KOVE RALLY TEST
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- #dirtbike #racing #offroad #rally #rally
For about two weeks, we’ve been riding the wheels off a Kove Rally and we love it. This is more than a dual-sport bike cast in the image of a rally bike-it’s a legitimate machine that you could take straight to a real rally. Two of them finished Dakar in 2023 and Mason Klein will ride one next month at the 2024 edition of the event.It’s legitimate to ask what a rally bike is in the first place. The FIM has a long list of very specific requirements for Dakar and other events, but the core must have a single-cylinder motor with a displacement limit of 450cc. For practical purposes, it has to be a real dirt bike that’s capable of going very far and very fast. It seems odd to us that no one else is offering a bike like this. KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas all make limited runs of semi factory bikes for support riders. Honda’s rally bikes are complete works bikes, and so are the Hero Dakar bikes.The Kove Rally is made in China, but clearly has a very strong western influence. The motor is a double overhead cam, four-valve 450 with a six-speed gearbox. The bottom end was from an earlier model but everything from the base gasket up was developed for this bike. The fuel system is what makes it different from anything else out there. There are three tanks with a combined capacity of 7.9 gallons. It all feeds automatically to the left front tank, so there are no fuel-management issues. The bike has a small frame-mount fairing, a down-swept exhaust, a massive carbon-fiber skid plate and instrumentation that includes a small tablet behind the windscreen. The bike has full lighting and equipment for street use. Currently it meets Euro 5 emissions requirements and is undergoing the process for approval in the U.S. For now, it falls into that gray area where it can be licensed in some states, but not the more uptight ones (i.e. California). It even has anti-lock brakes (which can be disabled). The suspension comes from a company called Yu-An, the brakes are Taisko and the tires are CST. The components don’t look like typical Chinese parts-either knock-offs or outdated. All are well finished, compact and perfectly modern.The motor is decent, but nothing to get excited about. Remember, this model has full emission equipment and a super quiet exhaust. It feels fairly plugged up. It makes decent power in the middle but doesn’t rev very far-KTM and Husky dual-sport bikes aren’t much better. The motor still has very clean EFI mapping with no dead spots and very little popping. It has a number of peculiar characteristics, such as very little engine braking. We learned to like it. We even took the bike around Glen Helen’s National track, where it was fine-just not fast. We understand there is a full-dirt model called the Rally Pro which does away with all the restrictions and makes about 10 horsepower more. We might have one of those to test down in the future. For now, we will keep riding the Kove for a test in the March, 2024 print issue of Dirt Bike. As of right now, we feel it sets a new high-mark for Chinese motorcycles.
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This really isnt a test. Its just a video of Carson riding the bike. Not a single comment about the suspension feel, the brakes, steering, weight distribution etc.
There's plenty of other videos of old men complaining about this bike. Go watch those.
@@drpork1360 you clearly have comprehension issues
Uh, motor, round spokey knobby things, bouncy bits on each end. I like bike.
Review over
Need to ride one yourself. A lot depends about your experience , style of riding and where are you riding. For some suspension is hard / for other suspension is too soft.... It's quite subjective....
I'll tell you - the bike is more than good and capable for 9 K.
@@istra70 I'm in Australia and so far we dont have an importer. They look like a good thing, especially for the low purchase price in the US
It’s a better bike than most people expect ! Love mine ❤️🔥
Wish I had the skills and guts to ride like this maniac. It looks like so much fun.
the bike is great and Carlos is a legend !!
you just want to sit down and watch him ride the thing !
Mate I'm excited about these bikes! Good review, nice riding dude!
Nice video. You guys do a nice job! Love the music choice.
Nice. Btw, The Engine is a NT450 ( NC450 Zongshen modified to DOHC , Exclusive to Kove for now with 52HP as opposed to 43 of the NC450 ). The Design is original, and one thing Kove does really well with their motorcycles is how balanced and easy they make their bikes to ride.
Nothing is original on this bike. There are several other companies selling the same bike rebranded different. Its from a stock pile of copyright past due KTM and Honda chassis parts that Chinese manufactures can copy now. Zongshen has been making the NC engines for a long time, they are reliable. Only recently have they added the DOHC cam's to bump high rpm power up. Iv had the GPX, Kayo, and SSR bikes in the past. They were ok but Id never buy another personally. Too many issues, almost impossible to get parts, and guess work.
Kove has an MOU with different vendors under their brand names since it was "Colove". So in Latin America, it's sold under RVM Tagline, similarly "Hunter" for Indonesia etc, but it's still "Kove". I've seen the clay model design of the Kove when it was being made and it's been in the works since 2020. I can understand other Chinese companies doing stupid run-off-the-mill "add-this-add-that" thing, but Kove is nothing like it. You have to ride one to believe it, virtually everyone dismisses it due to the reasons you mentioned initially, until they ride it. I've owned zongshen motorcycles myself and they're underwhelming and feel "out of place".
@@tieoneon1614 That's fine bro, don't buy it. The rest of us will be enjoying it.
@@tieoneon1614incorrect. Do your research.
Kove also revealed a new engine for the bike at Milan, and 2 of the new ones are currently racing in W2RC Dakar.
best kove video that demonstrates bike's capability. first time that i'm curious to ride one.
Great bike, good review.
Oh, and brilliant Music
Many thanks!
Tossing Carson on it is epic. Fun stuff.
For anyone that’s been paying attention to this bike this video feels like it’s about nine months late
Nice video. We are going to be a dealer for these in Denver and have a test bike. It is very exceptional. Good things coming from this company.
which dealer in denver? i wanna to test ride
Need a test rider that’s a little more aggressive ! Price. Seems to keep getting higher . Great to see new manufacturers !
Nice bike 👍
Looking good, Kove! AND keeping the PRICE HONEST!
I don't care who makes the bike as long as it has two wheels I'll ride it
I haven't bought one because I'm waiting tor the CA Street Legal version to come over...
Thanks for getting Carson Brown to ride it...nice to hear a real pro's opinion...
The 50 state legal version will be out in a few months. You can buy one now and do an out of state registration.
As the yellow warning label on the rear fender states, this is an off road motorcycle. Check with your state before buying one if you want to ride it on the road...
Have they added a way to check the oil level ? Last test I saw, they couldnt find one.
CB 910 is so fun to watch , with tires not really for the dirt, he flogged that thing. I would never try that rocky , rain rutted uphill on that thing. 😮😅
I've been trying to figure out if it would ADV very well.
It is perfect as an adventure bike.
Carson Brown is one of the funnest riders to watch riding a dirt bike.
CB makes it look so easy
From 8:12 is when the good stuff starts.. No music. I loved the style it added to the video, but could have done with lowering the music volume when he was hammering the bike!
Everyone is a critic. Trying to please everyone is a hard thing
Just needs more braap!@@DirtBikeMagazine
Now this is how you test a bike real world style 👏🤙😎. It’s just too bad it’s not comparable power wise to the KTM 500EXCF . Now that would be a sick combination and world beater of a bike . Maybe KTM WILL TAKE NOTE and build something comparable both price and features 🙌🤞
The current version is pretty close. It pulls harder at the end of the revs than a 500. It’s more like a 250/350 in that aspect. The v.2 coming out late this year will be much closer in power to the KTM 500. A rally bike is almost 100 pounds heavier than a 450/500. You would need 690 power to make it comparable in terms of butt dyno power.
👍🏼👍🏼👏👏👏😲😎💯
Yes.He rides the snot out of it too.
CB just sold at least 10 of those. Haha!
Not really a test. Nice video though… even if we saw the same shots repeated.
what brand of tires are used ?
CST
@@OverlandTheSlowWay exact type is? Can't find this tires on the cst webpage
✌🏻😊
Yup looks like the unicorn
DR650 FTW 😂
😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
So it is the Pro Version and not the Standard one, which has a road permit...
Well, that might not be a proper test of the bike…. But damn; that guy can ride …!
太酷了❤
(I enjoyed the video, thanks for it, but) What’s the point of testing a rally bike with a rider who’s never ridden one before?
What's the point of asking stupid question?
@@4tech69 oh, I see, so you believe rally, enduro and mx bikes are not that different… true, they all have high fenders…
Actually it was interesting to hear what a good dirt bike rider thought. We know it's a good rally bike 😜
Please have Carson try out the love mx dirtbikes
Review?
Where's the review????????
Exactly. Basically: “We rode it for 4-5 hours and liked it. But we took some great video. We only have a little information from right after the bike was released and haven’t bothered to do our own research online.”
@@UnicornMoto "and we do not even know that this phone holder and mirrors are not even stock"
I don't understand the whole "rally bike" idea. Unless its required for a actual rally event, why would you want all that extra fairing, windshield, tower weight on a dirtbike? More weight, more crap to break off, and I would hate to do a little over the bar crash, that windshield would not feel good slamming in to your throat. When I was young my buddies dad put a small wind shield on his 4 wheeler for plowing snow. One day standing on the pegs, he hit a bump and the edge of that shield hit him square across the nose, busted his nose wide open. Just a fad I guess.
the same reason why people buy sportbikes and not roadsters. You watch Dakar, you think "man these bikes look great and I can do long trips and still ride hard stuff", and if they are manufacturers who do it well like Kove, you can buy one. I am an adventure bike rider, tired of heavy "pol tarres can ride it" adv bikes that want to look like dirt bikes but weigh 210kg. That's why I bought a Kove. And I can take on the TET wherever I want, not worrying about the tank capacity, I can take on small roads for any period of time without a buzzy engine or a cushless drive chain, and I can tuck behing the windshield if I needed to do 50 highway miles in the wind. What's not to like? "rally" bikes will sell as "light and capable" adventure bikes for offroad travellers like me.
@toine0002 I am a 53 yr old former A class mxer at 16yrs age who is outgrowing the klx300 I got this Spring after a 37 year hiatus. My primary complaint with the klx300 is a lack of comfort during the highway miles I need to do at times; but, it is also undersprung, even at my 160 lbs and lacks high speed compression dampenining which certainly checks my speed on dirt. I still ride a rigid mtb, so I am balls on the pegs, aggressive rider who likes speed offroad. Is the Kove 450 Rally my unicorn?
Far too many people dont understand the background of this bike. This isnt a magic, start up brand.This is the typical China rebranded KTM chassis parts from copyright past due R&D {2016 KTM and 2007 Honda CRF to be exact} Chinese companies use the molds, build a bunch of chassis part from cheaper, heavier metals. NC engines are Zongshen, which are reliable Iv had a few. But they always have EFI trouble, or the carb/air box design dont gel being frankensteind together from other companies. Not street legal in CA, WI, or any of those states with stricter laws. Very hard to find someone to work on the off brand suspension. If u crash it, good luck getting parts unless u are one of their paid/incentive driven promoters. Iv had GPX, Kayo, SSR bikes. I liked them until something failed or broke. Then its a horrible feeling wondering if u now own an expensive paper weight because they have to strip parts off existing bikes for replacements. I managed to sell them, but for a big loss. Anyone would be far better off buying a lightly used WR450, CRF450RL, or 690 Enduro depending on where u ride...and putting a rally tower on it for roughly the same OTD price as these.
WR450, CRF450RL, or 690 Enduro all need way more than a rally tower to be comparable to the Kove.
@@inrptn but those 3 will all be around 20 years from now, with full aftermarket support and actual resale.
@@tieoneon1614 Thanks, Nostradamus!
The wr450 or Honda are a totally different bike.
Yes good for off road here in the western us.
But the Kove has a huge tank - making the range only a dream for a wr.
Also Kove has a rear tank. Can be used as a water tank. It’s also huge.
WR will be lucky to go 70 miles on a stock tank at high speeds. Kove is 3x that range. Totally different bike.
This is first generation- 2 generation will improve. The market is huge for this bike.
People have been ask for it for decades.
@@inrptnhe does not understand that.
The tanks alone would cost 1500 and still be way to top heavy.
Not buying "made in china" bike, just on principle.....in fact when I sell my husky's I won't be buying KTM brand now that they're going the china route.
So you are going to throw away most of the clothes you own? Your tv? All your appliances and even the electronic device that you are watching this video on? Good luck not buying something that’s not made in China. 😂
@@streddazwe should always try to support non-Chinese companies when we can. The “your iPhone is made in China” argument doesn’t make sense when there is no non-china made alternative.
@@KTM-N8 There is no non-China made alternatives to this bike unless you want to build it yourself or pay 25K for a rally replica from KTM.
@@KTM-N8 I agree that you should support your own countries products before others but to say I'm not buying a Chinese bike "on principal" it pretty hypocritical if you are buying Chinese everything else. Are you not going to buy KTM anymore?
@@streddazI will definitely not buy a Chinese made KTM.
Finished 21st at Dakar!!!!!! Not bad at all
We were really surprised by the bikes performance during testing
Same comments from every test I've seen. No bottom end power and gear box issues. Also according to Jimmy Lewis the power of a 350. And dirt bike. Stop with music soo loud you can't hear the bike.
I stumbled across a video with the ceo who explains why the bike is underpowered. it was for the dakar where they sit at WOT for long periods of time for weeks. He just wanted to get the bikes to finish, and they did. he has plans to gradually make it more competitive.
another issue some people have found is the overflow/tank vents leak fuel for no apparent reason.
51T sprocket and race exhaust + ECU job done.
They fail to mention that this test didn't take place in California because it's illegal to ride it there. This not a street legal motorcycle.
that explains why they're not at glen helen
No, but they are very close to Glen Helen. 🤫
They are in California, l know where they are. The bike is legal on road and off road . It is a dual sport with blinkers head light and license plate holder. After 22' those are the only legal bikes off road on public lands.
Carson is just a beast on everything he rides ! Can't even believe what he was doing on that thing, with those dual sport tires going up that gnarly rain rutted lose rock uphill ! 😮😅
@@raymondsiewert2720 If you take a close look at the back fender there's a sticker that states its a closed course competition bike. They are not street legal at this time. Kove keeps stating their working on it. The problem is getting it to pass EPA requirements. If you live in some states out west they will let you plate a dirt bike which is what at this time the Kove is.
This is why I don’t watch reviews from dumb magazines. You don’t know shit about what you are looking at and didn’t do the research. This looks like over and over again. No dude it’s a freaking rally bike through and through.
chill out
@@jonnoMoto no
@LCARSADV do you see why people keep accusing you of working for GPX?
@@jonnoMoto my comment was valid whether I worked for anyone or not. Magazine reviews suck for the most part. If I worked for GPX the where’s my free stuff? I sure would like free stuff!
@@LCARSADVim guessing you're having a bad day. usually you're more reasonable and level headed.
Omg, it's not an "IPhone charger", there is an usb charging port, bro! These aplle fanboys 🤦🏻♂️
Sorry you are upset. Majority of the people we are around use iphone .
@@DirtBikeMagazine sorry for me sound toxic. There is obviously so much devices you can use for navigation pirposes or just charge during trip, if you're planning to use it as an adventure rig. It was pretty strange to hear how someone calls usb charging port this way)
LOOSE the music!!
You want the music loose? Or lose it?
This bike is a Chinese brand
Yes you are correct. You might be surprised to see the video with Carson Brown riding!
So what?
So’s half your shit on your bike and the phone you typed that on?
Nothing get's past you!
You need to check and see where most of KTM is made now 😉
How much did Dirtbike mag get paid for this add?
Test? These teviews are becoming embarrassing
This bike will give KTM a run for their money.
well, since KTM is moving all manufactering to China, yes they are both trash
@@nastysoda9212meanwhile Kove is racing in the Dakar this week.
As is KTM-
So not sure it your statement has any real life meaning
Kove Wuhan edition.
Do not forget to watch Dakar in 3 days...6 bikes of wuhan edition will be there,competing with everybody else
🫵❤️Love 19 💪✊🦠🦠🦠