The Kove runs 21/18 tubeless wheels – easy puncture repairs. These are mounted to fully adjustable 48mm KYB front forks and rear shock. Nothing wrong with KYB – we’d just set them a little bit softer.
The stopping power is provided by Taisko and looks just like the Japanese brand Nissin. Twin double pots up front with a single pot out back. They worked just fine on our travels.
Warranty: 2yrs 30000 KM’s
First service: 1000 and then every ten thou.
Valve check: Every 30 000.
General maintenance: The Air filter is up front, and high. 2 bolts to service.
Chain adjustment: Is straight forward standard.
There’s a spy glass to check oil.
Two bikes are here and they are not for sale.
Stock is on the water and should be on showroom floors in December.
5 dealers nationwide so far.
Watch this space.
Specifications:
Price 209 999.00
Engine size 799cc
Engine type: 8 valve DOHC parallel twin
Frame type: Diamond shape dual-wing beam
Fuel capacity: 20 litres
Seat height: 875mm
Bike weight: 196kg
Front suspension: 48mm, KYB fully adjustable forks
Rear suspension: Single KYB shock, fully adjustable
Front brake: Twin disc four-piston caliper
Rear brake: Single disc one piston caliper
Front tyre size: 90/90 x 21
Rear tyre size: 150/70 x 18
Max power claimed: 81 bhp
Max torque claimed: 49.3 ft-lb
