You’d be hard-pressed to see the changes Yamaha made to the 2008 YZ450F. Aside from the obviously shorter muffler it’d take setting a ’07 and ’08 side by side to give up the visual clues that are strikingly inconspicuous. However,
Four-fifths of the popular brands of 450cc motocrossers are virtual clones. Sure, they look and feel somewhat different, but each is based on an aluminum frame with linkage rear suspension holding similar kickstart engines. Close inspection will uncover small differences
The bike looks sharp, sweet and yellow. And pretty normal. Is that a bad thing? Hey you don’t look at your own bike when your ride and this thing can help make you fast! People see fast, not your bike.
Among other things, Italians are known for their style. As a result, many of the products that originate in “the Boot” are laced with a unique, innovative and altogether cool attitude that is hard to ignore. Take, for example, the
Performance through civility: Every change the Kawasaki made to the engine and chassis were aimed and making the bike easier to like, and better focused for a wider range of riders. Old sayings like “No new is good news” stay
Suzuki has received a fair bit of attention due to the fact that neither of its major motocross bikes made it into Dirt Rider shootouts this year, and we’ve received quite a few queries from Suzuki fans as to what
These three bikes are very different, and so is the way we tested them. We asked for reader suggestions on how to test our 2010 off-road bikes a few issues back, and you responded with tons of letters and one
If you’ve been riding with a paper bag over your head, you might not have noticed that dirt bikes are totally hot sellers at the moment. Even if you pride yourself on your powers of perception, feel free to forgive
The air box is as simple as ever to get into and change the filter without tools and without unknowingly knocking dirt into the clean side of the air box boot. “How is that new KTM 350?” It has been
Chris Barrett In the last few years it appears that current and former dirt riders are realizing that track days or a good ride off-road are critical to mental health and general well-being. Heck, even wives are getting in on
The throttle body has killed the carburetor. Clutch life has been decent as well. In our quick couple weeks hammering this bike, the clutch plates look used, for sure (and have the brown color showing they’ve been heated up), but
Dead. Not dead. Dead. Not dead. What is it with 250 two-strokes? According to AMA-sanctioned amateur national championship races they’re alive, well and kicking (although a lot less than the four-stroke competition). But is there a place for the two-stroke
It all started with a road trip. Back in June of 2009, Journeyman racer Matt Karlsen was watching the scenery fly by on his drive home from the EnduroCross season opener in Las Vegas when he decided to build an
Like the motorcycles that we test, the modern magazine shootout is constantly evolving. It used to be that Dirt Rider’s role was to gather a particular class of bike, test each machine until the knobbies wore off and then print
Motocross 450s. Most people have no idea the potential these bikes have just sitting on the stand. Lots of riders never get to ride them and even if they do many don’t come close to experiencing the bike to its
If I could ride naked I would.
Lately I’ve been riding the super mini
The Lead Law is finally out of
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association
