RIDING THE REDMOTO CRF300RX

This week, Matt Stavish of Checkpoint Off-road escaped from Siberia (well, Minnesota) to bring a RedMoto 300RX for us to try. We got to see these bikes at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy and couldn’t stop drooling. They are, basically Hondas that are modified for off-road use by the Italian Honda Importer.  The bike is sold in the U.S. on an a la carte basis by Checkpoint Offroad. In other words, you go to your Honda dealer and walk out with a new CRF250RX, then you give it the RedMoto treatment yourself. Matt Stavish is a Minnesota off-road legend, with decades of ISDE and National Enduro experience. He decided the brand new 2022 Honda CRF250RX was the perfect platform to showcase RedMoto’s hardware.

This was also our first experience with the ‘22 Honda CRF250RX. As it comes from the factory, it has all the same new features and updates that the CRF250R motocross bike got for 2022. That includes a new, lighter chassis and a motor that has a new head, crank, cams, clutch and piston. The airbox is completely configured, as well. The twin mufflers are gone. In its RX configuration, Honda gives it little more than different mapping, softer suspension and the usual list of off-road accoutrements like a big tank, an 18-inch rear wheel and a kickstand. Like most of the current “closed-course competition” bikes offered from dealers, it’s more motocross than off-road.
For this project, Checkpoint finished the off-road conversion that Honda started with Red Moto parts. At the core of it all is the 300 kit. This includes a cylinder, piston and gaskets to bring the displacement to 299cc. The kit is designed by RedMoto and manufactured by Athena. The EFI system was remapped as well. The cost for the kit with mapping is $1299. The beautiful titanium exhaust is made by Termignoni and has a removable quiet core. The bike also got a RedMoto 2-gallon fuel tank to replace the atrocious stocker. The suspension was modified by Checkpoint here in the U.S. The fork was built with RWE Kashima uppers, DLC lowers with MX Tech BlackJack closed cartridges. Checkpoint also has an in-line hose cooler and aluminum bar ends.

Riding the bike was a blast. The bike’s power was impressive. Where the stock 250R motocross bike is mostly a top-end motor–even after the emphasis on more low end for 2022–the Red Moto 300 is a mid-range monster. Most of the usual shortcomings of big-bore kits weren’t evident; it didn’t vibrate at all, it was easy to start and it had decent overrev. We didn’t have a KTM 350 oolong for comparison, but the Red Moto is clearly much closer to that level than it is to a stock 250. The best part about the bike, however, was suspension. We rode mostly on super tight, western trails and the Checkpoint set up was perfect. It was comfortable without the excessive dive and chassis movement usually associated with enduro settings. We will have more to say about it in the April, 2022 print edition of Dirt Bike.

2022 REDMOTO CRF300RX

Checkpoint Off-Road fork: $3600
MX Tech National shock with Checkpoint Off Road specs: $2460
RedMoto 300 big bore with mapping $1099
RedMoto 2-gal tank: $399
Termignoni exhaust with removable quiet core: $1299
RedMoto radiator braces/fan kit/ with simple wire harness: $429 (harness allows addition of plug and play RedMoto headlight and rear fender with light)
RedMoto CSP chain guide with brace: $129
Checkpoint Off-Road/RedMoto hose cooler: $99
Checkpoint Off-Road aluminum bar ends: $49
G2 Ergonomics quick turn throttle tube: $69.95
IronMan 47 tooth sprocket: $120

2022 REDMOTO CRF400RX

Matt also brought out a Red Moto 400 based on the 2022 Honda CRF450RX. As everyone knows, the stock Honda 450 is a brute on tight trails. The Red Moto deals with that using a new cylinder that changes the displacement to 413cc. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much time on it, but we know it will get a full workout in the opening round of the National Enduro Season at Sumter, South Carolina. Here are the details that Matt gave us on the 400:

RedMoto 400 small bore with mapping: $1099
RedMoto 2 gal tank: $399 (uses R shrouds)
Termignoni exhaust: $899
RedMoto Race Light kit: $649 (headlight, mounting hardware, rear fender, with drop down and led taillight, wire harness)
RedMoto radiator braces: $139
RedMoto CSP chain guide with brace: $129
Checkpoint Off-Road aluminum bar ends: $49
Checkpoint Off-Road fork valve $230
KYB O1M fork oil: $36
SKF dual compound seals/wipers: $88
Checkpoint Off-Road shock valve: $195
Motorex shock oil: $24
Showa bumper cup mod: $55

REMEMBER THE RM-Z!

Hey! The Suzuki RM-Z is still pretty good! We kind of forgot. We have had our 2022 Suzuki RM-Z450 test bike for several weeks and no one was especially excited about riding it. It still has a kickstarter! How can that be right? As it turned out, we still like the bike; we never stopped. The power is smooth and wonderful, it turns great and is comfortable. When we rode it, memories from all those shootouts were it was a threat to win came back. Now, of course, it hasn’t changed in years. The fact that it’s competitive hasn’t changed either. We don’t even mind the kickstarter. The only thing that we really don’t like is that past versions of the bike actually had better rear suspension than the current one. It isn’t bad, but the 2018 version was truly great. The price is $8999. That’s pretty good.

SKYLER AND MASON

Dakar is officially over and we kinda miss the daily reports. If you are suffering from Post Dakar depression as well, you can get a fix by reading our interviews with Skyler Howes and Mason Klein. They provide some real insight on what it takes to race across Saudi Arabia for two weeks.

GNCC: ROUND 4 ANNOUNCED

The fourth round of the 2022 GNCC Racing Series will be held in Union, South Carolina as the Dunlop Tires Tiger Run GNCC at Big Buck Farm. This event will also host the second round of the Specialized Turbo GNCC eMTB National Championship Series.

RND	DATE	EVENT NAME	CITY, STATE
Rnd 1	Feb 19-20	Big Buck	Union, SC
Rnd 2	Mar 5-6	Wild Boar	Palatka, FL
Rnd 3	Mar 12-13	The General	Washington, GA
Rnd 4	Mar 26-27	Tiger Run	Union, SC
Rnd 5	Apr 9-10	Camp Coker Bullet	Society Hill, SC
Rnd 6	May 7-8	Hoosier	Crawfordsville, IN
Rnd 7	May 21-22	The John Penton	Millfield, OH
Rnd 8	Jun 4-5	Mason-Dixon	Mount Morris, PA
Rnd 9	Jun 25-26	Snowshoe	Snowshoe, WV
	Jul 9-10	RAIN DATE
	Jul 30	Loretta Lynn eMTB ONLY	Hurricane Mills, TN
Rnd 10	Sep 10-11	The Mountaineer	Beckley, WV
Rnd 11	Sep 24-25	Burr Oak	Millfield, OH
Rnd 12	Oct 8-9	Buckwheat 100	Newburg, WV
Rnd 13	Oct 22-23	Ironman	Crawfordsville, IN
	Nov 5-6	RAIN DATE

 

HAMMAKER OUT

Seth Hammaker posted this on IG today: Hey guys I hate to post this news but unfortunately this week I had a practice crash getting ready for San Diego. Grade 3 spleen laceration and compression fractures in T7 and T8 in my back. I’m gutted to say the least. The team and I have been working hard to bring our best every weekend. I appreciate there support through all of the good and bad! The main goal now is to heal up right and completely before we get back to racing. I will keep y’all informed of how long I will be out as we know a little more. Thanks to everyone for the support I will be back better and stronger

FULL GAS IS BACK!

Jason Hooper, founder of the full Gas Sprint Enduro series, got out of the game in 2020. Now, the series is back, under the organization for Dirt Road LLC. The format will be similar, but each class will have only one day of racing per event. The promoter’s goal is to have 1 hour and 30 minutes of racing for everyone.

2022 Season Schedule

Round 1: February 12-13 Outback Motorsports Park – Laurinburg, NC
Round 2: March 19-20 GTR Complex – Gaston, SC
Round 3: April 2-3 Lake Sugar Tree, Motorsports Park – Axton, VA
Round 4: May 28-29 Hidden Valley Golf Course – Glen Daniel, WV
Round 5: June 18-19 Catfish Pond – Martinsville, VA
Round 6 July 9-10 NCMP – Henderson, NC

That’s all for now!

–Ron Lawson