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Last weekend, the Dakar rally wrapped up with two Americans in the top 10. Monster Energy Honda factory rider Ricky Brabec was second overall and privateer Skyler Howes was fifth. Now that they are back in the U.S. , I got a chance to interview both of them. RICKY BRABEC ON DAKAR Dirt Bike: Did […]
This week we’ve been playing with the Husqvarna 701 Long Range. The line between adventure bike and dual-sport bike is getting very blurry. The Long Range seems to fall on the adventure side of the line, yet most of the machine is identical to the Husky 701 Enduro. That’s a dual-sport bike in almost everyone’s […]
We have an odd-couple of 300cc off-road bikes that we’re testing now. One is the GasGas EC300 two-stroke and the other is the TM 300 four-stroke. Both of these were obscure European companies a few years ago, but now they are entering the mainstream. GasGas, of course, is now a part of Pierer Mobility and […]
The year 2021 has just begun and we’ve already tested most of the new motocross bikes of the year. Last week, we posted the 2021 450 motocross shootout, which had seven motorcycles, including the new GasGas MC 450F. The Suzuki RM-Z450 still had not cleared customs, so we used a 2020 model provided by Simi […]
At the beginning of 1998, Ricky Carmichael’s Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX125 was fitted with his first number one plate. Until that time, AMA National MX championships had only gone to factory bikes and factory riders. Back in the late ’90s, Pro Circuit was one the few teams in the gray zone between privateer teams and […]
The full 2021 GasGas line of motocross and off-road bikes was presented to the press at Glen Helen Raceway this week. We got a chance to ride them all, and when it was through, we took the MC250F and MC450F back to the Dirt Bike shop to be weighed and photographed in detail. Those two […]
The 2021 KTM 350EXC dual-sport bike is in the Dirt Bike Magazine shop now, being poked and prodded. The hierarchy hasn’t changed much in the dual-sport world. KTM is still right on top, at least as far as hard-core dual-sport bikes are concerned. The only other players are Husqvarna, Beta and Honda–maybe SWM. You can […]
We have had the new Kawasaki KX250X for almost two months now and I’ve been building it into a racebike for the National Grand Prix Championship Series. It’s not very hard work. The bike is great right out of the box. Kawasaki didn’t try to overthink it. It’s basically a motocross bike with off-road suspension. […]
The KTM 790 Adventure has been replaced by the KTM 890 Adventure for 2021. Don’t panic; it’s essentially the same bike with more of everything. KTM has been testing the new bike right under our noses for months now with Quinn Cody in the National Hare & Hound series. That either means that the 890 […]
The year 2020 is finally drawing to a close, and the various off road race championships that were postponed and rescheduled have, for the most part, played out. When the smoked cleared, most of the them had shortened schedules–but the good news is that they happened. There were some outright cancellations like the ISDE and […]
If you watched any of the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro motocross series, you probably think that the Yamaha YZ250F is the all-time horsepower king of the 250 class. That’s clearly true of the bikes ridden by Dylan Ferrandis, Justin Cooper and the other Star Racing/Monster Energy team members, but on the production level it’s a […]
The Husqvarna TX300 two-stroke is probably the most versatile dirt bike in the world. It’s had amazing success as a motocrosser, a desert bike, an EnduroCross bike and a hare-scrambles bike. Last month we got to ride one that was specifically tailored for the forests of Oregon. Dallas Nyblod came down from the great Northwest […]
This week we got to ride the new Kawasaki KX250X and KX450X for the first time. It’s about time that Kawasaki offered off-road race bikes again. Zach Bell, Josh Strang, Jordan Ashburn and Robby Bell have all been racing converted KX motocross bikes, and Team Green has been offering off-road contingency payout for years, broadcasting […]
The 2021 450 MX shootout is underway–sort of. We have already tested the Honda CR450R, the Husqvarna FC450, the Kawasaki KX450, the KTM 450SX-F and the Yamaha YZ450F. Unfortunately, we will have to wait for a full house. The Suzuki RM-Z450 and the GasGasMC450 have yet to arrive. It will be the biggest shootout that […]
We’ve been living with the 2021 Kawasaki KX250 for almost a week now and love it more each day. Kawasaki took its time updating the 250 four-stroke, starting with a new head and valve train in 2020. Now the job is complete; the rest of the bike is all new. The chassis is more or […]
This week’s announcement that GasGas motorcycles will be offered in the U.S. came as no big shock. The prices, however, were a surprise. Pierer Mobility, the parent company of KTM and Husqvarna, acquired controlling interest in GasGas at the end of 2019. GasGas trials bikes were the main prize, and would continue without much change. […]
We finally got a chance to ride the 2021 Honda CRF450R this week, and what a ride it was. We’ve been a little obsessed with this bike since it was announced. Not only is it the most interesting new bike of the season, it’s the most exciting Honda of any kind in years. The twice […]
The TM 250EN 4T Fi is in the garage now, awaiting a race-test this weekend. This is one exotic motorcycle. Any TM is already exotic. This is a small Italian company that specializes in race bikes, with a number of world championships to its credit and even a few GP motocross wins. Even by TM […]
Our 2021 KTM 450XC-F test bike arrived in the nick of time for the rescheduled NGPC series next week in Idaho. This is the perfect bike for that series, which was formerly known as the District 37 Big 6 GP series. The KTM 450XC-F has a long history of success there with riders like Gary […]
The story of the 1969 Husqvarna 500 Twin Baja Invader is fascinating to anyone with an interest in racing history. There was only one ever built and it won races on both sides of the world with iconic riders like J.N. Roberts and Gunnar Nilsson. Today, the bike still exists in the Tom White Early […]