#Motocross

Triumph unveiled its new 250cc motocross bike for the first time to the public at the SuperMotocross World Championship Final on September 23rd, held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California.

Will the US team be able to build on last year's win?

Triumph has finally revealed pictures and videos of its new motocross bike getting a proper test by none other than the GOAT: Ricky Carmichael. Joined by fellow Triumph tester Evan Ferry, the two rip around the track and give their thoughts on this new surprise contender in the motocross world.

Triumph released a new video offering a sneak peak at the engine for its upcoming new motocross bike, with appearances from brand ambassador Ricky Carmichael, engineers and Triumph Racing managers, plus the SuperMotocross team of Bobby Hewitt, Dave Arnold, Ivan Tedesco, Stephen "Scuba" Westfall, and Vincent Bereni from Triumph's MX2 team.

The year is 2001 and the off-road world is in a strange period. Four-strokes were starting to stake a foothold in the dirt scene, even in motocross, and as such, the manufacturers were trying to figure out how much to expand their product offerings. For riders who didn't care much for the jumps and whoops of the moto track and like to play more off-road, it was a hassle to adapt a motocross bike for the occasion. Hence, Yamaha jumped in with the 2001 WR426F. Here, we share our review from 22 years ago.

Kawasaki updated its KX450 motocrosser and KX450X cross country machines for 2024, revising the cylinder head, frame, and brakes. Unfortunately, some of the final specs remain to be announced, including their curb weights, but here’s what we know about Kawasaki’s new 450s.

GasGas announced its 2021 model lineup, its first fully under the auspices of Pierer Mobility, with a range of 18 models for the North American market.

Kawasaki revealed an all-new KX250, an updated KX450, plus two new XC cross country versions of the motocross racers for the 2021 model year.

UPDATE: Another design filing for the new CRF450R has been published, this time by New Zealand’s IP office, offering higher-resolution images.

Husqvarna has entered the electric motorcycle market, launching the new EE 5 electric dirt bike as a 2020 model. The 2020 Husqvarna EE 5 is designed for young riders, with an all-new electric powertrain that claims an equivalent performance level to a 50cc gasoline-powered dirt bike.

Just once I’d like to hear a manufacturer come out and say, well, this new one’s a little slower and heavier than the existing model. That never happens. The thoroughly redesigned KX250, Kawi says, is the MOST POWERFUL KX250 TO DATE, in 23-point type! Now it’s packing an even more oversquare and revvier engine with World Superbike-derived finger-type cam followers, housed in a new and improved aluminum frame, suspended by the latest in KYB suspension components. It’s all topped off with Kawi’s excellent Ergo-Fit system of adjustable footpegs and handlebar position, and embellished with fresh new plastic. How much would you expect to pay? $7,799.

After overhauling the YZ250F last year, Yamaha turned its sights to the YZ450F for 2020, giving the 450-class motocross racer a redesigned engine and a revised frame. The YZ450F did receive a small update a year ago, but the last major revisions came back in 2016, so it was due for some attention.

Suzuki announced five returning off-road dirt bikes and one dual-sport model, each coming back for 2020 with color updates. Some of these models, like the RM-Z450 and RM-Z250, received substantial updates in the last couple of years, so it’s no surprise that they’re only getting updated graphics for 2020. Others, like the DR-Z125L, DR-Z50 and RM85 have remained relatively unchanged for quite some time now, so there’s no surprise there. The only street-legal model Suzuki announced today, the DR650S, is another long-standing model getting a new palette for 2020.

Not all that long ago, if you wanted an off-road competition bike, you were stuck converting a motocrosser for off-road duty. More recently, if you were looking for a high-performance trail bike, you could either build out an “X” model, or start with a motocrosser and deal with the shortcomings of each where they may fall. My first real dirtbike, aside from the clapped out vintage machines my friends and I would tinker on in our youth, was a KX250F converted for trail duty. It was a great dirtbike to learn on and grow with out in the desert, but it had a fairly substantial list of modifications to get it to that point. With the Honda CRF250RX, the market for GNCC racer-types and avid trail riders alike receives a new performance-based model for 2019.

You may have noticed at Motorcycle.com a relative lack of motocross coverage. This isn’t because we don’t want to, but rather because none of the staff – except for Brent Jaswinski – feel they are qualified to really give MX machines a proper shake. The problem, of course, is Brent is (sadly) no longer a part of our crew. This posed an even bigger problem when Husqvarna reached out to us and asked if we’d be interested in throwing a leg over the 2019.5 FC450 Rockstar Edition. Our immediate answer was “of course” – now who do we get to ride the thing?