Kove 450 Rally Tested: Dakar DNA for Kiwi Adventure Riders

• 145kg dry weight with massive 30-litre fuel capacity
• Genuine rally-bike feel with exceptional off-road confidence
• Chinese manufacturer Kove takes aim at heavyweight ADV bikes

A genuine Dakar-inspired rally machine with huge fuel range, serious suspension and remarkably low weight, the Kove 450 Rally is unlike anything else in the adventure market.

Motorcyclists love a disruptor story, but very few brands arrive and genuinely shake things up. Chinese manufacturer Kove appears to be doing exactly that, and the Kove 450 Rally is the bike that has suddenly got adventure riders, rally racers and hard-core off-road tourers paying attention.

At first glance, the 450 Rally looks like something that should have a factory race truck following behind it across the Dakar bivouac rather than sitting in a dealership showroom with a number plate attached. That’s because, unlike many adventure bikes that simply borrow rally styling cues, the Kove is effectively a genuine rally machine adapted for public roads.

And that’s exactly the point.

Kove was founded in China in 2017 by motorcycle racer and engineer Zhang Xue, with a focus on building performance motorcycles rather than budget commuter transport. While many Chinese brands have traditionally competed on price, Kove has taken a different direction, pushing heavily into motorsport and performance credibility. The company grabbed the attention of the global motorcycle industry after entering the Dakar Rally, where its bikes not only started the event but successfully finished it – no small achievement considering Dakar’s brutal reputation for destroying both machinery and riders.

The 450 Rally is the clearest example yet of what the company is trying to achieve. Instead of building another middleweight adventure bike aimed at competing with machines like Yamaha’s Ténéré 700 or Suzuki’s V-Strom range, Kove has gone far more niche. This is a purpose-built lightweight rally bike designed for riders who prioritise off-road performance over outright comfort or road manners.

Power comes from a 449cc DOHC single-cylinder engine producing around 51 horsepower (depending on spec), paired with a six-speed gearbox and Bosch fuel injection. On paper, those numbers don’t sound outrageous, but the impressive part is the overall package. With a claimed dry weight of around 145kg and a massive 30-litre fuel capacity, the Kove offers a combination very few bikes can match.

That low weight immediately separates it from most adventure bikes currently on the market. While many modern ADV machines continue getting larger, heavier and more road-focused, the Kove heads in the opposite direction. Long-travel suspension, a tall rally stance, slim ergonomics and low-mounted side fuel tanks all point toward serious off-road intent.

And serious it is.

This isn’t really a motorcycle aimed at riders wanting a comfortable commuter during the week before tackling the occasional gravel road on weekends. Instead, the Kove 450 Rally targets experienced adventure riders who want to cover huge distances off-road, tackle rally events, or explore remote back-country terrain without wrestling with a 220kg adventure bike once the road disappears.

For Kiwi riders, that makes the Kove particularly interesting. New Zealand’s adventure riding scene is filled with riders tackling long gravel routes, remote South Island high-country roads, forestry tracks and multi-day adventure rides where lighter weight can make a massive difference by the end of the day. Riders who love the idea of a KTM 450 Rally Replica but can’t justify the eye-watering price tag (circa $60,000 if you can get one) will immediately understand the appeal here.

Of course, a machine like this comes with compromises. The towering seat height, focused ergonomics and rally-bike DNA mean it’s never going to offer the plush comfort or polished road manners of a conventional adventure bike. But that’s missing the point entirely.

The Kove 450 Rally isn’t pretending to be an adventure bike with rally styling.

It’s a rally bike that just happens to be road legal.

Kiwi Testing

The Kove has been unveiled in markets overseas for quite some time, but a Kiwi distributor has only recently been secured, so this is one of the first demo bikes to arrive locally. Greg Boyd from Boyd Motorcycles in Hamilton is a keen adventure rider, and as soon as he heard that Kove models were going to be available for Kiwi buyers, he instantly put his hand up to become a dealer. The journey to actually get models in the shops has taken a bit of time due to homologation for Aussie and NZ, but there are now bikes on the water heading to NZ, and this is the first demo. We couldn’t wait to give it a go.

Rolling up to the Te Rapa store and the Kove instantly stood out against the backdrop of other adventure bikes sitting outside the shop front – this is a serious-looking machine. The styling screams ‘rally’, especially as the bodywork that encompasses the chassis looks like it’s almost all petrol tank. With a capacity of 30 litres able to be stored, there’s little chance of running out of gas on any of NZ’s rides, although I couldn’t help thinking that it’s lucky the Kove has a seriously low 145-kilo dry weight, as adding 30 kilos of gas to the equation would make a regular adventure bike seriously heavy.

Talking to Greg about the new model, he’d just returned from a decent weekend adventure ride and he hadn’t filled it up during that time, and we still clocked off another 50km before finally stopping at a petrol station to replenish the Kove’s gargantuan tanks. Obviously, you don’t need to fill them to the brim, but it’s certainly handy to have as some adventure rides often push the limits of fuel supplies due to scarce petrol stops in the back blocks. Even with the massive fuel capacity, the low-mounted side tanks stop the Kove from feeling top-heavy in the way many large-capacity adventure bikes can.

Looking over the Kove, it’s instantly apparent this isn’t a finely polished bike that you’d see come out of a Japanese or Euro factory. Instead, it feels very much like a tool to do a specific job, almost like a competition machine. The tower holding the TFT dash is functional and not the prettiest, and I discovered further quirks after spending a bit of time on the bike, like the bash plate sticking out below the gear lever, which made it a bit awkward. Or the fact finding neutral with the engine running was tricky.

And the motor sounds like nothing else in the modern adventure category, with metallic undertones that remind me of riding performance single-cylinder machines like 450cc motocross or enduro bikes. It was all very interesting and like nothing else in the segment. And the fact that this has come from a Chinese manufacturer makes the Kove even more intriguing.

Rally Feel

The test Greg had arranged included a few of his good friends who all just happened to be on small-capacity adventure bikes. That provided the opportunity to have a good swap around with many of the current contenders in the small-capacity ADV segment and get a really good appreciation of how the Kove compared.

The first difference to the rest was the seat height. At 960mm from the floor, this isn’t the sort of bike that you want to try and mount unless you’re on a flat surface. Once onboard, I personally didn’t have an issue getting my feet on the floor, but a few of the more vertically challenged riders certainly needed to keep an eye on where they stopped to avoid that embarrassing stationary topple over. Of course, there’s a reason for the towering saddle and that’s suspension travel and ground clearance. The Kove has an extraordinary 305mm of suspension travel front and rear, so it’s proper rally suspension. If you’re planning on hitting anything at speed, this is the bike you want to be on. And even with all that travel, it still feels incredibly good, with a firmness in the set-up rather than wallowing through the stroke.

On the road and the Kove is an involving experience. In fact, it makes you feel like a rally star. The TFT dash actually functions really nicely, with the ability to deactivate the rear ABS as well as turning it all off all done with a few presses of the buttons on the left switchblock. When you do, a small bike symbol appears at the bottom of the screen, with an orange wheel signalling what you’ve deactivated. The rest of the info is clear and easy to read, although there isn’t much else you can do as there are no power maps or traction control settings to mess around with. It’s functional without fuss, much like the rest of the bike.

There’s a real dirt bike feel riding the Kove, especially from the narrow saddle that climbs up the tank. It’s more what we’re used to seeing on a pukka enduro bike rather than an adventure machine. That means it’s not the most comfortable perch in the world, and I think a sore bum will cause you to stop for a rest long before the Kove would ever reach the bottom of those fuel tanks. Yet, once you start pushing on, suddenly that saddle and the riding position comes into its own, giving you the ability to really control the bike and understand what’s going on beneath you, especially compared to some of the other adventure machinery which felt like trying to pilot an armchair. On the road, the riding position enables you to really attack corners with confidence, while the narrow saddle allows the bike to roll easily from one side to the other beneath you. I was almost resorting to an elbows up and leg out supermoto style on the tarseal, which suddenly made even more sense once the road finished and the gravel started.

Despite the rally-bike ergonomics, the tower and screen actually provide surprisingly decent wind protection once up to open-road speeds, while vibration through the bars and pegs is noticeable without ever becoming intrusive.

Rough Stuff

Now, we weren’t exactly going to simulate a rally raid here in NZ, although the west coast was pretty wild the day we spent testing. Intermittent rain and lots of crappy surfaces meant lots of slippery clay to contend with, along with the typical conditions you’ll find in the back blocks of NZ in winter.

On the road, the Kove 450 was slightly hamstrung by the fact that this model is LAMS compliant, meaning learner riders are able to ride the new model. How many learners will want to make a 450cc rally bike their first choice is a bit puzzling to me (and Greg), but it means that due to the incredibly low weight, the power has needed to be restricted to meet the LAMS power/weight criteria. So there was something like 35hp on tap, which is significantly less than the full-power overseas specification of 51-ish horsepower.

With the Kove significantly lighter than everything else in our group, the lack of horsepower simply evened things up, and I was still able to campaign the Chinese machine at a more than adequate pace. Without local power figures, it’s hard to tell exactly what was available, but I’d imagine the same-ish figure of 40Nm of torque at 7000rpm was still there, with the power really limited at the 9,000rpm max output. The Kove still had plenty of stomp coming out of turns lower in the rev range, with that sudden surge cracking on the throttle ideal for getting the rear spinning to turn the bike. And holding onto the revs still saw the 450 producing enough power to make it entertaining above open road speeds.

However, it was on the loose that the Kove really comes into its own. Suddenly, the riding position makes complete sense, and simply edging a couple of centimetres further forward on the saddle produced massive rewards in front-end feel. You can ride this bike seriously hard using that front-end as it simply exudes confidence. Getting on the gas, spinning the rear and then driving forwards, the Kove just makes riding off-road so easy.

With some of the terrible weather we’ve had recently showing plenty of scars on the landscape, washouts and ruts across the tracks didn’t even warrant a roll off of the throttle, with the suspension soaking up anything I hit, especially when standing up on the massive footpegs, which made soaking up impacts even better. This bike is designed to attack, and once you establish that, it all makes sense.

Factory Feel

There are quirks, so don’t expect to go and look at a Kove 450 Rally and expect it to be as polished as, well, pretty much anything else on the market. This bike is designed to do a job. Have one sitting in the shed and it’s almost like you’ve got your own factory racer. Yet, it’s still livable with.

The powerplant, while sounding like a motocrosser, is still tractable and usable. I didn’t ride it in town, but Greg mentioned the fuelling was a little snatchy in places. I didn’t find that on my test, and I imagine this isn’t the sort of bike you’d buy for commuting anyway. It is, however, the sort of bike you’ll want to tinker and fiddle with to set it up exactly how you want it. And if you’re already a keen adventure rider, what the Kove 450 gives you is a base that already has the important bits sorted, like radiators with cooling fans, a high-mount air intake, long-range fuel capacity, decent suspension, low weight and plenty of protection. It does mean shorter service intervals due to the high-performance nature of the powerplant, so be prepared for 2000km oil changes and inspections.

However, if you’re a learner rider looking to get into adventure, this bike probably isn’t for you. There are plenty of other machines that will nurture you into the adventure fold before stepping up to a model like the Kove 450 Rally.

The one thing owning a Kove 450 Rally will give you, however, is attention. Be prepared that wherever you stop or park, people are going to be asking you questions. In a segment where the bikes are looking increasingly similar or ballooning in weight and techno-gizmos, the Kove 450 Rally is a breath of fresh air. And who would have expected the Chinese to be the ones to do that…!

The Kove 450 Rally won’t suit everybody, and that’s exactly why it’s interesting. In a market increasingly crowded with heavy, road-focused adventure bikes, the Kove unapologetically prioritises dirt performance. For experienced riders chasing genuine off-road capability without spending legit ‘Rally Replica’ money, there’s suddenly a very compelling new option.

If you fancy checking out the Kove 450 Rally, get in touch with Greg or one of the team at Boyd Motorcycles in Hamilton and they’ll be sure to welcome you. You’ll find their website HERE or you can call them on 07 850 4522.

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Publisher/Editor

Paul

Paul is the owner, publisher and editor of Bike Rider Magazine, a role he has had for over two decades. He has been BRM’s primary test rider throughout that time, riding and reviewing everything from learner machines to high-performance superbikes. After cutting his teeth with Superbike Magazine in the UK, Paul moved to New Zealand in the early 2000s and has since dedicated his career to delivering honest, rider-focused motorcycle journalism.