#BrentJaswinski

Next to sex, drugs and rock & roll, motorcycles top the list in getting your heart pumping and the good times flowing. The Wild One (formerly known as Dirt Quake USA), is an event like none other, almost a Woodstock for motorcycle racing and shenanigans, and the whole shindig revolves around flat track. But the fun doesn’t stop there – nope, not even close.  We had so much damn fun that I don’t even know where to start, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning.

You know the age-old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” Well, that pretty much sums up the 2019 YZ450F because Yamaha’s big dog motocrosser was all new and completely revised for 2018. Last year’s model was a favorite amongst many riders of different levels and abilities – including yours truly – for various reasons, and the 2019 brings back all of the 2018’s strengths. However, Yamaha’s testers and engineers polished a couple areas and made a few tweaks this year that may sound trivial on paper but provide significant improvements in the actual riding experience.

The temperature gauge read 111, and ACDC’s “Highway to Hell” somehow fittingly came on the radio as we rolled into Caesars Palace, smack dab in the middle of the Las Vegas strip. Multiply that by three jumps, and we’ve got the Devil’s number, 666, except daredevil Travis Pastrana wasn’t going to let a little heat stand between him defying the odds and inking his name in the record books next to Evel Knievel’s, yet again. Okay, maybe our math is a little off, but there’s no denying the crazy timing and correlation between it all. The stage couldn’t have been set any more perfectly for such an epic night that would soon unfold.

Alta Motors is onto some next level sh*t when it comes to the electric motorcycle game, and riding one is an experience like none other.

Alta’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Derek Dorresteyn, is a motorcycle racer, and in his prime during the early 2000s, he was trying anything he could to squeeze more power and performance out of his KTM 450, but any gains he got somewhere, he lost elsewhere. Derek and his riding buddy Jeff Sand, another eventual co-founder and current Chief Development Officer, would get together and talk shop all the time, and they loved the idea of a smooth and perfectly responsive torque curve but understood how difficult this was to achieve with a gas-powered bike.

Another year and another Born Free down. This year marked the 10th annual Born Free show, a custom motorcycle event that started out as a chopper house party in Signal Hill, CA in 2008, that evolved into a block party, and then eventually one of, if not the biggest custom chopper and motorcycle shows in the world, and somehow they pack it all into two days. Shows like Sturgis and Daytona are obviously huge events too, but they’re a week long and more so a rally, plus they don’t place the focus on small-time DIY-type builders of vintage bikes like Born Free does.

Atwyld is a motorcycle gear and apparel brand by women, for women, and they make some really nice fashion-forward gear that’s not only stylish – both on and off the bike – but is fully functional in the protection department, too. It’s built to withstand really anything you ladies, or the road can throw at it, and it’s all made here in the U.S.

Sometimes manufacturers like to put most of their eggs in one basket. For example: Kawasaki has an awesome motocross model lineup, but there are no real comparable 250 or 450 cross-country or trail bike models to select from. Husqvarna (and KTM for that matter) is different because the company builds bikes for not only the avid motocrosser, but for the hardcore off-roader, too. And like the Husqvarna MX bikes, the cross-country bikes share all the same high-end componentry, though they’re tuned a little differently.

This past 2018 Monster Energy Supercross season, Husqvarna took home both the 450 and 250 East Regional Championship Titles, as well as the 2017 250 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Clearly, Husqvarna is onto something and is building some of the fastest and best handling dirtbikes money can buy. So, how do you take already great performing machines and make them even better?

The unique Red Bull Straight Rhythm event is back again this year for its fifth installment, but this time, it’s all about the two-strokes – yeahhh baby. There won’t be any four-strokes lining up, but you will see some electric Altas – kind of like a past meets future type of shindig, which is pretty awesome when it comes to motorcycles. Girlfriends, not so much.

The news just keeps getting better. Alta has announced the latest addition to its growing family of electric-powered dirtbikes. This time it’s the ‘R’ version of the Bay Area-based manufacturer’s fully street legal dual-sport, the 2019 Redshift EXR.

With all-new model announcements and major revisions and upgrades to already great machines from various manufacturers so far, the 2019 new off-road model season has yet to disappoint, and has delivered good news to pique just about any rider’s interests. The latest manufacturer to pull the veils off of what they’ve been cooking up is Kawasaki, and their biggest news comes in the form of an all-new, completely-redesigned 2019 KX450.

The 2019 off-road new model bike season is in full swing, and Yamaha is the latest manufacturer to announce its full lineup of motocross and cross-country motorcycles. Over the past couple of seasons, Yamaha has made big steps in expanding its model range with the introduction of the FX models in both 250 and 450cc configurations. Additionally, it’s the only Japanese manufacturer to continue producing full-size two-strokes, including the YZ125 and YZ250 motocrossers, as well as the recently introduced cross-country oriented YZ250X.

A couple weeks ago, it was announced that Travis Pastrana would jump an Indian Scout FTR750 into the record books, not once, but in three separate leaps designed to pay homage to the late great Evel Knievel.  You can read all about the details here, but in short, Travis will attempt three of Evel’s most famed jumps aboard the FTR, including jumping the length of 52+ crushed cars, 16 Greyhound busses, and the famous Caesar’s Palace fountain jump that left Knievel with over 40 broken bones and in a month-long coma.

If you haven’t already heard by now, Honda set the motorcycle industry on fire Wednesday with the announcement of its 2019 CRF off-road, motocross and dual-sport – yes, you read that right – dual-sport model lineup. While upgrades and improvements to current models are always exciting and welcomed news, the announcement of the all-new CRF450L is something that really took us by surprise, and ought to make some big waves in the motorcycle world.