#offroad

[Kyra, KS] My Hard Enduro journey started with a crash. A big one. I didn’t break or tear anything, but I’ve done what is (so far) lasting damage to my sternum or diaphragm or somewhere in the chest cavity. An injury which still seems a mystery to my physician. That fateful moment, sprawled out in the middle of a dirt road in Baja, set off a chain of events which led me to become the rider I am today: a mediocre, albeit eager… kook. But a kook with better posture, focus, and sight, as well as significantly greater confidence. Time will tell if the latter is growing faster than my skills. Nonetheless, I’m still learning. However, my technique is tenfold what it was during my pivotal collision with the ground. And with every training session, each clinic, and all those drills take me yet another tire rotation to my goal. Towards the finish line at Romaniacs (*cough* 2025).

Astars brings off-road airbag protection to the masses

After slowly dripping us information over the last few months and previewing the bike at the SuperMotocross World Championship finale in Los Angeles, Triumph has released full details about its new motocross bike, including its name: the TF 250-X. A TF 450-X model will follow next year, along with a range of Enduro models.

Learning to ride a motorcycle, it’s said that to become proficient you should remove as many possible obstacles you can control which could distract you from the task at hand. And while this may seem like obvious advice, what is often overlooked is fitment – being totally comfortable on your bike.

After months of speculation, Ducati has made it official, confirming it will go motocross racing and introduce a range of off-road motorcycles. The Italian manufacturer will follow Triumph as another major motorcycle manufacturer entering motocross, where they will compete against the likes of the Big Four Japanese brands plus Pierer Mobility’s three-headed monster.

Some girls spend their time talking about love and life. Others work together to advance their careers. But these two friends are joining forces to follow a passion. To set some impossible goals and push each other to reach them. Anastasia (Ana for short) plans to go the distance at the Dakar Rally. And Kyra intends to punish herself to no end at Romaniacs. Both have a lot of hurdles standing in their way. And together, they hope to overcome them one-by-one. Ana’s ethos is “no excuses''. While Kyra’s rationale is that “the time is now”.

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.

KTM has updated its enduro range for 2024, including both two-stroke and four-stroke models and the U.S. street legal 350 EXC-F and 500 EXC-F. The entire lineup has been revamped, with KTM claiming 95% of the components are new, including the frame, suspension, and bodywork.

Pay-per-mile motorcycle insurance company VOOM is expanding to Colorado, increasing its service area to 11 states, including Arizona,Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Motorcycling and eye protection go hand in hand. Heck, even most states without helmet laws require eye protection. When riding off-road, good goggles are an absolute necessity. Everything from bugs and sticks, to roost and rocks are coming toward you at warp speed just hoping to put your eye out. Sure, goggles are first and foremost about protecting your eyes, but as technology has advanced, so have the features of modern day off-road motorcycle goggles. There are now options such as: the best tint for the terrain or time of day you’ll be riding, dozens of anti-fogging solutions, and flashy colors with equally flashy reflective lenses.

Not a week ago, I was barreling down a tight road in Baja comprised of deep sand at about 70 mph. I love riding in the sand. It doesn’t intimidate me, and I enjoy it. You see, I began riding off-road in southern California where the sand is deep and rocks are aplenty. To quote Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, “Oh, you think darkness sand is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark sand; I was born in it, molded by it.” I’m no pro desert racer, but I was living out fantasies of being one for the last seven days in Mexico. As I ripped through deep sandy trails, I thought back to an analogy someone once told me.

The race to deliver the best 450cc motocross bike on the planet grabbed another gear in 2017 when Honda released its all-new 2017 CRF450R to challenge the recent dominance of Yamaha’s YZ450F and the never-ending onslaught from the aggressive European companies, namely the KTM 450 SX-F and its fully revived sister, the Husqvarna FC 450.

After riding Yamaha’s all-new 2015 WR250F at Cahuilla Creek Motocross Park in Anza, California, let’s just put it this way: If you’ve been waiting to sell your trusty pre-2014 Yamaha WR250F in the hope that Yamaha would introduce an all-new machine based around its AMA National Motocross Championship-winning rearward-inclined engine technology, the wait is over. It’s time to get your classified ad ready and get that old blue machine sold, because like its YZ250F sister, the 2015 WR250F is so radically improved that it practically obsoletes the previous model. It’s effectively a YZ250F that you can ride anywhere your trails take you. A year in the waiting – Yamaha didn’t sell a 2014 WR250F – the new WR’s 249cc DOHC four-stroke Single is virtually identical to the class-conquering 2014 YZ250F motocrosser, except that it’s tuned for enduro competition and aggressive trail riding and fitted with the required emissions and sound equipment to make it EPA-legal and CARB Green Sticker-certified.