Ron’s Wrap

The 2024 models are out there! Even now, there are dealers that have some new models on the showroom. We have seen most of the new dirt bikes from Beta, Honda, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM and Suzuki. GasGas, Sherco and Yamaha have yet to…
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Last month, we got to test the 2024 KTM 450XCF-W at a media intro in Ohio at the site of the John Penton GNCC. It was just enough to get us excited about the bike and we couldn’t wait to get it to California where we could get more time on…
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We don’t get many Shercos to test, so we were delighted when a big crate showed up on our doorstep with a 2023 125SE enclosed. Sherco is one of those sneaky companies that quietly stays just ahead of the curve. The 125SE has been around for…
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Back in 2000, Travis Pastrana was a 16-year-old kid who was already one of the best known motocrossers in the world. That was when Roger DeCoster was just beginning to understand what he had in Travis. In the July, 2000 issue of Dirt Bike,…
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Earlier this week, I went to Sunday Creek Raceway in Ohio, which is the home of  the John Penton GNCC to preview KTM’s 2024 off-road collection. The centerpiece of them all is the new 300XC-W, but I also got to check out  the 150XC-W, the…
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Rodney Smith drove down from Idaho last week to deliver a 2023 Beta 300RR Race Edition. This is a premium version of the “Standard” 300RR.. It uses premix lubrication rather than oil injection. The motor has a larger exhaust port, higher…
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We rode the new Yamaha YZ125X off-road two-stroke for the first time this week. This motorcycle has massive changes for 2023. It is based on the YZ125 motocross bike which had massive changes last year, so it follows in those footsteps with…
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In the 450 class, GasGas and KTM are offering the same Factory Edition with different bodywork. Same bike, same accessories, same price, different color. That’s not true in the 250 division. What GasGas offers is nothing like the KTM…
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This year, North America took a big step forward on the world stage of Rally competition. The 2023 Sonora Rally, which has long been the premiere rally for Americans and Mexican Nationals, became a part of the FIM World Rally Raid…
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Right at the height of an unparalleled super bloom we got to do our 2023 500 dual-sport comparison. The Beta 500RR-S, Honda CRF450RL, Husqvarna FE501S and KTM 500EXC are the elite bikes with the most performance, the least weight and the…
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We have a 2023 Suzuki DR-Z400 in the test fleet right now and we forgot how much fun it is. This Is a bike that we once knew very well. It first came out in 2000 and we did a number of projects with it over the years with great results.…
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The Wiseco Two-Stroke World Championship is this weekend at Glen Helen Raceway. We have been hip deep in this race all week with Carson Brown and his dad rebuilding his bike(s) at Mark Tilley’s house. We are producing a live-stream of the…
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This week we got to ride the new GasGas Factory Editions. The GasGas MC450F Factory Edition is otherwise known as the Troy Lee Edition, and is basically a tribute to Justin Barcia's race bike. For 2023, this model is based on a new…
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Casey Folks loved motorcycles. He loved racing, he loved the desert and more than anything he loved his Husqvarnas. In his years as the owner of Sportsman Cycle in Las Vegas, he accumulated dozens of them. Some of them were his personal…
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We now have the 2023 CRF450RWE and we’ve been dodging the storms to get some time on it. It’s a special edition of the CRF450R--actually, another special edition. There are several. In addition to the standard model, which sells for $9599,…
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The 2023 Husqvarna Rockstar Edition is in the Dirt Bike shop now. Of all the new KTMs and Husqvarnas that hit the dealers for the 2023 model year, this is one of the most interesting. Like virtually all the competition models, it has the…
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We’ve been on a mission to test all the dual-sport bikes we can get our hands on for 2023. This week was all about the Beta 500RR-S. We already have a little history with this bike; Tom Webb purchased our 2022 test bike and loves it. Beta…
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We had a busy week with some very diverse bikes. The 2023 Kawasaki KX450SR arrived and we couldn’t wait to get it out on the track. This was the winner of our massive 12-bike 450 shootout in 2022, when we gathered all the standard 450s as…
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This week we got our first chance to ride the 2023 KTM 450SX Factory Edition. This is one of those years when the Factory Edition is more of a Cooper Webb replica than a preview of The Next Big Thing. Last year, remember, the 2022 Factory…
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This week has been all about the 2023 Husqvarna TC125. Up front, I gotta say that I love riding 125 two-strokes. I'm not alone, either. Pete Murray is like minded, so we took the new TC125 and a 2023 Yamaha YZ125 to Glen Helen for "Saturday…
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