Source: Cycle World
KTM’s 2025 450 Rally Replica is all-new, with a new engine and chassis. (KTM/)The word “replica” in the title of KTM’s 450 Rally Replica is used in its most literal sense—these limited-production machines are genuine competition bikes aimed at owners who want to use them in anger and are essentially identical to the company’s factory racebikes. The new 2025 450 Rally Replica ups the ante with a new engine, chassis, and bodywork as a one-for-one facsimile of the latest-generation works KTM 450 used in this year’s Dakar Rally.KTM may not have won the 2024 Dakar—this year’s event fell to Ricky Brabec’s Honda’s CRF450 Rally—but successive generations of the company’s 450 Rally have won 10 Dakar Rallies since 2011 and the mechanically identical GasGas 450 Rally took an additional win in 2022. In fact, KTM has only been off the top step at the Dakar four times since 2001, with a total of 19 wins and 235 stage wins on its résumé. In short, the 450 Rally Replica should give its buyers the closest experience possible to that of a top-level works bike.The 2025 KTM 450 Rally has a new engine, transmission, hydroformed steel chassis, and a ton of changes. (KTM/)The company says the 2025 450 Rally Replica, limited to just 100 machines, is the biggest update that the model has had since 2020. The changes start with a heavily revised engine that’s based on the fuel-injected single from KTM’s 450 enduro and motocross bikes, with a new SOHC cylinder head with redesigned ports and titanium valves, plus a beefed-up clutch and tougher transmission than previously. For the 2025 bike, KTM has also added a new dual-radiator cooling system that works better than the previous single-radiator design as well as giving a layer of redundancy should one radiator get damaged during a stage. Like previous Rally Replicas, the engine breathes through a Keihin throttle body and an Akrapovič exhaust, the latter hydroformed to maximize ground clearance and minimize weight.The 450 Rally Replica is essentially the same bike as the works machines ridden in the Dakar Rally. (KTM/)Hydroforming is also used for the first time on the 2025 Rally Replica’s frame. Instead of the conventional steel trellis of previous generations, the new version uses hydroformed steel sections that can be made to meet specific targets for strength and flexibility, all hand-welded together to form a complete chassis. At the back the seat subframe doubles as a self-supporting 4.2-gallon fuel tank, which is complemented by two additional front tanks—2.4 gallons and 2.5 gallons, respectively—for a total capacity of 9.1 gallons. Two fuel pumps let the rider choose between the front and rear tanks.A new carbon fiber navigation tower can either be fitted with a paper roadbook or a digital version. (KTM/)The swingarm is new, too, die-cast from aluminum and bolted to a WP Xact Pro 7750 shock via a rising-rate linkage. Up front, a 48mm WP Xact Pro 7548 fork is mounted in billet triple clamps. It’s all wrapped in redesigned bodywork that includes a carbon fiber “navigation tower” at the front to hold the roadbook, and a narrower nose to reduce wind resistance and turbulence. An LED headlight, 33 percent brighter than its predecessor, sits behind the transparent nose bodywork, and while the bike comes with a conventional paper-based roadbook system, it can also be fitted with a modern, digital alternative.With only 100 due to be made, there’s a good chance that all have already found buyers by the time you read this, despite a price tag that’s likely to be somewhere close to $40,000 each.Only 100 of the bikes will be made for 2025, so if you haven’t plopped down your $40,000, you’re too late. (KTM/)
Full Text:
KTM’s 2025 450 Rally Replica is all-new, with a new engine and chassis. (KTM/)
The word “replica” in the title of KTM’s 450 Rally Replica is used in its most literal sense—these limited-production machines are genuine competition bikes aimed at owners who want to use them in anger and are essentially identical to the company’s factory racebikes. The new 2025 450 Rally Replica ups the ante with a new engine, chassis, and bodywork as a one-for-one facsimile of the latest-generation works KTM 450 used in this year’s Dakar Rally.
KTM may not have won the 2024 Dakar—this year’s event fell to Ricky Brabec’s Honda’s CRF450 Rally—but successive generations of the company’s 450 Rally have won 10 Dakar Rallies since 2011 and the mechanically identical GasGas 450 Rally took an additional win in 2022. In fact, KTM has only been off the top step at the Dakar four times since 2001, with a total of 19 wins and 235 stage wins on its résumé. In short, the 450 Rally Replica should give its buyers the closest experience possible to that of a top-level works bike.
The 2025 KTM 450 Rally has a new engine, transmission, hydroformed steel chassis, and a ton of changes. (KTM/)
The company says the 2025 450 Rally Replica, limited to just 100 machines, is the biggest update that the model has had since 2020. The changes start with a heavily revised engine that’s based on the fuel-injected single from KTM’s 450 enduro and motocross bikes, with a new SOHC cylinder head with redesigned ports and titanium valves, plus a beefed-up clutch and tougher transmission than previously. For the 2025 bike, KTM has also added a new dual-radiator cooling system that works better than the previous single-radiator design as well as giving a layer of redundancy should one radiator get damaged during a stage. Like previous Rally Replicas, the engine breathes through a Keihin throttle body and an Akrapovič exhaust, the latter hydroformed to maximize ground clearance and minimize weight.
The 450 Rally Replica is essentially the same bike as the works machines ridden in the Dakar Rally. (KTM/)
Hydroforming is also used for the first time on the 2025 Rally Replica’s frame. Instead of the conventional steel trellis of previous generations, the new version uses hydroformed steel sections that can be made to meet specific targets for strength and flexibility, all hand-welded together to form a complete chassis. At the back the seat subframe doubles as a self-supporting 4.2-gallon fuel tank, which is complemented by two additional front tanks—2.4 gallons and 2.5 gallons, respectively—for a total capacity of 9.1 gallons. Two fuel pumps let the rider choose between the front and rear tanks.
A new carbon fiber navigation tower can either be fitted with a paper roadbook or a digital version. (KTM/)
The swingarm is new, too, die-cast from aluminum and bolted to a WP Xact Pro 7750 shock via a rising-rate linkage. Up front, a 48mm WP Xact Pro 7548 fork is mounted in billet triple clamps. It’s all wrapped in redesigned bodywork that includes a carbon fiber “navigation tower” at the front to hold the roadbook, and a narrower nose to reduce wind resistance and turbulence. An LED headlight, 33 percent brighter than its predecessor, sits behind the transparent nose bodywork, and while the bike comes with a conventional paper-based roadbook system, it can also be fitted with a modern, digital alternative.
With only 100 due to be made, there’s a good chance that all have already found buyers by the time you read this, despite a price tag that’s likely to be somewhere close to $40,000 each.
Only 100 of the bikes will be made for 2025, so if you haven’t plopped down your $40,000, you’re too late. (KTM/)
