2002
Honda finally uncovers the four-stroke motocross weapon that the Honda four-stroke faithful have been expecting since 1974. At 235 pounds, the Honda CRF450R is a master stroke that immediately elevates four-stroke performance. If it had better steering, the other brands wouldn't have had a chance. Weight and a required starting ritual had been the areas that held four-strokes back, and Honda had gotten one within 10 pounds of the average 250 two-stroke and made it as easy to start as a KTM. Plus, the aluminum chassis that seemed a bit too solid for a 250cc two-stroke responds better to the loads a four-stroke puts on it. Immediately the tracks of the world were filled with red. Carmichael made a switch to Honda and for some reason, the switch didn't resonate with fans. RC has to deal with booing crowds at SX races, but things start to turn around for him outdoors. By the end of his perfect season winning every national moto of the year, at least outdoor fans are embracing him. Pastrana remains a crowd favorite, and new 125cc champ James Stewart is rapidly becoming one. Rodney Smith wins his fourth GNCC title for Suzuki. Since switching from motocross to off-road, Smith conquered the Reliability series, the Hare Scrambles series and the GNCC series. The ISDE in Czech Republic was so tough that Fred Hoess was the only American to win a gold medal and nearly half of the American riders failed to finish.
2003
Late in '02 McGrath announced that he has signed with KTM. But before the season even started, MC decided to retire rather than race supercross on the KTM. The rear suspension wasn't up to the demands that a rider of his caliber required. McGrath's input does seem to spark a push by KTM to improve the suspension, and Grant Langston wins the 125cc MX series for KTM -the first championship for a European manufacturer since Kent Howerton in 1976. Carmichael wins his second consecutive U.S. supercross crown on a CR250. Mike Lafferty won his fifth National Enduro championship for KTM. The likable rider from New Jersey has never finished worse than 10th in the series. After winning seven GNCC ATV championships, Barry Hawk switched to motorcycles. For a year or two the tough Pennsylvanian raced the ATV race on Saturday and the motorcycle event on Sunday! In '03, he put it all together and won his first motorcycle title. Four-strokes continued to progress as Yamaha released its own lightweight 450 and a lighter, revamped 250F. Both models finally featured automatic decompression devices on the cam. In other words, simply kick and go with no starting ritual to deal with. Yamaha got carried away with horsepower and paid too little attention to manners. The YZ450 wasn't able to draw many sales from Honda. The Motocross des Nations was supposed to be in the U.S., but the track was shut down by government officials before the race. It was a huge mess and the rescheduled event had no cachet. DR's own Jason Webb shoots to qualify for the ISDE like his uncle had done. He makes the team. Despite a huge push by Jeff Russell and GNCC Racing to boost the chances of the team doing well, it doesn't happen. The race in Brazil is tough, there are fuel problems and the bikes arrive very late. Despite that, Kurt Caselli turns in an amazing ride for Top American. Stefan Everts wins the individual overall in his first ISDE. Toward the end of the year, Scott Hoffman realizes that an ankle injury will never heal well enough for him to ride as an effective DR editor, so he resigns and starts Supermoto magazine, covering a sport that's easier on his battered body. KTM re-enters the 85cc class, and Yamaha provides electric starting for the WR lineup.
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Jeremy McGrath | 
Kurt Caselli |