Dirt Bikes

It’s the motorcycle that all other manufacturers had to beat and, while they could on occasion, it was the Harley Davidson XR750 that ruled the racing roost for nearly 5 decades, outlasting all its rivals.

Really cool video tutorial about how to jump your MX bike and not break every bone in your body doing it! They make it look so easy and give some good hints and tips on how to best do it but it’s one thing watching and quite another doing it in real life.

A Triumph Bonneville T120R once owned by famed stuntman Bud Ekins and subsequently by Steve McQueen’s Solar Productions is up for auction this month. Ekins was one of the highest profile stuntmen of his time as well as an accomplished and very successful competitor on two wheels. You might have heard of Steve McQueen as well.

What do you do when you have a drag bike but no drag strip nearby? Easy, you befriend a local farmer and lay out a drag strip in a field. Install some lights and Armco and Bob’s your uncle; Top Fuel Dirt Drag Racing. Just about the best thing you’ve seen today!

The Yamaha T7 Tenere was a new direction in adventure bikes when it was launched. Missing the extreme size and weight of other large adventure bikes, it was also refreshingly simple. Not the obvious basis for a customisation project, Deus of Australia obviously thought otherwise and came up with this brilliant homage to Paris-Dakar racers of the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Triumph has a long history of off-road competition success but that was a very long time ago. Since the company was resurrected by John Bloor 30 years ago, it has succeeded in every category of road and adventure bike it has entered. The only avenue left open to Triumph was true off-road Motocross and Enduro bikes and, while rumours have been swirling for a while, today it became official; Triumph will build proper off-road bikes. There are few details but Triumph has said that the bikes will be new from the ground up, which could be taken to mean there will be no outsourced engineering other than suspension, brakes and electronics.

Kawasaki’s 2022 MX and Enduro bikes offer something for everyone, be they young or old, beginner or experienced

It’s not the most attractive bike in the dual sport stable, though it’s small and scrappy with a 644 cc engine and so much fun to ride. With a glance at the DR650S from Suzuki you might just dismiss it as an enduro bike. That would be doing it an injustice. It’s really a basic adventure bike that will get you off the pavement and into the woods with perhaps more gumption than a real adventure bike. Priced affordably, it isn’t tragic to drop it as it would be otherwise and it is lightweight enough that you can pick it up and keep going.

Power capacity is one of the major hurdles EV bikes have to overcome, and KTM seeks to address that issue with its newest electro-tastic Freeride E-XC. This is a second-generation machine that packs half-again more power than the previous gen along with revised graphics and bodywork for a new look as well. KTM’s off-road experience is evident in the lightweight, agile frame and long-stroke suspension components that make this a truly capable machine that definitely furthers the cause of EV bikes in general.

It is hands down is the single-most dominant motocross bike of the last decade. But for some time now, the Blue Crew has grabbed some of the limelight. STYLING
Let’s face it, nobody buys a motocross motorbike for the way it looks or for the way it is shaped and contoured. But, not many people realize that these design elements and minimalistic bodywork keep the motorcycle at the top of its game.
The 2017 onwards model features slimmer shrouds as a result of revised radiators and their new (...)

Suzuki has announced a new product for the young greats of the motorcycle world, and a 49cc four-stroke motor powers it. Called the 2019 Suzuki DR-Z50, this small motocross machines provides the easiest access into the life of two-wheelers by being a simple and resilient machine to go frolicking around with.

It will have a strict competition only specs: sans a headlamp cluster, indicators or license plates; for hence cannot be registered to be used on the public roads. This motorcycles specifically offer electric start engines, a significantly lighter chassis, high ground clearance, long travel suspension and slimmer ergonomics to be able to move around the dirt and jump hills without any hindrance.

The greats of the motorcycle world have always had in their stride since the very beginning of their life. You look at every legendary figure of the motorsports world, one thing they have in common is their passion for things on two wheels from a very young age, some even when they have just begun to walk and talk. And the easiest access into this life is on the small motocross machines like the Japanese Green Team’s KX100.

The KX100 is a natural progression from the smaller KX65 and KX85 and will continue to widen this segment and get in a much lighter bike with a more sophisticated engine, better suspension and braking units to go the full throttle way for the young stars interested in dirt riding and want to make a career out of it. An ideal learning curve en-route to the bigger KX250. In return, Kawasaki has relied on its aspiring young stars to provide input to help develop winning products.

Husqvarna has just updated their two-stroke mini-motocross lineup to entice the future stars of the game. Offering some impressive features and top-of-the-line equipment list, Husky unveiled the TC50, TC65 and TC85 machines to take on the Kawasaki’s and the KTM brothers.

They will have a strict competition only specs: sans a headlamp cluster, indicators or license plates; for hence cannot be registered to be used on the public roads. These motorcycles specifically offer powerful engines, a significantly lighter chassis, high ground clearance, long travel suspension and slimmer ergonomics to be able to move around the dirt and jump hills without any hindrance.

Boston and Massachusetts State Police have finally had it enough of millennial riders recklessly riding around town on their illegal off-road machines like dirt bikes and ATVs’ and causing a nuisance to the general public. These machines neither have license or insurance nor the riders wear any gear.

Last week, the state troopers tried to contain and block off a part of the Massachusetts’ I-93 freeway to apprehend a large group of such idiots, only to assure of a chaotic situation. At least three injured, seven arrested, and 20 seized off-road machines was the outcome of this.

While we know that the Indian auto major Mahindra purchased the iconic British biker BSA and rights to the Czech JAWA brand, it would take at the least a couple of years to see their first iterations of what is touted as ‘The grand revival’.

But that has not stopped rendering artists across the globe who have already started letting their imagination run wild. They say that ’Imagination is a place where all the important answers lies’ and I guess we have started to get ours.

An Italian artist who goes by the name Oberdan Bezzi and is also famously called as OBIBOI has sketched some impressive looks of concepts which might be expected from the Mahindra stable in the future. They include desert runners, scramblers and street build concepts. Let’s have a look at these:

The Vespa today takes the best of fine Italian dressing and packs it in a niche retro silhouette. It became a cornucopia of sorts for people wanting a machine that could take them back in time and re-live the classic age. People love Vespa or simply hate their classic vintage looks.

How would you react seeing a Vespa chopper? Or a Vespa Enduro motorcycle? It is tough to imagine one right? Thanks to the chaps at Jennings Harley-Davidson, a dealership with shops in both Leeds and Gateshead in the UK, you don’t have to break your head much for it.

They’ve designed six absolutely bonkers Vespa concepts that distill visual cues and character of what the Italian retro maker could actually push outside their factories down the lane. Or probably not. But why not have some fun imagining yeah?

What it is, is a Dirt Quake on Ice. As simple as it sounds, the dirt track race bikes challenge each other on Europe’s finest snow and ice race track in the Italian Alps.

For 2018, the event is in its third edition and has managed to grab a few eyeballs already. Including the folks of Harley Davidson, who have committed to giving 8 ice track-spec Street Rod 750s. They have invited journalists along with ex WSBK and MotoGP rider, Ruben Xaus to take their chance at each other on the ice.

When you were a kid, if you have been to the countryside with your family, you would have definitely tried the boat ride around the lake nearby. It is all exciting the first time but the feeling wears off every next time you guys decide to take the boat ride. But then here is a guy who knows how to keep us all excited for it.

This guy makes use of his old dirt bike, modified its tires and fastened it to the boat where the engine would usually sit. This ingenious method is sure to grab a few eyeballs and a lot of critics too.

Pushing kids to a motorsport world is still at a nascent stage in across many parts of the world. Although it is widening its horizon, giving them the right tool to do so was difficult. Enter the Green Team from Japan.

Kawasaki introduced their smaller guys, the KX65, KX85, KX100 and KLX110 dirt motorcycles to cater to the young stars interested in dirt riding and want to make a career out of it. An ideal learning curve en-route to the big bikes. In return, Kawasaki has relied on its aspiring young stars to provide input to help develop winning products.

Out of them, the KX100 has proven to be the optimal choice for getting your kid begin a career on the dirt.

With just a decade of experience in the industry, ZERO Motorcycles has been at the epitome of electrically powered machines on two wheels. Showing the world how to do it right all this while, the folks have upped their game for 2018.

Offering higher performances, the four models for 2018 will come in a set of modern colors and have battery packs that will provide for a ten percent extended range and six times faster-charging capabilities.

With this, the California Republic-based company is addressing the major issues faced by motorcycles running on ’non-liquified dinosaurs’.

First introduced in 2001, the WR250F has seen some changes through the years up to and including 2014 — most notably the alloy frame introduced in 2007, improved suspension and some ergonomic tweaks — but for the most part, it had gradually fallen from being a hot ticket to same-old, same-old mediocrity. That changed in 2015. With updates in technology, including the revolutionary rearward slanted engine, an added sixth gear and wide-ratio transmission, twin-chamber fork and fuel injection, the WR250F is a hot ticket once again in the Enduro world, where Yamaha hopes to revive interest in the 250 cc market that has been waning since they essentially quit updating the WR250F in 2007.

Continue reading for my review of the Yamaha WR250F.

Back in ’17, Honda rebuilt the CRF450R pretty much from the ground up, so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of new stuff and expected to see a straight-up carryover. Boy, was I mistaken. A new, lightweight lithium-ion battery drops enough weight that the factory decided to keep the electric leg and rely on it alone, having offered push-button start as an option last year as a market test. May as well, most of the other big-name MX producers have already done so and it will be expected from now on. Besides, it only adds five pounds to the bike, and that’s only likely to get lighter on subsequent models. Updated suspension settings and a lower center-of-gravity deliver a superior ride as compared to the ’17 model. Plus, tweaks to the engine result in quicker holeshots to help you establish and maintain your lead right out of the gate. All-in-all, a more capable machine meant for competition on the MX course, at least according to the factory prose. Let’s take a look for ourselves, shall we?

Continue reading for my review of the Honda CRF450R.