Established players of the moto industry, take notice: Kove is coming for you. A new sportbike the company is revealing at the Beijing International Motorcycle Exhibition is proof that the company is not content to just build budget-friendly bikes. The updated Kove 450RR shows this Chinese manufacturer is anxious to take on the rest of the world.
The Kove 450RR is a four-cylinder sportbike. Despite its small displacement, it appears to be designed with performance in mind, more akin to the Ninja ZX-4R than the Ninja 400. It has been on the market for a while, but the latest update is supposed to have more power than the original machine, making a claimed 70 hp and 28.8 lb-ft of torque and revving to 16,000 rpm. That’s supposed to push the bike to a max speed of 220 km/h.
Of course, the engine is liquid-cooled with EFI. Bore and stroke are 59×40.5 mm, which works out to actual capacity of 443 cc. Compression ratio is 12.9:1.
The result isn’t earth-shattering horsepower, but it’s still more than enough to lose your licence in the streets of the real world. And while it may not make wild horsepower, curb weight is a claimed 165 kg. The Kove 450 RR should have fun handling, as long as the designers haven’t mucked up the suspension or brakes. Speaking of which, that front fork is a fully-adjustable 41 mm unit from KYB, and the rear shock is also fully-adjustable from KYB. That’s a hint at good quality.
As for the brakes, we haven’t seen a manufacturer listed, but the front calipers have an opposed four-piston design mated to 300 mm discs, while the rear is a simpler single-piston caliper mated to a 220 mm disc.
Along with those hard parts, you’re also getting modern electronic features such as ABS, traction control, launch control and a quickshifter (up-shifts only).
Kove seems very keen to promote this machine as a race winner, not just a budget commuter. Does that mean we’ll see it in a CSBK round someday? For now, there’s no class it would fit in, and Kove Moto Canada isn’t importing the bike. But if you’re interested, you could always send them a message and ask them about it… see their website here.
