Turning My Kove 450 Rally Into an Enduro Bike

The Kove 450 Rally was built to cover big miles, but I've spent enough time riding mine through tight singletrack, rocks, roots, sand and logs to realize something:

This thing makes a surprisingly good big-bore enduro bike.

With the GutBuster 24 Hour Enduro coming up in November, I've been modifying the Kove to make it better suited for tight woods and enduro riding without completely sacrificing what makes it such a capable rally and dual-sport bike.

Here's everything I've changed so far.

Short PowerBronze Windscreen

One of my first changes was replacing the tall factory windscreen with a short PowerBronze windscreen. When you're attacking tight trails and getting your body over the front of the bike, having a big piece of plastic pointed toward your face isn't exactly comforting.

Surprisingly, I like the short screen on the highway too. I recently tested it on a dual-sport ride and actually felt like I had less helmet buffeting than I did with the taller setup.

Aluminum Rally Tower & Baja Designs S1 Lights

Behind the short screen, I installed a generic aluminum rally tower. One of the main reasons was to give me a solid mounting location for a pair of Baja Designs S1 auxiliary lights for the GutBuster.

The stock Kove lights are great, but when you're hauling a 370-plus-pound bike at night through trees tight enough to make Ariana Grande suck it in, you want all the candlepower you can get.

The S1s sit tucked behind the windscreen where they're relatively protected while giving me considerably more light for racing at night.

Mini Full-Metal LED Blinkers

I also wanted to get rid of the larger factory turn signals.

Anything sticking off the side of a bike eventually becomes a sacrificial part when you start squeezing a 370-plus-pound motorcycle between trees.

I replaced them with mini full-metal LED flashers from Amazon. They're small, tucked in close and much less likely to get ripped off during the race.

The idea is simple: keep the bike street legal without leaving pieces of it hanging from trees.

Lower KTM-Bend Handlebars & Tusk Axis Folding Levers

The stock bar position felt a little tall for the aggressive riding I'm doing, so I switched to a lower KTM-bend handlebar.

That lets me get farther over the front and puts me in a more natural attack position while standing.

I also installed Tusk Axis Folding Levers. Interestingly, I used the fitment for the 2024 Kove MX250, because the 450 Rally uses the same levers. The folding design also makes a lot of sense for an enduro build where dropping the bike isn't exactly a hypothetical situation.

Open Airbox, Dominator Exhaust & Race ECU Tune

The engine now breathes through an opened-up airbox paired with an open Dominator exhaust.

I originally ran the 230.1 tune with this setup. The bike ran well, but I felt like it was a little lean for my riding style and conditions here in southeast Texas. Most of my riding is low elevation and tight woods with constant on-and-off throttle.

So I went to Joe Henner at Kove USA, who loaded a custom race map onto the bike as part of my GutBuster setup.

I'm not chasing some huge peak-horsepower number. I want torque, crisp response and a motor that reacts immediately when I need to get the front over a log or drive out of a corner.

If you're interested in the custom race map, contact Joe through Kove USA.

G2 Throttle Tamer

More power isn't necessarily better if you can't put it down.

I added a G2 Throttle Tamer to smooth out the initial throttle response and make the bike easier to control in tight and technical terrain.

That's especially useful when traction is limited or I'm trying to feed power in smoothly instead of lighting up the rear tire.

51-Tooth Supersprox Rear Sprocket

I'm running a 51-tooth Supersprox Stealth rear sprocket.

I'm not building this thing around running 90 mph across the desert. I'm much more concerned with second- and third-gear performance in tight Texas woods.

The shorter gearing makes the bike easier to manage at lower speeds and reduces how much I need to work the clutch.

Enduro Tire Setup

Tires are probably one of the most important changes I've made.

Out back I'm running a KBN MXE-24 110/100-18 paired with a Michelin mousse. It gives me aggressive off-road traction while taking a rear puncture largely out of the equation during a 24-hour race.

Up front I'm running a Bridgestone Battlecross X20 Soft Terrain 90/100-21, but I deliberately decided not to use a mousse.

Instead, I'm pairing it with a Tusk HD 4mm natural-rubber tube. I like the security of the mousse in the rear, but I want to retain as much front-end feel as possible. On a 370-plus-pound bike in tight woods, I want to know exactly what that front tire is doing.

Could that tube come back to haunt me at three in the morning?

Absolutely.

That's future-me's problem.

Warp 9 Adventure Footpegs & Titanium Rim Locks

For more control while standing, I'm running Warp 9 Adventure footpegs.

The bigger platform and extra grip make it easier to control the Kove with my legs, especially when I'm spending long periods standing.

While working on the wheels, I also added Warp 9 Pro Titanium rim locks. They're another small piece of the overall enduro conversion and give me proper tire security for running an aggressive off-road setup.

TM Designworks Chain Guide

This modification came courtesy of the rocks in Arkansas.

I managed to destroy the stock metal lower chain guide, so I replaced it with a TM Designworks Factory Edition rear chain guide.

For enduro riding, I'd rather have a guide designed to take an impact and survive than a piece of metal that can get smashed and bent into the chain.

ABS Sensor Relocation

Another small but important protection mod was relocating the ABS sensor.

I installed the Kove USA ABS Sensor Relocation Bracket, which moves the sensor above the fork shoe and gets it farther away from rocks and other impacts.

On a rally bike being used like an enduro bike, anything fragile hanging down low is eventually going to meet something solid.

Acerbis Frame Guards

I added Acerbis frame guards for two reasons: protection and grip.

They help protect the frame from boots and trail abuse while also giving me a better surface to grip the motorcycle with my legs.

And naturally, I went with white.

Because if I'm already riding what looks like a Stormtrooper's enduro bike, I might as well commit to it.

A Rally Bike That Thinks It's an Enduro Bike

I'm not trying to turn the Kove 450 Rally into a 250-pound enduro bike.

It isn't one.

And I don't really want it to be.

That's what makes this whole build interesting. I can still take the bike on a dual-sport ride, comfortably connect trails on the highway and retain the fuel range and rally-bike character that attracted me to the Kove in the first place.

But now I've got lower bars, folding levers, better footpegs, shorter gearing, proper enduro tires, protected components, a more responsive motor and enough lighting to turn night back into day.

It's becoming a 370-plus-pound rally bike that thinks it's an enduro bike.

And in November, we're going to find out whether all of this actually works when I put it through the GutBuster 24 Hour Enduro.

I'm pretty confident the Kove can survive 24 hours.

I'm still not completely convinced I can.

The Kove 450 Rally Enduro Build

• Windscreen — PowerBronze Short Windscreen
• Rally tower — Aluminum Rally Tower
• Auxiliary lighting — Baja Designs S1 Auxiliary Light Kit
• Turn signals — Mini Full-Metal LED Flashers
• Handlebars — Lower KTM-bend handlebar
• Levers — Tusk Axis Folding Lever Set
• Exhaust — Dominator Kove 450 Rally Exhaust
• Intake — Kove 450 Rally Open Airbox
• ECU — Kove USA Custom ECU Tuning
• Throttle — Kove G2 Throttle Tamer
• Gearing — Supersprox Stealth Rear Sprocket (51-tooth)
• Rear tire — KBN MXE-24 110/100-18 with a Michelin mousse
• Front tire — Bridgestone Battlecross X20 Soft Terrain with a Tusk HD 4mm natural-rubber tube
• Footpegs — Warp 9 Adventure Footpegs
• Rim locks — Warp 9 Pro Titanium Rim Locks
• Chain guide — TM Designworks Factory Edition Chain Guide
• ABS protection — Kove USA ABS Sensor Relocation Bracket
• Frame guards — Acerbis Frame Guards

Follow The Knobby Shop as we put this 370+ lb rally bike through the GutBuster 24 Hour Enduro on YouTube.