Ron’s Wrap

If you were limited to one motorcycle, what would it be? I know, for most people, that’s not a hypothetical question. It’s reality. I have to admit that most riders in my world have at least three bikes in their garage at any one time. I…
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No modern motocross bike generates such diverse reactions as the Yamaha YZ450F. Some love it, others don’t. There’s even discord among recent teammates on the Monster Energy Star Yamaha racing team. Last year Eli Tomac was a true believer…
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Eric Crippa was honored earlier this week by a gathering of motorcycle royalty in Granada Hills, California. Eric was on the ground floor of motocross in the U.S. He started with Husqvarna, working with riders such as Gunnar Lindstrom, Brad…
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We have been getting more opportunities to ride electric bikes of various sorts. Some are better than others. The fact that Beta is offering the Explorer is an endorsement of sorts. Here’s a company that specializes in the most hard-core…
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Finally! We have a Triumph TF250X test bike. It’s been six months since we were invited to Florida for the introduction of this bike. Triumph made a big splash at the time; all the magazines (all three of them), all the websites (maybe a…
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The 2025 models are arriving almost daily. We picked up our 2025 Husqvarna FC450 test bike two weeks ago, but we didn’t have our first chance to ride it until Thursday. This bike has few surprises, even though it’s very different from last…
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This week we’ve been riding the 2024 KTM 350SX-F out in the California heat. Needless to say, this is one of our favorite motocross bikes--it’s one of everyone’s favorite motocross bikes. With temperatures around 100 degrees, the 350 is a…
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Let’s go back to 1998, when two-strokes ruled professional motocross, four-strokes were something new, exotic and off-beat and there was still an Open class at most local tracks. The Yamaha YZ400F was brand-new at the time and a flash point…
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We have the 2025 KTM 450SX-F in the shop now. In keeping with tradition, this is the production version of the 2024 ½ KTM 450SX-F Race Edition. It comes with the latest rendition of the steel central backbone frame, the new bodywork and all…
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We just got a hold of the new BMW R900GS, which has to be considered the most dirt oriented BMW adventure bike ever. We first got a look at this bike about a month ago on a ride with BMW’s new Superbike racer JD Beach, who did some pretty…
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A few weeks ago, we got our hands on an Electric Motion Escape XR electric off-road bike. Electric Motion is a French company that’s on top of the electric trials bike scene, and now they’re pushing into the general-purpose off-road market…
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For a few weeks we’ve been riding the Beta 300RR two-stroke Race Edition. One of the most interesting things about this bike is that it now has a twin-spark-plug ignition. That’s in addition to the features that Beta puts on all its Race…
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We've been riding a Honda XR150L for a couple of weeks now and loving it! It’s a legitimate dual-sport bike that’s approved by every government agency that has a say in the matter, and it sells for $3099. You could have four of…
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Good news: the KTM 790 Adventure is back! Back in 2020 it had a base price of $12,699, which was only about 10 percent higher than a 500 dual-sport bike. Then it morphed into an 890, with more features and a bigger price tag. For 2024, the…
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In 2006, the 250 four-stroke class in motocross was finally complete with five separate brands. that year, Kawasaki came out with an all new bike--in the previous year, the KX250 and the RMZ250 were  shared in a short-lived alliance. For…
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Last week, I rode the Nevada 200 for the first time. I don’t know how I missed it for so many years--it’s now in its 40th edition. It started off as a collaboration between Scot Harden and Casey Folks. Now, Scot carries on, but he’s not…
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Our 2024 Honda CRF450R has spent the last few months in a celebrity garage. Four-time 250 National MX Champion Gary Jones still rides at age 72--and he still hauls! We loaned him our Honda test bike with the blessing of Ryan Dudek at Honda.…
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We now have a little time on the 2024 GasGas MC250F Factory Edition. We love the way it looks, we love the way it runs and we love all the new technology. Virtually all of the cost-cutting measures employed on other GasGas MX bikes have…
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Have you ever wondered why Beta has four off-road bikes that look virtually identical? So have we. The 350, 390, 430 and 480 are supposed to have completely different personalities.  Is it true? We had ridden them all, but not back to back,…
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The 2024 Husqvarna FC450 Rockstar Edition has to be one of the coolest looking bikes in the current Husqvarna line--or maybe anyone’s line-up. We’ve been riding one for about two weeks--or rather our test rider Jared Hicks has. It’s been…
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