Ron’s Wrap

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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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We’ve been serving our quarantine on adventure bikes for the last month or so. It gave us a chance to ride the new Yamaha Tenere 700 back to back with the 790 Adventure R. Up front, we’ll tell you that these have become our two favorite ADV…
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This week the 2021 KTM 450SX-F was dropped on us and we spent a couple of days getting to know it at Glen Helen Raceway. This isn't a year of big changes for the KTM. There are two things worth knowing about the new 450SX: the front…
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RIDING THE 2020 HUSQVARNA FE350S DUAL-SPORT The Husqvarna FE350S  remains one of our favorite dual-sport bikes of the year. This year, it has an "S" suffix because there is another FE350 in the line; a dirt-only version of the same bike.…
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The 2021 Husqvarna FC450 is here and even though this can’t be considered a year of major change, there’s still a lot to talk about. On the top of the list, Husqvarna is continuing to follow a different evolutionary path from KTM. We began…
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Kawasaki was the first manufacturer to release a 2021 model to the press. The new Kawasaki KX450 is in our greedy hands and we couldn’t be happier. Mark Tilley, in particular, is the  bike’s biggest fan. He used the 2020 model to dominate…
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TM continues to be a tiny Italian thorn in the paw of the giant KTM / Husqvarna / GasGas conglomerate. This week we got to ride the EN 250Fi 2T, which is digi-speak for the fuel-injected 250 two-stroke off-road model. TM is using transfer…
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We've had the opportunity to spend some time on adventure bikes this summer, and loved every minute of it. The highlight was the return of the KTM 790 Adventure to the garage, which has reconfirmed its status as the pick of the litter. …
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This week’s announcement of the 2021 KTM and Husqvarnas held a surprise for those of us who thought we knew everything. The 2021 KTM SX-F and XC-F models will have smartphone connectivity that should make mapping changes much easier at the…
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Just before the Covid-19 lockdown, the third round round of the National Hare and Hound series took place, which would be one of the last races held for some time. The Mint 400 had been a car-only race for years, but for 2020, they opened…
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Sherco is about a year into its new deal in the U.S. and what a year it's been. We got to ride the entire line in Italy at a world press introduction at the end of 2019, and then we had another opportunity to ride the 250 two-stroke in…
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With the Coronavirus shut down, the 2021 new model season will be later than usual. In fact, there are still some new-for-2020 bikes that were late arrivals. One of them is the Yamaha WR250F. This bike replaced an aging model by the same…
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It’s been a long time since we addressed the 350 vs 450 question in motocross. In our last chapter, we decided that pros generally turn a faster lap time on a 450, but everyone, regardless of class, has more fun on a 350. That was a few…
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