behind the build

Factory Honda’s Ken Roczen is all about doing whatever it takes to win on the track, while off the track his passion for having the best is just as intense. A couple of years ago we featured Roczen’s CRF450L dual-sport machine built by…
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Working on “project bikes,” as they’re commonly called, never gets old. Some projects start with new bikes and some are Craigslist finds, but this bike has a unique story behind it. Kevin Bailey from Race Winning Brands takes us through…
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We have all seen a motorcycle that we have dreamed of owning one day. For our buddy Rado, it was the 2016 Six Days edition KTM 300XC-W. This machine was decked out in his home country’s colors because that’s where the ISDE was being…
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There have been plenty of 500cc two-strokes from Husqvarna throughout dirt bike history. But, since the brand’s rebirth a few years back, it has shied away from two-strokes above 300cc. We teamed up with former factory Kawasaki race team…
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Shane Nalley has a resume that is at the top of the charts for the high-end world of racing dirt bikes. He’s been the mechanic for Keith Turpin, Larry Brooks and Mike Kiedrowski when he raced for Honda, Kawasaki and Honda of Troy. Plus, he…
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The YZ250F platform has had a very successful 2021 season, receiving both media praises and winning a lot on the professional racing level. Well, that’s just not good enough for the Dirt Bike staff. We wanted more out of our Blue Crew test…
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You could spend hours gazing at this Every Single Sunday GasGas EC300 that, believe it or not, was not originally built with the goal of being featured in a magazine. The owner/builder of this hard-enduro specialist, Travis Brock of Every…
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By Tom Webb I really needed a dual-sport machine. Yes, we get test bikes, but by the time we get them dialed in to our needs, they get tugged back to the factory because new models are en route. As with anything KTM, the demand is high,…
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Jealousy is a fantastic motivator. My 2020 KTM 500EXC-F sat in the garage for a year without being ridden. It had a short history: it won our dual-sport shootout; it was purchased; it was ignored. I had plans to ride in Tecate, a…
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We have built a lot of project bikes with Justin Myerson from Motowhips over the years and are always blown away with each bike. This KX125 is Justin’s personal bike and took almost two years to build in between working on customer builds.…
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We make a Honda Dual-Sport CRF450L with greater off-road capabilities with IMS
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Justin Myerson and his crew can make just about anything look like a factory level race machine! With the 110cc pit bike craze that is rapidly moving across the USA, Motowhips decided to showcase their talents in that area. This build named…
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Mark Tilley has two priorities in his life these days. Their names are Jacob and Austin Tilley. But between supporting their young racing aspirations and acting as Managing Editor of Dirt Bike Magazine, Mark found the time to earn two…
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Sometimes our daydreams become reality. Recently, we had a conversation at the office about what a modern Japanese 125cc two-stroke might look and perform like. The conversation went on for hours. Not long afterward, we ran into Josh…
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TM is a small motorcycle manufacturer located in a small town in the Italian countryside. TM makes a limited number of hand-built, very specialized machines each year and is perfectly content doing so. The largest-bore two-stroke TM has…
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Dicks Racing has been building high-end off-road racing machines for decades. A racer himself, Dick Wilk pounded the hostile desert around Las Vegas and taught himself the art of making his machine handle better and perform stronger through…
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The ISDE Qualifier Series is a 50-year-old tradition in the American off-road racing scene. It came into being in order to cull the freakishly large number of U.S. riders who wanted to attend the International Six-Day Trial/Enduro. Now, it…
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The Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke has got to be one of the most commonly modified machines on the planet. This is true for multiple reasons: the bike hasn’t changed much in the last decade, and just about every aftermarket company makes products…
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Extreme enduro has seen a huge explosion all around the world in the past few years, so much so that there is a full series in the USA now dedicated to outdoor extreme events. With this popularity comes not only some very talented riders…
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Zach Bell has been on factory-level race teams for a majority of his career. He was a part of the powerhouse Factory Connection Honda squad when he raced AMA SX and MX, then his transition into off-road was with the SLR Honda team. Bell has…
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