Part 1 of our four-part equipment review from the 2026 ACT Pyrenees. For the full story of the trip, read ACT Pyrenees 2026 – five bikes, seven days and one unfinished adventure.
Our test bikes above the Mediterranean at the start of the ACT Pyrenees.
First and foremost, the bikes.
We set out to prove that the Kove 625X Pro, Moto Morini AlltrHike 450 and Moto Morini X-Cape 700 are proper adventure bikes, comfortably capable of long-distance adventure travel.
We didn’t just prove that they could manage it—they were all genuinely great. However, they each had clear strengths and weaknesses compared with the other bikes on test.
Repeated ten-hour riding days, fast mountain roads, temperatures reaching 39°C and miles of rocky, dusty trails: all three coped with everything we threw at them without a problem, including the two with 19-inch front wheels.
| Bike | UK price | Front wheel | Our verdict in one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moto Morini AlltrHike 450 | £5,299 + OTR | 21-inch | The off-road favourite, and astonishing value |
| Kove 625X Pro | £6,999 + OTR | 19-inch | Best equipped, with the most engaging engine |
| Moto Morini X-Cape 700 | £6,699 + OTR | 19-inch | The roomiest and easiest to ride quickly on the road |
Moto Morini AlltrHike 450: the off-road favourite
Off-road, the £5,299 + OTR AlltrHike was the hands-down favourite for Joe, James and Andy. Compared with the other bikes, it was lighter, more agile and more confidence-inspiring, with a 21-inch front wheel and a minimal cockpit that made it feel particularly easy to place on loose and technical trails. It was also far more capable than its price suggests and comes with a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty.
We can’t ignore its ground clearance. We’d like there to be a little more, and we did make contact underneath at times. However, we were very aware that neither of the Moto Morinis had proper underbody protection, so we rode accordingly. We’d certainly appreciate an AlltrHike X model with a little more ground clearance and suspension travel—but then it wouldn’t be just over £5,000 + OTR, would it? That’s the point.
You can’t fairly compare the AlltrHike with an 890 R, a well-specced Ténéré 700 or, better still, one of our Kove 800s without keeping the price in mind. Of course, you can compare them, but the price difference is fundamental.
Moto Morini has delivered an incredible bike to the market. It can cruise at motorway speeds in comfort, be an absolute scream on tarmac backroads while comfortably keeping up with bikes producing nearly twice the power, and then ride anywhere within reason off-road—all while fitted with a proper luggage setup. That’s an astonishing amount of motorcycle for the money.
Its main weakness compared with the bigger bikes was on long, fast road sections. The 450’s engine is beautiful, punchy and very smooth, but its happy spot is around 75 mph. It’ll do a bit more, but you know you’re approaching its upper limits. For a long motorway journey, we’d appreciate the extra power and relaxed cruising ability of the Kove 625X and X-Cape 700.
Kove 625X Pro: the best equipped
The Kove 625X was the best equipped and felt the most advanced of the three. It has a comprehensive dashboard showing tyre pressure and temperature in real time, along with plenty of other features—including lights that project the 625X logo onto the floor, like a Range Rover does.
The Kove has all the gadgets and technology, but Joe isn’t sure it needs all of them. We appreciate the engine, the handling, the level of finish, the paint quality and details such as the blind-spot mirrors. But Joe doesn’t need projection lights onto the floor, and never knew he needed them.
He’d actually prefer less information on the dash, provided that what is shown is delivered very clearly. That’s what the X-Cape does for him, and the AlltrHike does even more so with its simpler, more focused cockpit.
Has Kove chased the technology a little too far? Some riders will love having all those features, but we suspect most won’t appreciate or use them. The technology doesn’t ruin the bike, but it does raise the question of whether every gadget genuinely improves the riding experience.
The Kove’s engine was one of its strengths. It’s certainly a more engaging engine than the X-Cape’s, with a great sound and a very nice delivery. However, it isn’t as powerful as a larger bike, such as its big brother, the Kove 800X. On the road, it offered a useful middle ground: more relaxed at speed than the AlltrHike.
Although the 625X is physically smaller than the X-Cape, it didn’t feel noticeably lighter or more manageable. Its compact dimensions didn’t translate into a dramatically easier bike to handle, particularly at low speeds or when moving it around. It was comfortable enough for all of us, but we all noticed how much less room it had than both of the Morinis. That reduced space was its main disadvantage on long days, particularly compared with the roomier X-Cape.
Moto Morini X-Cape 700: the roomiest on the road
The X-Cape felt the most like a “normal” adventure bike, if there is such a thing with all the choice available nowadays. It’s very similar in size to a Kove 800, KTM 890 or Triumph Tiger 900. It’s a proper mid-sized adventure bike, and compared with the other two, it offered the most space to move around and the most substantial feel on the road.
The X-Cape’s engine was our least favourite of the three. It’s strong once you get past around 3,500 rpm—in fact, it’s surprising how strong it is higher in the rev range—but it’s flat off the bottom. We’ve seen what an aftermarket remap can do, though, and we know it can transform the X-Cape. You can thank the ever more restrictive Euro emissions standards for that.
Once you’ve dialled into it, you learn to keep the revs up, and it becomes the easiest of the three to ride quickly. It has the nicest front-brake modulation, the most neutral handling and a front end that holds a line very well. Compared with the AlltrHike and Kove, it also gives you the most room to move around on the bike as you need to.
Its disadvantages are its weight and size off-road, where it feels less agile and more demanding than the AlltrHike. The engine’s lack of low-down response also makes it less immediately friendly than the other two, although its extra performance is a clear advantage on fast roads and motorways.
The singles: KTM 690 Enduro R and Husqvarna 701
Lee and Dave were effectively riding different-coloured versions of the same established formula: the Husqvarna 701 and KTM 690 Enduro. Compared with the three twin-cylinder adventure bikes, they were lighter, narrower and more focused off-road, but offered less comfort and wind protection for long-distance travel. They don’t have less luggage capability, but their single-cylinder engines are much more agricultural in character—something some riders love and others dislike—and they are significantly higher-maintenance bikes.
Reliability
Across all five bikes, we kept checking for loose bolts after hundreds of miles of relentless vibration, but only one developed a genuine problem. The Husqvarna repeatedly lost its clutch as the fluid became too hot. It appeared on our first off-road day and plagued us for two days, until we changed the clutch fluid in an Andorran hotel car park. After that, it was perfect.
Other than that, every bike was completely reliable.
Tyres: Michelin Anakee Wild
All five ran Michelin Anakee Wild 50/50 tyres. The three twin-cylinder bikes—the Kove 625X Pro, Moto Morini AlltrHike 450 and Moto Morini X-Cape 700—were all fitted with tubeless wheels, and none of them knocked a tyre off the bead. We ran 25 psi front and rear throughout all four days of the ACT, both on and off-road, and the tyres on the Kove and Moto Morinis coped without issue.
The tyres faced fast, twisting tarmac, temperatures up to 39°C, some wet roads and mile after mile of stone, rock, sand, mud and dust—so much dust!
We badly cut one rear tyre and every rear now looks very well used, but none let us down. We still haven’t found another tyre offering the same genuine do-everything ability.
The Anakee Wild has been our go-to 50/50 adventure tyre for around eight years. After the Pyrenees, it remains our tyre of choice.
Ride them yourself
All three are demonstrators at our showroom in Sittingbourne, Kent. Call us on 01795 899204 to book a test ride, or see the full ranges on our Kove model range and Moto Morini model range pages.