My Kove 450 Rally February 2024

[BuRP]

As soon as I heard that @Runner from Offroad Cycles would be involved in bringing in these newfangled Kove 450 Rally bikes I read about on the interwebs, and I liked what I saw/heard on all the YouTubes also, I told him I would buy one IF.....
- it would be more comfy on the open (paved yes) roads at 120 kmh than my KTM 500, and
- when it also would do fine (that's "good enough") at justaboveidle in first gear so as to negate technical stuff.
I also told him that if I did not like it I wouldn't get one - all good.
So, that meant I had to wait until they had a unit ready for test riding....

That proved to take almost 2 weeks after the first batch arrived, reason being the SANS model approval (plus some Enatis stuff) so that the bikes could be registered.
That's all fine & dandy but hurry TF up because I was itching to ride one!
When I did the bike was already run-in so no dawdling required, and I sent it up the N4 to Witbank.
This test model also has a Garmin GPS on it, and glancing at the two screens confused me a bit - plus I had to negate the other traffic, so when I decided 'now I have to speed up to 120' I looked at the speedo ..... I was doing almost 130 already
Oh looky, I didn't expect that - and rather comfy it was then also!
(Edited later: Let me be clear here, this bike is WAYY more comfy on the open road at speed then a KTM 500 - which I also have and love, I will keep it of course - for different usages! )


So that answered my first requirement - Yes, it definitely is way more comfy on the open road, and above 100 kph (where the 500 katoom is starting to become less fun...) it shines!!!
No doubt this is the result of a bit more weight, and the cush drive in the rear wheel obviously smoothes out the thumper's driving pulses.
So, that was 1-0 for the Kove... now to the slow shit.

In Meyerspark I know my way, and found some off bits to try idling in first gear.
Now here's the bad news of this allegedly* Chinese bike: no it's not a KTM 500 or a clone, neither has it the bottom-end urgency of this bike!
I read about that already, even about that some said it was lacking in the urgency department a bit .... yeah it will, but only IF you compare it to a KTM 500 I reckon!
I didn't, I only wanted to find out if I could steer this thing through slow techical stuff, rocky shit etc - and I'm sure I'll be able to

Well, lekker, that's then 2-0 for the Kove, and my specific requirements were satisfied - so now I need to get mine then.
I asked Conrad if he had a bike for me, knowing there's hordes wanting one but the first shipment is just a small batch.
"Yes, yours is here, I kept one for you... but you can't choose the colour, it's a Red one"
Oh hold on a minute... what if I did not like it, what then?
"Jou <some choice words>, there's MANY who want one now, you think I'll struggle for a second to sell it????"
It's nice to have friends who know you well enough and do some thinking for you, so I decided I was only going to thank him

So, mine is a Red & White one

 

[Lars]

Please bring it to Oukloof!

 

[Renrew]

Riveting stuff Bart! Next instalment please…

 

[BuRP]

allegedly* Chinese bike

Allegedly they are Chinese bikes indeed.... so I gave them a VERY proper glance-over when they appeared on Offroad Cycles' floor!!

Of course I did, like many others too btw, but - geez, there's a but, and you betcha it's a biggie........ they're not Chinese at all?????
Norrafok so even!
This is proper stuff, well thought out, some very nice features, and nowhere - I mean NO-where!! - you can see that this is typical Chinese inferiority some other products are infamous for .... I was genuinely impressed!
No discolouration of plastics (as on some youtubes), decent switchgear, handles, brakes, spokes, the rims themselves are of super sturdy quality (I myself put the mousses in so checked them!), the engine looks very well thought out (and yes, is a bit larger hence porkier than a KTM's), a nice dash as wel... hell, the finish is very much the same "as the others"!!

I asked if I could help with the PDI plus mount the things I want as extras, and because they know me long enough to know I don't steal spanners (only torque-wrenches but then I only steal on a Sunday) they said "Yeah, OK .... but Sunday we're closed!"
No problem for me, I've got enough torque wrenches anyway already

So I did, started yesterday with mounting the mousses in the OEM tyres

 

[Vilaishima]

We want photos dammit!

 

[BuRP]

Please bring it to Oukloof!

Sorry pal, but NO, I cannot - the bakkie & rack will be full with Grunder's & my bike then.
But.... there's a possibility that I will come with it down to Cape Town mid-April - after a Transkei/Lesotho/Drakensberg trip with John Wood ( @WildWood ), and if the front forks then still seem a bit too 'hard' for me then @superfoxi will do his thing to them.
I'll ring your klokkie then swaer, promise

 

[BuRP]

We want photos dammit!

Kry n bier jou bliksem, hulle kom...

 

[skydiver]

Looking forward to the rest of the story

 

[BuRP]

Thursday/yesterday I took the wheels out, to put mousses in, and we took the two tanks off to see what is what, for me to get to know the bike, get to the sparkplug and some other stuff, basically strip the bike of all the coverups to see what is where, and learning how to do what where when if need be... and yes, that includes future drowning, we all either have been there already or will get there one day
I also had a list of things I wanted done and had ordered the stuff for that, all was there ready.



In the forefront the stripped bike, in the midfront a boop, and in the background the tanks and the front cowling.
To take that front cowling entirely off the bike though one needs to install some connectors in the indicator wires... so I asked if that could be added to the extras - was sorted whilst I laboured in the blazing heat in their tyre shed fighting with mousses and silicone lubricant. Have I ever mentioned that this aint my real hobby?

Anyhoo, I also had taken off the silencer and decat midpipe - for two reasons:
- I wanted to install Jaco's (from Stealth Exhaust) decat pipe which Conrad had ordered already,
- and I wanted to drop the oil, simply to put Liqui Moly oil in so I knew what I had in the engine - decent stuff



I also had ordered a +2-bigger rear sprocket to allow me to wobble at low speed even slower - and yes, I also did same on my 500's!
I still don't know what I must do with a bike capable of doing ridiculous speeds in 6th gear (except for killing myself then!) but have to clutch the bike in 1rst gear to prevent me from stalling over the bars! I rather have a little shorter gearing so as to allow me to poerpoer in 1rst without having to pull the clutch - and yeah, 'course I do that too when needed, but you'll get my point I reckon.
So, off came the std 49, and on came a 51 sprocket - I wanted a Supersprox but got a TwinStar.... a piece of beauty, very very light (quite a bit lighter than a Supersprox!), in fact so nice that I'll never get a Supersprox (they're good, really!) again



This was quickly mounted to the cush drive - lookie below.
It all looks and feels sterling stuff, and this is one thing what sets the Kove apart from the 500 - comfort!
Maybe I'm getting old now, or soft - or both, whatevs, but I like it



Anyway, more to follow, dinnertime now for me.....

 

[BuRP]

Now I'm a bit full of shit when it comes to working on my bikes - as an example, I check the wheelbearings when the wheels come off, I lube the shaft and the seals then also, and I even remove and 'coppaslip' the chain adjusters liberally before I put them back, in doing so ensuring that they will not seize during my lifetime!
Well, bad news... except for the coppaslipping all was done already, meaning a very neat assembly in China my chinas!
I did not expect that to be honest... but that's perhaps my negative point of view, and I'm glad to report that this got better & better during my work on the Kove - shit, there was actually ZERO wrong, so oot wif it: done now!
Oh, the coppaslip on the chain adjusters KTM also does not do (in fact I don't know any bike who does this oem), I did mine - so that's still first world proper I reckon.

So, mousses done, sprocket too... so I put back the wheels.
Now, this is the nice bit when you work in a sterile workshop stocked with pristine sterile top quality tools however under the watchfull eye of the owner (let's keep this anonymous lol) ...... he kaks you out the second you do something wrong!!!!!!!!
I did, I confess yes, I routed the front's ABS sensor wire wrong...
Some verbal abuse later I sorted this - geez manne, a simple 'dwis!!' with a simultaneously pointing finger would have sufficed, really now

 

[BuRP]

The Kove 450 Rally comes with a very nice and big/long foam airfilter ..... but for some reason (transport regulations no doubt, fire hazard and shite) it is dry, not oiled yet.
OK, zero problem, and I had to take it out anyway, including the airbox, to get to the sparkplug.

Inside the airfilter is a 'frame', an aluminium sheet with dual hollow pillars through which the dual hand-screws fit.
This is a neat assembly, the entire airbox & filter is actually, however I was warned that, when taking out this frame I might be cutting into the foam if I'd not be careful enough - reason being the alu plate is stamped (of course) and the sides/edges are a little rough.
Thank You, so I proceeded careful enough to not cut the filter - which is easy to do mind you.
But, I knew I'll have to do this often, and somewhere in the field even.... so I decided to improve on this!
Once the frame was out I filed all edges smooth and round, then sanded them 'soft', then cleaned it all - the result was a frame that I can almost carelessly ram in now, it will not cut the filter's foam..... so Trevor, we WILL have beers in Kaokoland!



The airbox removed - a sturdy plastic unit with an aluminium plate mounted to it, with a lekker dik foam-rubber gasket inbetween them
Oh yes, I tried twisting it, bending it etc but it is "proper", I trust this thing to do its job!

The sparkplug sits under this airbox (above LHS), and it's a coil-over type, held with a little bracket. I took the plug out, put a lil coppaslip on the tread (if you do not agree with this attack me in a separate thread, please?), plus a lil waterproof grease on the rubber seal of the coilover, and reassembled this lot again. Oh, the plug is a NGK, can't get better I think....





The now-oiled foam filter with its frame (which slides inside the foam element) which I smoothed the edges off to save myself a clumsy mishap in the dark in a hurry, possibly tipsy too..... better be safe than sorry now, in a sterile workshop!



Airbox & filter reinstalled - stof hier kom ons!!!!!

 

[JustBendIt]

Jirre @BuRP

Nou maak jy my jags

I want one

 

[BuRP]

One of the nice things of the Kove 450 Rally is it has 3 (THREE!) tanks!
In total they hold 30 liters, and sure, that is heavy if you fill that all up - but, you CAN, and with a little extra thingy you can control where the fuel sits!

The front tanks hold 9L each, and the rear tank (which is the subframe so btw, like a 701 and other KTM's now) holds 12 Liters.
That's quite a lot, and weightwise this is about 25 kg's total.... which you do not always want, or, when you do fill her up you may want to "keep" the rear 12L as 'reserve'!

I do, or I want this to be able to do this, and therefore I installed an in-line fuel tap on the rear tank.
No pics yet but Sirk gave me a very nice inline fuel-tap which sits right at the fuel outlet of the rear tank - easily reachable (even with a hot exhaust!) so now I can run the dual front tanks dry (the fuel-gauge sits here), and when I run dry I can switch on the rear's 12 (or whatever I did put in) liters to get me home or wherever there's fuel (or beer lol).

Will post a piccie tomorrow

 

[BuRP]

Nou maak jy my jags

Rong adres maat, jammer, jou tiete is ho pe loos te klein!



IF I'll visit Michael Fuchs in April I'll maak a draai at your place, koffie!!!!

 

[BuRP]

I want one

You're not alone, there's currently a queue at Offroad Cycles already!!!

I know that they have a rather large consignment coming but will not mess with their biz, so phone them yourself please?

You can have any colour as long as it's Red or Green/Blue (like FNB's colour), however also know that this is just the stickerset.... and Runner has a special set, their own design, coming, and I just might want one - and No, I've not seen this yet.

Quite frankly Justin, I reckon you'll like this bike moerse .... as said, if I'll get to CT in April you will ride it, perhaps we (@Kamanya & @darthvader !!!) could organize a lekker Cederberg and/or Tankwa ride?

We'll chat then....

 

[BuRP]

Whilst we had the clothes off we decided that we'd also remove the environmental rubbish!
There's a carbon canister somewhere silly to capture the vapours of the tank - and to my surprise this was connected to those silly rubber breather pipes which sit on top of the front tanks!

The rear tank has its own breather (?) so all Sirk & me had to do was remove all and block the one vacuum pipe - for which I used a small bolt with some gasket maker.
Our supervisor walked in though, and stripped - not that little bolt but my idea, and handed me a small bearing ball....
I will genuinely admit that that is a very clever idea, so I rukked uit that boutjie and pressed-in that balletjie!



The carbon canister with the miriad of rubber pipes, plus another thingy, all of which now removed.
This means we'll loose a Penguin no doubt, but I gain less possible shit or water ingress or whatever may happen which will ruin my ride, possibly remote, in the dark and with predators lurking (Soweto or Himbaland).... plus I love simplicity!

 

[TVB]

Amazing. My drool stained the demo model as well

Congrats again and thanks for the thread!

 

[BuRP]

As I've mentioned already, the Kove's engine is quite different than the KTM's 500 (or 450, they're nigh on identical anyway).
It is bigger, and quite 'clean' around it - but, bigger means heavier. Sure, the Kove weighs more than the 500, and I'm sure the engine is responsible for a part of that.
Look below...



.... that's a clean, well laid out engine, not so?

Look again below...



... and pay attention to the cylinder head, the tappet rover rather - hell, that's a CLEAN design don't you think?

A look at the other side shows the same simplistic clean design layout, I like it



A pleasure to check the tappets.... now compare that with your (mine!) 701 or 690 - geewizz, you'll have loads of cables, pipes, hydraulic lines etc to fight to one side to be able to only remove the tappet cover!!!!
Give me this simple setup rather, easy to clean and to work with, moerse lekker!

 

[BuRP]

During all my rides with my various bikes I've been saved a few times (in sand quite often!) by the presence of a steering damper.
There's none standard but I had forgotten to order one - so I asked if they could get one for me, i.e order one.
That proved a silly remark and I got "looks", was growled and frowned upon, and next handed what I needed - ex stock china, so now go fit it!
Oh well, how must I know that they stock up to the last shit I can ask for????
But lekker, sheez, what did I forget to ask for next?



Actually Sirk (and/or Conrad, not too sure) installed this set last night.... and when I saw this this morning I protested, like "why waste your time to do my stuff when you could have been home?"
They were there anyway, and waiting for something so had some time to kill...
Right, call that whatever you like, but that's dedication in my books: Thank you Both Gents!!!

 

[BuRP]

As I've mentioned already, the Kove's engine is quite different than the KTM's 500 (or 450, they're nigh on identical anyway).
It is bigger

This bit bigger engine also holds more oil - 1.8 Liters with oilfilter change, and 1.6 Liters without (which I did today, Conrad said not to bother changing the filter - which I wanted to do, had ordered 2 of them actually, but he's right, this engine's still virgin and I'll change the filter (and oil of course) after 300km as well as again at 1000km's).

Oh, and the oilfilter's also quite a bit bigger (longer) than the one for my 500 - great!



But, we all know that "more oil" translates to 'longer service interval' ....... and the prescribed service interval for the Kove 450 Rally is 5000km .... and THAT is great!!!!

However, that's 'normal use' then, read my use, rides and multi-day trips ..... but when you go racing only then this will go to around 3000km only I think to have heard - but ask your friendly dealer if you plan on this, for they know, not me!


(Edited later: The sumpplug..... is HUGE, diameter wise and thread-length wise!!!
This means that even a dyslexic aap with a groot bobbejaan can hardly pose a threat to it, unless he of course gets a lot of bananas as reward if he'll strip it!
Seriously, this is a nice feature to have - no finnicky little boutjie that may be threaded ascew back in or some other less practical side effects: it simply works, a nice2have! )