Joe from Kove USA brought down a pilot production Kove 450MX for us to check out last week. Kove has us impressed so far. The 450 Rally is a truly great motorcycle and the motocross version is a generation further ahead.
The factory offered the U.S. a standard edition as well as a Factory Edition of the 450. The U.S. staff said they only wanted the Factory Edition; it came stock with a KYB fork, a titanium exhaust and a number of other upgrades. The price is still only $7999.
Kove is expanding its off-road offerings. The 250 MX shown here will receive a number of off-road accessories as well as softer suspension and be repurposed as an off-road bike. The price will be $5999. A second generation 250 MX is in the works. It is said to be 17 pounds lighter and produce 42 horsepower. It will have a price of $6999. You can check out Kove USA here.
HONDA F BIKES
Honda already revealed all its “R” competition bikes. Click here to see the 2026 Hondas shown last week. There are no big changes in store for the coming year, but we’re okay with that. We would rather see the prices go unchanged, and for the most part, they have. The CRF “F” or “Family” models came out next. Here are the prices and availability dates.
2026 CRF50F
- Color: Red
- MSRP: $1,899
- Available: July
2026 CRF110F
- Color: Red
- MSRP: $2,799
- Available: October
2026 CRF125F
- Color: Red
- MSRP
- CRF125F: $3,599
- CRF125F Big Wheel: $3,999
- Available: October
GIANT LOOP RALLY
Last weekend I got to attend the 14th annual Giant Loop Adventure Rally at Crane Hot Springs in Oregon. What a cool event! On day one I knocked out about 110 miles of two-track on a new Suzuki DR-Z4S. The organizers offer dozens of GPS tracks for you to choose from. This isn’t a dog-and-pony parade like others I have attended. You get to break out on your own. They still have paramedics on standby and there are a number of seminars and classes to attend. On day two I did a shorter ride and then went spelunking. Yes, that’s right; I went cave exploring at the nearby Malheur cavern. You walk down about 1000 feet before you have to get on a raft to explore the next 2000 feet. eventually the water level rises to the ceiling and you can go no farther. A local chapter of Free Masons runs tours on weekends. Tuesdays they have dancing and beer, and Wednesdays they plot a world government takeover. Just kidding. There’s no beer.
RANDOM HARD DRIVE SEARCH
This photo popped up recently. It was shot in the parking lot of the Hi-Torque office around 1997. I had been doing a four-stroke shootout on a very hot day and the Suzuki DR350 literally burst into flames. It wasn’t the bike’s fault; it had collected dry brush around the head pipe as a result of my unauthorized trail blazing. Foof! It took two-or three air drops of Phos Chek to contain the resulting brush fire. They say each one of those drops costs $30,000. The county pursued me for a few years before they gave up any attempt at collection. They apparently discovered how much money I made.
See you next time!