.jpg?itok=PKoMgJc5 "2024 KTM 450 Rally Replica launched")
The 2024 KTM 450 Rally Replica has been launched, offering the latest edition of the ultimate production rally racer.
There is little doubt that the Dakar Rally is the pinnacle of motorcycle rally raids. Regardless of your view of the event’s challenge in its Saudi-based modern form, it’s the rally that all the top rally riders want to win.
Over the last 20 years or so, most of the top rally riders have ridden for KTM – and/or one of their sister Pierer Mobility Group brands – and in Mattighofen they have found perhaps the best rally bike in the world.
The combination of top riders and a top bike has led KTM to dominate the Dakar in the 21st century. It won every edition of the Dakar between 2001 and 2019, and has also won the last two editions in 2022 and 2023.
Well, sort of at least. GasGas is one of those PMG sister brands, and won the 2022 edition with its own version of KTM’s 450 Rally, the RX450F, piloted by Sam Sunderland. That victory brought with it GasGas’ own production rally racer, but for now the 2024 model year is only covered by KTM.
Only 80 are being made, making this one of the most exclusive bike of 2024 already in September 2023, but of course it is built with a very specific purpose in mind.
As you might expect, since they are also a part of the Pierer Mobility Group, WP supplies the suspension. Specifically, the 2024 450 Rally Replica gets 48mm WP XACT Pro Cone Valve closed cartridge forks and a WP XACT Pro shock with full adjustability. There is also an Akrapovic pipe connected to the 450cc SOHC engine, and a race-derived chassis, as well as the same gearbox as the factory race bike.
It’s not full factory, but it’s about as close as you can get without a factory contract. But, as Mason Klein discovered in 2022, it is still a bike worthy of not only finishing the Dakar, but making the top 10.
