Yamaha tantalized the American dirtbike press with the unveiling of its all-new, electric-start, WiFi-equipped 2018 Yamaha YZ450F about a month ago, and we haven’t stopped drooling over the photos and technical specifications of the bike since then. So, when Yamaha offered us the chance to sample the YZ for ourselves to see if we thought it had a chance at regaining the top spot in the 450cc motocross class, we jumped at the chance, which came on an oven-like day at the world-famous Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California.

If your idea of off-road riding is busting big air over triple jumps, the Freeride-E will disappoint. But KTM’s electric-powered off-roader broadens the scope of what’s possible in a dirtbike built to quietly conquer trails of fun.

KTM is bringing its Freeride E-XC electric motorcycle to the U.S. in an initial pilot program. The E-XC enduro, along with its off-road-only X-SX sibling, have been available in Europe since 2015, and KTM is now ready to bring its electric motorcycle technology to North America.

The 2018 Yamaha YZ450F promises to advance technology in the sport of motocross by becoming the world’s first Wi-Fi-equipped production dirtbike, capable of allowing the user to tune the engine’s ECU with the use of an Apple or Android smartphone. Yamaha’s all-new Yamaha Power Tuner iOS and Android app connects to a WI-Fi communication control unit on the 2018 Yamaha YZ450F to allow for instant fuel and ignition mapping changes trackside when the engine is not running.

The 2017 Honda CRF450R is the most anticipated motocross bike of the year, and it proves to be worth the wait!

I’ve read it a thousand times and probably written it a few hundred: If you want to grow your motorcycle skills, get a dirtbike. Most people who aren’t so familiar with knobbies might think that means one of those $9,000 450cc monsters capable of leaping tall orthopedic wards in a single bound, but what you really want is a bike like the ones they train people on at Colin Edwards’ Texas Tornado Boot Camp, Rich Oliver’s Mystery School, and others. Okay, well, those happen to be Yamaha TT-R125s, but now Kawasaki has a new competitor for that little beast in the form of its “all-new” KLX140G.

It’s more than a little ironic that Yamaha, the company that ushered in the modern era of four-stroke dirtbikes and contributed to the sounding of the death knell for two-stroke motorcycles, has recently unleashed the best new two-smoker we’ve ridden in a long time. The YZ250X is the company’s first two-stroke off-road racer in nearly two decades, and it’s a winner right out of the crate.

Husqvarna announced a completely redesigned two-stroke and four-stroke enduro lineup for 2017. The two-stroke TX125, TE250 and TE300 and the four-stroke FE250, FE350 and FE450 all receive a new frame and subframe design, WP suspension, redesigned airbox and lighter, more compact engines.

The RMX450Z enduro is back for 2017, rejoining Suzuki‘s lineup for the first time since 2010. The frame, suspension and bodywork are nearly identical to the RM-Z450 motocrosser but Suzuki added electric start, full-function instrumentation, an 18-inch rear wheel and lighting to adapt it for trail riding.

After a complete redesign in 2016, the big KX impressed us with its new, slim chassis, strong mid-range power and much-improved handling, but we felt that there were other issues that kept it from living up to its potential. Kawasaki has addressed those very concerns for 2017, and these refinements pay off in big way, edging the KX closer to the top of the 450cc motocross class.

For the first time in three years, Yamaha Motor Corporation has announced that it will not be releasing an all-new motocross or off-road motorcycle in its comprehensive dirtbike lineup.

Do you and your dirt bike suffer from SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder?

In its 60-year history Yamaha’s line-up has never boasted more motocross and off-road competition models than right now.

Yamaha unveiled a few new models yesterday afternoon in Irvine, California, and told us to stand by, there may be another new street model yet to come later this year. We were kind of expecting the XSR700 that Yamaha teased back in July, so maybe that will be the missing model?

You would think that a company willing to go to the lengths that Suzuki did to improve its RM-Z250 would at least make some effort to alter its looks and make it visually obvious that the 2016 version is a much different motorcycle than the 2015. After all, Suzuki made more than 80 changes to the new RM-Z’s engine alone.

Whereas the engine discussion in the 450cc motocross class typically revolves around how to manage the mega dose of power that the big thumpers produce, the dialogue in the 250cc class has more to do with how to strain every last pony out of each manufacturer’s engine design. With the high level of chassis refinement exhibited by practically all of the current 250s, any machine that comes up short in the motor department is going to be handicapped in comparison with its rivals.

Kawasaki ruled the big bike motocross class for the first part of the decade with its amazing KX450F, but times have changed, and in 2015 the big green machine wasn’t as dominant as it used to be.

Hop aboard the 2016 Yamaha YZ250F after spending time aboard the 2015 250cc class champion version, and you might find they don’t feel much different.

Last year, Honda made excellent strides with its flagship CRF450R by tailoring its power curve to deliver more midrange boost, and Honda appeared to accomplish that mission quite handily. Even so, the 2016 CRF450R is capable of even faster lap times with the same exact engine specifications as the 2015 model.

Yamaha’s YZ450F made a major breakthrough in 2015, the tuning fork brand hitting on just the right combination of minor tweaks to put its YZ450F at the top of the 450cc moto mountain.

Yamaha has enjoyed championship-winning success with its YZ250F and a real turnabout in the fortunes of its YZ450F in major product shootouts while at the same time reaping success by introducing new and exciting off-road competition models and championing a full two-stroke motocross line, the only one of the Japanese manufacturers to do so.

Kawasaki announced several updates for the 2016 KX450F including a new engine and frame while subtracting 7.5 pounds of weight.

It might be easy to dismissively refer to the all-new 2015 Yamaha YZ250FX as a YZ250F with a six-speed transmission or a WR250F without lights. Based on the FX’s technical merits, both statements could be considered mostly true, but neither would remotely do justice to Yamaha’s all-new quarter-liter off-road racer.

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.

KTM revealed a new Factory edition 350SX-F that 2014 FIM MXGP World champion Tony Cairoli will ride in his title defense next season and the basis for the 2016 production model.

Astute e-bike fans might remember the name BRD, the group setting out to make an electric motocross (and supermoto) competitor from the ground up, called the Redshift, with an emphasis on performance. As we found out at the AIMExpo recently, 2015 brings the bike and the company a few surprises.

Yamaha revealed two new 250cc off-road race bikes in the WR250F enduro and YZ250FX closed-course racer.

Today at Intermot 2014, KTM took the wraps off the latest in its electric Freeride lineup, the Freeride E Supermoto. The supermoto version of KTM’s Freeride E-SX and E-XC, the E-SM is designed to be an electric city slicker, able to dash through congested cities with ease, all on battery power.

Today at Intermot, Aprilia unveiled a new variant on the Caponord 1200 we first rode last year. Called the Aprilia Caponord 1200 Rally, it takes the touring-oriented Capo and beefs it up for light off-roading/adventure riding.

Zero made a splash last year with the introduction of the Zero SR, the hot-rodded version of its flagship S model. This year’s news is a little more subdued, but is still highly relevant all the same. Three big improvements will be seen across the entire Zero line for 2015: Showa suspension will now become standard, as will Bosch switchable ABS and Pirelli tires.

The proliferation of modern four-strokes has changed the dirtbike world in a profound yet very subtle fashion. We take today’s high-winding four-stroke MX and off-road engines for granted simply because they have been in the mainstream for nearly 15 years. Today’s thumpers are amazing examples of modern engineering. Technology has made them cleaner, more powerful and easier to ride than the two-stroke machines that dominated the marketplace from the mid-1960s to the end of the millennium.

Honda released the details of its 2015 Honda CRF450R last June, and we have been anxiously awaiting the chance to throw some roost on it ever since. That chance finally came this week, as Honda invited us to the picturesque Zaca Station MX Park north of Santa Barbara, California, to sample its latest red rooster. We’re happy to report that the 2015 model boasts updates to make it even more competitive in what is a brutally intense category.

Yamaha attempted to defy conventional wisdom in the 450cc class when it introduced an entirely different YZ450F in 2010. The all-new YZ’s rearward-slanted cylinder and reversed cylinder head engine architecture, while not completely original, was a radical departure from the contemporary crop of 450cc contenders.

Pssst! Hey, you, Joe moto fan. Did you hear who Suzuki has hired to ride for the Yoshimura Suzuki team next year? Sounds like it’s going to be that Roczen guy from Germany and Broc Tickle in the 450 class. Boy, Suzuki had better have a solid bike for them to ride…

Honda’s CRF250R may not have enjoyed the hype that Yamaha’s YZ250F did in 2014. Even though the Honda was practically an all-new design, its thunder was effectively stolen by the radically revised Yamaha, which dominated the conversation – and the majority of shootouts – in the 250cc motocross class.

It’s safe to say that Yamaha came about as close as a manufacturer can to setting the motocross world on fire with the YZ250F in 2014. Borrowing heavily from the architecture of its revolutionary YZ450F, the company’s all-new quarter-liter contender broke cover with a new, fuel-injected, rearward-inclined engine that places the straight downdraft intake out front and the exhaust in the rear. In addition to the new cylinder head’s symmetrical port design, which allowed Yamaha engineers to extract a lot more power from the engine, the compact engine allowed Yamaha to centralize the 250F’s mass in an all-new compact bi-lateral beam chassis that is shared with the YZ450F.

While 16th century Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli never knew the fascination that we dirtbike riders feel for modern motocross machines, his two most famous quotations sum up the 2014 Yamaha YZ250F so succinctly it’s as if he had strapped on some gear and pointed Yamaha’s practically all-new quarter-liter berm basher toward the nearest triple jump.

The 2013 Suzuki RM-Z450 boasted an assortment of technical upgrades to the engine, chassis and electrical system improving both power and handling performance. The 2014 RM-Zs, not so much. In fact, besides new radiator shrouds and yellow number plates the only performance upgrade is a reprogrammed Electronic Control Module.

Suzuki made several updates to its 2013 RM-Z250 MX machine, adding numerous technical upgrades to the engine, chassis and electrical system to improve the power delivery and enhance handling. With so many changes made last year, and given the typical development cycle of the OEMs, it’s no surprise that the 2014 RM-Z250 returned to the MX wars in virtually the same trim. In fact, besides new radiator shrouds and yellow number plates the only performance upgrade is a reprogrammed Electronic Control Module.

Many dirtbike riders tend to associate European brands with state-of-the-art Open-class off-road racing motorcycles. After all, the vast majority of KTM sales are in the off-road market, Husqvarna has been on a slow but steady climb back into prominence, and smaller yet no less dynamic companies such as trials bike giants Beta and Gas Gas have devoted a lot of time and resources into manufacturing excellent big-bore off-road bikes.

Look up the word “dominance” in the dictionary, and it wouldn’t be unfathomable to see a photo of a red Honda off-road racer streaking across Mexico’s Baja California peninsula to illustrate the definition of the word.

Kind of like those confusing Academy Award Best Picture nominations, in which year-old movies are often lumped in with newer releases because of some weird cutoff date, the 2013 KX450F was our best dirt bike pick for 2012 because of its early availability in Kawasaki dealerships last year. Surprise, or not, it also happens to be our top pick for 2013.

With an all-new motor and chassis layout the 2014 YZ250F represents the pinnacle of Yamaha motocross design, and after testing it this week, we think it may have even surpassed its super-powered YZ450F sister as the best motocross machine in the Yamaha family.

Good ol’ family fun is the focus behind the CRF line of trail bikes from Honda. From the CRF450X for Dad to the CRF50F for little Junior, Big Red has something for everyone. Now its latest models, the CRF125F ($2799) and CRF125F Big Wheel ($3199), aim to truly fulfill the company’s internal tagline of “having a bike for every butt.”

For 2014, Kawasaki is introducing significantly updated versions of both the KX85 and the KX100 in an effort to stay one step ahead of its rivals in the never-ending battle for mini motocross supremacy.

Yamaha’s radical, reverse cylinder head YZ450F set the world on its ear when it debuted in 2010. Sure, the ill-fated Cannondale MX400 of 1999 had already introduced the concept to the motocross world, but the difference was that the Cannondale suffered from fuel-injection issues and a lack of power whereas the Yamaha worked well right out of the box. Today, the YZs are the only Japanese motocrossers to use this major mass-centralizing design feature.

For 2014 the Kawasaki KX250F receives an array of upgrades for the new model year, while the KX450F gets a pair of slimmer stock handgrips and new graphics. We got a chance to swing a leg over both machines as part of a two-day media event at Competitive Edge MX Park in Hesperia, California.

Kawasaki’s motocross lineup is fairly fresh, so we expected only mild updates for the 2014 KX models. But the Team Green engineers were quite busy in the off-season, cramming in several revisions to the popular KX250F and some milder tweaks to the venerable 450F.

Different Strokes

The recession has no doubt slowed some of the progress, however, that hasnt stopped much in this sport. During the last few years we have seen tremendous advances in ignition systems, electronic fuel injection, front suspension, and now, for 2013, shock technology.