We’ve dropped a lot of virtual ink on this site about the Kove 450 Rally. While motorcycles from China are no longer a joke (though many on the forum still say otherwise), one continuing issue they have is getting them registered for the street. Unlike the mainstream companies that have been doing this for decades, these numerous Chinese upstarts are figuring it out for the first time, sometimes without success. Kove, however, has recently achieved great success in this department, following through on their promise to get the bike certified for street use.
This has led to a third version of the Kove 450 Rally. Their website now lists the Pro Race and Standard Off-Road versions that we had before, plus a new Street Legal version. According to ADVPulse, Kove is no longer producing the Standard Off-Road version and is simply selling out their current inventory, intending to replace it with the new Street Legal version. Interestingly, the Street Legal version lists for $9,299, which is $200 less than the Standard Off-Road version. Normally, making an off-road bike legal for street use adds to the cost, so how did Kove do this while slightly reducing the price?
According to Kove, it didn’t take much. The Kove 450 Rally already had much of what is required for street use, validated by the fact that less restrictive states already allowed them to be registered. DOT certification was required for 50-state street legality, but not much has changed except a few mandatory labels. The biggest changes were to pass California’s notoriously stringent emission standards, involving a more restrictive intake and tune. These reduced horsepower from 51 to 42. However, the engine itself is exactly the same, so presumably, adding a less restrictive intake and a tune could restore its full power. Not that we’d ever recommend skirting the law, of course.
Many Chinese manufacturers have placated us with promises that they are working on making a 50-state street legal version of popular models. Most have not followed through on these promises. Now that Kove has made the 450 Rally available legally to residents of California and numerous other states that have adopted their strict emission standards, it will be interesting to see if other manufacturers step up their game to get a piece of the action as well. Whether you love or hate Chinese motorcycles, there’s no denying that a greater selection is better for everybody, especially when it comes to competitive pricing.
