Kove 625X coming soon
By Ben Purvis
Kove is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most convincing of the new generation of Chinese motorcycle brands with an export range that largely focusses on serious off-road machines including its 450 Rally and the 800X adventure bike. Although it's also at the forefront of the new generation of small, four-cylinder sports bikes with the 450RR sold in China - and a new midsized model is making its way to showrooms soon in the form of the 625X.
Already previewed to dealers earlier this year, the 625X has now been type-approved in China and promises to fill an important slot in the middle of Kove's range.
Power comes from a 580 cc parallel twin that's essentially the same as the unit in the Loncin-built Voge DS625X, which will be one of the Kove's closest competitors, as well as the Voge 625R, although the engine is to be built by Kove itself. Peak power, according to the approval, is 63 hp.
The chassis is steel, with a 19 in front and 17 in rear, marking the bike out as being more road-oriented than the larger 800X models, which feature 21 in front and 18 in rear rims, and the bike weighs in at 229 kg wet.
While there's still a wait to discover whether the 625X will be offered outside China, Kove has added a new 800X model to its European range in the form of the 800X Rally. Only fractionally more expensive than the standard 800X, the Rally is a more extreme version of that bike, sharing the same 799 cc parallel twin engine. Essentially a copy of KTM's LC8c twin, as used in the 790 range and CFMOTO's 800MT and NK machines, in Kove form it boasts 95 hp and 59 lbft of torque while meeting Euro5+ emissions rules.
The big change for the 800X Rally is its more off-road oriented chassis. Changes include a new bolt-on aluminium subframe instead of the standard bike's welded-on steel design, helping slice 14 kg from the bike's weight - which drops to a class-leading 176 kg wet. The Rally loses its passenger and luggage carrying ability, with no pillion pegs and a lower load limit on the alloy subframe, but for one-up riding the weight saving is impressive.
Suspension comes in the form of fat, 49 mm USD forks and a monoshock at the back, while the wheels are designed for tubed, off-road tyres, 90/90-21 at the front and 140/80-18 at the back.
The bike's offroad intentions are emphasised by massive suspension travel - 270 mm at the front and 240mm at the back - and a tiny 310 mm front brake disc with a two-piston caliper, where the road-oriented version has twin discs and four-pot radial calipers.
