When Mason Klein burst onto the Dakar scene in 2022 as a 20-year-old Rally2 privateer aboard a KTM 450 Rally Replica, he stunned the field by finishing ninth overall and earning Rookie of the Year honors, causing all eyes to turn toward the young rider and his rapidly rising star. 

The following year, now competing in the premier RallyGP class as a privateer with the BAS World KTM Racing Team, Klein’s Dakar campaign was cut short by a neck injury. 

Seeking a fresh start in 2024, the young American returned to Saudi Arabia as a privateer, this time riding Kove Moto’s next-gen 450 Rally EX. An agreement between Kove and Klein included the use of the bike and access to the same tools and parts as the Factory Team, though as an independent rider, he still needed to deal with certain costs and arrangements on his own. The redesigned Rally EX itself was a big selling point, however, as it included significant upgrades, including a new engine. 

After an impressive first stage at the 2024 event, where Klein placed third, mechanical issues plagued him daily. Though he fought on, his race ultimately ended in Stage 6 with an engine failure, again dashing the hopes of Mason Klein and his many fans.

The kid who once built his first roadbook holder from cardboard, pencils, and rubber bands is now 23 and returning to Saudi Arabia with a further refined Kove 450 Rally EX. For the first time, he’ll have full factory support and a teammate, Frenchman Neels Theric, inviting us to hold our breath once more, hoping that this prodigal rider can achieve the success his talent and tenacity deserve.

Kove Moto is also going XL this year, announcing that in addition to its two premier factory riders (Klein and Theric), the Chinese brand is supporting two additional “satellite team” riders. Furthermore, eight additional Rally2 privateers and one Original Motul entrant will be competing aboard 2025 Kove Moto Rally machines, representing ten different countries in all. 

As for Klein’s effort, one significant difference this year is that the Kove Rally EX the young American will pilot has been in his possession for months, allowing him to practice and fine-tune the bike in Spain — unlike the mere hours he had to adjust to last year’s EX due to a customs snag in Saudi Arabia. 

Of the bike, he says there have been significant improvements over the unit that failed him at last year’s Dakar. Kove confirms they’ve resolved all the technical issues found at Dakar and have continued to do intense testing of the bike at different races. “It’s pretty confidence-inspiring,”Klein said of the improved machine. “It’s the best bike I’ve ever ridden, so I’m pretty stoked. It has a completely different engine, a different frame, everything.”

Klein’s rally-prepped Kove, powered by a single-cylinder, DOHC, 4-stroke engine producing 56.32 hp at 9500 rpm, weighs just 128 kg (282.19 pounds) and features a double cradle frame, a 34-liter total fuel capacity, and Motec performance tuning, making it a competitive Rally GP contender. 

“This bike has the potential to win,” said Klein of his Dakar-bound Kove EX. “I’ve ridden a factory KTM so I know what a top bike should feel like, and I see the Kove many steps ahead.” The last few years of trial and error also have the star sounding a bit more reserved, as he adds: “To win you still need some luck. I realize that now.” 

Like Klein, Kove Moto enjoyed instant acclaim in 2023 at its first Dakar, where the then-freshman brand brought three samples of its completely unproven 450cc enduro to Saudi Arabia, each piloted by a Chinese rider, with the ambitious aim of all three machines would finish the world’s toughest rally. And so they did, earning high praise and eventually fulfilling dreams for many consumers who, for the first time, could own a Dakar-level machine thanks to the more agreeably-priced Kove Rally replica that followed.

Kove Moto has since been dealing with some internal adjustments after its founder, CEO and rally raid fanatic, Zhang Xue, left the company abruptly just a month after this year’s Dakar, citing differing values and visions for its future. Xue popped back up later in the year touting a new enterprise, Zhang Xue Motorcycles, and a ZX-500RR sportbike at the Chongqing Motorcycle Show. 

Under its new management, Kove Moto seems ready to move forward, as does Klein. To prepare himself for Dakar 2025, which the California native refers to as his ultimate and number one goal, Klein rode in Brazil’s Sertões Series and Cross-Country Rally Championship, where he placed 2nd riding a CRF450X for Honda Racing Brazil. “It was pretty tough for me,” says Klein of the cross-country series, which covered regional terrain types totally new to him. “I wanted to do it to improve my all-round riding. I wanted to get better with line choice and drifting, and I’d say I’m even better at navigation now, too.”

The 2025 Dakar Rally begins in Bisha, Saudi Arabia, on January 3rd, launching 14 days of relentless competition across 7,700 kilometers, packed into 12 grueling stages plus the prologue. Fans will undoubtedly be cheering for a Mason Klein comeback, especially as hero riders Toby Price and Sam Sunderland, both two-time Dakar champions, trade their bikes for  T1+ car debuts. 

Photos by @stayontopmedia, Kove and Mason Klein

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.