The KOVE800X Rally is all about off-road riding! But I also enjoyed it on-road and on touring.

KOVE, which made waves with its Dakar-spec street off-road model 450RALLY, has now launched its next arrow: the 800X RALLY.

Its high off-road performance has been making waves in the media and on social media, but this time we’ll be giving our impressions of the KOVE 800X RALLY, mainly on paved roads.

KOVE 800X Rally… 1,648,000 yen

KOVE MOTO is a Chinese manufacturer. Its sales volume is expected to exceed 20,000 units in 2021, with an annual sales growth rate of 40%. It continues to actively invest in research and development, and is now the fourth largest manufacturer in China.

With the 450 RALLY, KOVE’s name quickly became known around the world. This is no surprise, as it is a production bike with the specs to compete in the Dakar Rally. They have also released the MX250 in the highly competitive 250cc motocross bike category, and in April 2025, the KOVE 321RR-S won the World Supersport 300, beating Yamaha, Kawasaki, and KTM. They are a manufacturer that has been making a lot of headlines recently.

The ambitious product that KOVE has sent us is the 800X RALLY. While many big off-road bikes place a certain amount of emphasis on on-road performance, the 800X RALLY is completely focused on off-road performance.

The car weighs only 176kg semi-dry, making it extremely light, and boasts a suspension stroke of 270mm in the front and 250mm in the rear. No compromises have been made in the finer details, resulting in a high-quality finish. It’s a machine that will give you the joy of owning it.

It is a truly cutting-edge machine, designed specifically for one person with a tandem step.

Lightweight and great for the street

As this was a “full-time off-road” test ride, I was a little nervous about the ride. This was because I expected it to feel stiff like a motocross valet. However, this was betrayed in a good way. The biggest factor that eased my nervousness was the weight of the bike.

The moment you lift the machine, you feel that the body is very light. When pushing or pulling, it is so easy to move that you would never think it was a big off-roader. It feels about 20% lighter than you would imagine based on the size and engine displacement. Moreover, when you push the front and rear suspension, the movement is very smooth. You can feel how easy it is to ride even before you start driving.

The parallel twin-cylinder 799cc engine is very smooth and easy to handle. It generates flat torque from low revolutions across the entire range and revs smoothly all the way up to the 9000 rpm rev limit. It delivers power that is comparable to rivals in the same class, and it feels very complete.

When you switch to sport mode, the response becomes sharper at low revolutions and low throttle rotations, which can make it feel jerky when driving normally on the street, but when you want to drive energetically off-road, this linear power delivery characteristic should make it easier to drive.

When you switch to Eco mode, the throttle response becomes much milder and easier to handle. The power at high revolutions also decreases, but there is still enough power for normal riding. If you are touring on the street, Eco mode is less tiring.

On-road handling is extremely stable. When you input power to the steering, the car slowly banks, and when cornering, it tries to trace the line you’ve already decided on.

Because of this characteristic, when turning, you have to consciously steer the inside handlebars toward you with more force. It doesn’t have a light, fluttering feel, but on rough roads, you’ll likely appreciate this characteristic in many situations.

When banking into a corner, the feeling changes slightly halfway through because the blocks of the tires are larger and are specialized for off-road use. This is because the cross-sectional shape of the tires does not have a gentle R. On-road grip is not supposed to be that high, but since we weren’t aggressively cornering during this test ride, we didn’t feel a particular lack of grip. If you were driving normally, this would be a complete problem, but if you’re mainly driving on-road, simply changing the tires should make a big difference in the impression.

What was surprising was how comfortable the ride was on the road. The front and rear suspensions work well, and the seat is soft and comfortable to sit on. The lack of fatigue is also due to the fact that vibration countermeasures have been thoroughly implemented. Up until 3000 rpm, there is almost no vibration felt, and from around 4000 rpm, there is a slight vibration in the tank and handlebars, but it is not at a level that is bothersome. The windscreen also has a high wind protection effect, so you will probably not feel tired even when touring on highways.

One thing that bothered me while riding on the road was the strong engine braking when the throttle was off. This is likely a setting designed with off-road riding in mind, but it felt a bit rushed when riding leisurely on the street. This didn’t change even when changing modes, so I wish there was a setting that weakened the engine braking when in Eco mode, for example. It would be convenient if there was a setting that made the engine braking gentler when riding on slippery surfaces on the open road.

When riding continuously, my left foot gets a little warm from the hot air, but it wasn’t particularly noticeable during the test ride. I’m curious to see what it would be like when riding long distances in extreme heat.

Even on forest roads, the quality of the car is apparent.

The off-road test was conducted on a relatively flat forest road. It doesn’t have the high barrier to entry that you’d find with an off-road bike of this size. It’s light and the body is well-balanced, so there’s no sense of insecurity even on rough roads. The tires have excellent grip, so you can open the throttle boldly, and even if the rear tire starts to slip, it holds its ground at just the right level.

There were no big bumps on the forest roads we test drove, but we could still tell that the suspension movement was high-quality and smooth. The engine characteristics are also suitable for trekking-style riding, and it is powerful enough when you increase the pace. It is not overly sensitive, so it is easy to handle no matter how you ride.

The brakes are not very sharp initially, but once you apply them, they gradually become more effective in a linear manner. The settings are designed with off-road use in mind.

What bothered me was the small steering angle. When making a U-turn on the road with the steering fully locked, sometimes I couldn’t complete the turn even when using the full width of a single lane road. On forest roads, the road width is less than half that, so you have to turn back when making a U-turn. Making a U-turn on uneven road surfaces can take a long time.

Although we didn’t test drive it on an off-road course this time, an acquaintance who test rode it on a motocross course said that he was able to drive at a pace that was hard to believe for a big off-road vehicle. From what I’ve heard from various people, there’s no doubt that it has the best off-road performance in its class.

However, even if you don’t often ride off-road, I think the lightness, smoothness of the engine, and the well-made machine are appealing. I actually rode it from the city to the mountain pass and on the forest road, and it was a very comfortable and fun machine.

To digress a bit from the introduction of the bikes, one thing that is of interest regarding KOVE is that its charismatic founder, Zhang Xue, will be stepping down in October 2024.

In a video on social media, he explained that the company’s growth meant he was no longer able to make certain decisions, that he felt a sense of responsibility to investors, and that the company’s values had changed, and he has now launched his own brand, Zhang Xue Motorcycles. He has already made waves with the announcement of the ZXJC ZX-500RR, a high-performance four-cylinder sports bike. It has been announced that Zhang Xue will continue to be a major shareholder in KOVE, and that KOVE will remain in its current direction, but it remains to be seen what the future holds for KOVE and Zhang Xue Motorcycles.

Position & foot grounding (height 178cm, weight 75kg)

The riding position is natural and relaxed. When you straddle the bike, you can see that the body is slim. The seat is soft and comfortable. You won’t get tired even on long rides.

The front and rear suspension strokes are long, but the seat position is low, so it’s not as difficult to reach the ground as you might imagine. When you put both feet down, your heels just lift up slightly. What’s more, the body is light and well-balanced, so it’s not hard to support the body. When handling it, it feels lighter than the numbers suggest.