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Kove 450 Rally long-term review: known issues and who will it suit?︱Cross Training Adventure

Published on Sat, Jun 22nd 2024 Sports Rectangular HD

http://crosstrainingenduro.com Our Kove 450R Rally long term review! It's road-legal status in the USA has just been announced so it's good timing for our Kove 450 Rally review. Welcome to Cross Training Adventure, we are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia. Over the past few months our Canadian cousins have clocked a lot of miles on three Koves. Our Australian team just spent three weeks in Canada and got to ride them. Check out our reviews of various adventure bikes and dual sport bikes. This Kove 450R Rally long term review combines the opinions of at least a dozen riders. First in this Kove 450 Rally review? It's very important to understand the nature of the beast! The Kove 450 Rally has been designed for the Dakar rally and it has performed surprisingly well for a new model. If you like dual sport riding in Australia then you might like our adventure riding vids. The Kove 450 Rally then revs at 5900rpm at 100kmh. Adventure riding? The Kove could prove to be quite a good lightweight adventure motorbike. The huge fuel tanks are an obvious benefit with a potential range of 600km or 370 miles from the 30 litre fuel capacity. Some owners say the Euro 5 airbox may fix this. But of course it might be very restrictive too. Although the windscreen is not adjustable the rally fairing worked quite well for protecting our riders from the elements whether they were short or tall. But with modifications or adjusted expectations it may fit those roles quite well. The Kove 450 Rally rally fairing and extra fuel tanks make it a lot heavier than enduro 450 models at 145kg with an empty tank. Keen on adventure riding in Australia? Check out our vids.171kg with the massive fuel tanks filled. The gear ratios are fairly narrow to suit racing conditions. The Kove 450 Rally is very tall with a 960mm or 37.8 inches seat height.Kove 450 Rally throttle response at low revs. Many owners are complaining about the snatchy on-off nature of the fuel injection at low revs. It's a race motorbike so it hasn't been designed with that in mind. However, Kove have been quick to respond to feedback so far so we may see ECU remapping that improves this. Overall quality? To their credit,the Kove 450 Rally seems to be aiming for quality. Our mechanic has been working on these for a while and has been impressed so far. The three test motorbikes were outside for one month and it was often raining or snowing. Only time will tell, but the initial indications of the Kove 450 Rally are positive. The Kove does start to move briskly at high revs but of course most of us will be using the midrange power most of the time. We rode the Kove back-to-back with a derestricted DRZ400 and were surprised to see the DRZ had almost as much power up to about 6000rpm. Kove 450 Rally has probably sacrificed some power in exchange for reliability. Second? Will the Kove 450 Rally be good for enduro riding? Of course not. You can ride it on single track. We did. But it's hard work and it's simply not designed for that. The main issue is the weight. Some Kove 450 Rally riders may be disappointed with the midrange power for adventure riding. There's enough to lope along at highway speeds all day. But for any spirited riding you will find the engine only starts to perform well above 6000rpm. The stock gearing could be tricky. It works well for highway but there will be compromises if you also want to ride slower gnarlier terrain. Ridden the Kove 450 Rally? We are keen to hear your thoughts. Do you own one? What has been your experience so far? Remember to check our pinned first comment for important links and further tips. With a full fuel tank it will be like enduro riding on a DR650 with good suspension. Once the fuel level is low, it will be like riding a DRZ400 with firm suspension. Doable, but not ideal. If you really want that lightweight enduro/adventure unicorn you need to adventurise a 450 or 500 enduro model. See this video. Lets move on. Dual sport riding? Now we are much closer to the mark! The Kove way better for road riding than your 450 enduro models. The Kove 450 Rally gearing works well. The Kove is still a bit heavy for a dual sport motorbike but remember it does have quite a low centre of gravity with those lower fuel tanks. Off-road? First gear is too high and needs a lot of clutch-slipping to get going. Many owners add three teeth to the rear sprocket and find this works well.
CREATIVE COMMONS FOOTAGE
How we FILMED the rally to DAKAR from Dream Duo Films
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hlljDB68qA
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#dualsportbikes