Ron’s Wrap

Honda took a bunch of journalists up to Oregon last week to ride the 2022 CRF250R. You can watch the video we shot with Carson Brown here, and read what he had to say here. We don't publish a full test, however, until we have a chance to…
Read More...

This week we got a chance to ride the 2022 Kawasaki KX450 for the first time. I know you know the 2022 model is unchanged, but it’s still a very big deal to us.The KX450 has never been the fastest, the lightest, the most sophisticated or…
Read More...

This week started with Honda’s big reveal of the 2022 CRF250R. We’ve seen this bike coming for over a year, and it is what we expected: a 250 with all the same chassis updates that the 450 got last year. There were a few surprises along the…
Read More...

With this week's release of new Hondas and last week's announcement of the 2022 Yamaha line, the overall picture for 2022 has come into better focus. It's a year of mostly unchanged models with the notable exception of the Yamaha…
Read More...

This week we got to ride the 2022 Husqvarna TE150i. This is our first experience with this bike, although we did test the 2019 Husky TE150, which was before the coming of Transfer Port Injection. You won’t find anything exactly like the…
Read More...

Last month we did a very unusual comparison between two 500 Hondas. One represented bikes of a bygone era and another was from a time that hasn’t yet come--and probably never will. Nic Gubert of NLAB Studios built them both. First, he…
Read More...

The 2022 models aren’t exactly flooding into the Dirt Bike shop like a title wave; it’s more like a leaky faucet. This week we got to ride the 2022 Husqvarna TE300i  and the 2022 KTM 450SX-F for the first time. Neither bike is different…
Read More...

We didn’t get a chance to test too many Beta motorcycles in 2021. The factory was hit hard and early by the Covid 19 epidemic and there were no units for testing. Each year, though, Beta releases half-year models called the Race Editions,…
Read More...

After years of struggle and sacrifice, Skyler Howes is now a factory rider. He was hired by the Rockstar Husqvarna Rally team after two consecutive top-10 finishes in the Dakar Rally as a privateer. His first FIM international event was the…
Read More...

 The first 2022 test bike is here, surviving factory shut-downs and pandemics to arrive more or less on schedule. The 2022 KTM 250SX-F is in dealers and we already have had one on the track.  It has very few changes beyond the graphics and…
Read More...

Model year 2022 is here and showrooms are finally beginning to fill up.  We already have first looks from KTM, Husqvarna, Sherco, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Beta.  Honda has also released its 450s. So far, we have a mixed bag of some prices that…
Read More...

This week I got to ride my 2020 KTM 500EXC for the first time in about six months. This was the bike that won our 2020 dual-sport shootout. I purchased the bike directly from KTM after the test and then promptly didn’t ride it. That’s a…
Read More...

Last week we took delivery of a new Honda CRF300L Rally and I also got to ride the CRF300L dual-sport. As a 250, the Rally was a  one of those bikes that was too sexy for its own good. It looked like it was ready to go straight to Dakar…
Read More...

The highlight of this week was getting together with Cody Webb for several projects we have in the works. He came to So Cal from his home in Colorado for the Last Dog Standing, which is the third Extreme Enduro of the year and a part of…
Read More...

If you remember the name Benelli, you've just dated yourself. Benelli was an Italian company that started before World War One, and was still making motorcycles in Pesaro the '90s. In the U.S., Benelli was once sold under the Montgomery…
Read More...

The 2022 model year has officially started. Husqvarna has shown its motocross bikes and cross country racers. Honda has shown its 450s. KTM and GasGas will soon follow with their own initial product releases. So far, there’s nothing…
Read More...

Donny Emler Jr (aka "Little D") at FMF has been working there pretty much his whole life and has seen some of the coolest bikes in the world pass through the shop. His latest personal bike is a very well appointed Husky FE501S dual-sport.…
Read More...

We spent much of this week testing various configurations of the 2021 Yamaha WR450F. The WR is a true-blue off-road bike, as recognized by the EPA. This year it got updated to the same platform as the current YZ450F, at least mechanically,…
Read More...

This week we got to swing a leg over the 2021 Husqvarna FE501S dual-sport bike. This bike is like a crossbreed of two other bikes we tested recently; the Husqvarna FE501 dirt-only model and the KTM 500EXC dual-sport. If you think there’s no…
Read More...

In the October, 1996 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster talked about the future in a story called "Motocross Bike: 2000 A.D. It's kinda fun to look back at what he saw coming. What will motocross bikes look like in the year 2000? If…
Read More...