We have featured The Kove 450 with our regular MX contributors. You can read their opinion here.
This time, we borrowed the bike and took it for a good long social spin on the 220 KM long Gyppo Work Tuesday Ride…
You’ll by now know about the Kove brand. The team has taken the bike all over the country, established a great dealer network and allowed armies of riders to experience the 450. Feedback is great and they have virtually sold out on their first few shipments.
The one we borrowed has 6000 KM’s on it, so it’s certainly been ridden and abused – a lot.
This bike is Rally, but we like the fact that it’s not overly tall – even our short legged riders had no issues getting feet to the ground.
Big tanks, wide pegs, aggressive attack position, just like a big dirtbike.
We filled the 31 litre tanks to the brim and took it for a lekker long ride.
On the tar, it’s well behaved – you need to ride within the limits of the aggressive tyres and – well, we’ll say it again, it’s a lot of fun. We didn’t notice any crazy heat coming off the engine, the cooling fans quietly clicked on and off as we negotiated the traffic.
With more road oriented tyres, It’s a bike that you could easily ride as an everyday commuter,
but that’s not what it’s for…
Hit the long trails and open the throttle – you really start to understand the Kove 450. While the bike might feel all soft and tame in an urban environment, it’s a brilliant thing to ride fast in the dirt.
No seriously, it’s fun. The big suspension soaks up the terrain and the 450 mills got that long gearing that simply eats up the miles.
It’s the personification of the saying – “It’s more fun to ride fast.”
It rails and handles like an MX machine, eats koppies and little hills for breakfast and puts a big, fat smile on your face every time.
We crossed rivers, tackled mud puddles and all sorts and the bike did not skip a beat for the duration.
The 450R Rally’s Twin-Cam 449cc water-cooled single pumps out 51 horsepower and 30 ft-lbs of torque. With its 21/18 wheel combo, It offers a 97CM seat height, fully adjustable 49mm forks and rear shock that delivers 30 and a bit CM’s of suspension travel and ground clearance.
If you do happen to hit deeper stuff, it comes standard with a big skid plate that keeps everything intact.
This is an authentic, long-range, Rally Bike, or a lightweight ADV machine.
It comes with a colour-TFT display and defeatable ABS, along with a dry weight of just on 145KG’s.
Three fuel tanks (two front, one rear) provide a total fuel capacity of 31 litres for mileage in excess of 500KM’s
It’s a big dirtbike. The power is there, the handling is spot on and we did mention that it’s a lot of fun to ride?
This specific one from Offroad Cycles in Pretoria has been hammered (By everyone!) for more than 6000KM’s and it still feels pretty fresh!
Mason Klein will be back on the Kove 450 at Dakar early next year. We look forward to seeing what he can do .
R208000.00
