Innehållsförteckning för Issue 237 från Dirt Action

In order to resurrect the dead pro motocross series in Australia, Motorcycling Australia has introduced two separate bodies that aim to shape and secure the future of the sport. In its own words, “ProMX aims to raise the profile of the Australian Motocross Championship and its riders, delivering strong exposure for sponsors and partners and bringing MX fans to the trackside, whilst creating new audiences via dynamic media and TV platforms in planning for 2021.” While that statement doesn’t really represent anything tangible, after speaking to MA CEO Peter Doyle, it’s clear that the scope of the task at hand is appreciated and the fact that they will have to start from scratch is well understood. And Peter will certainly have solid help, with the list of names attached to…

Jett Lawrence finished fourth overall on his CRF250R in the AMA Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series but won the battle for hearts and minds along the way. He and Hunter are without a doubt the two most popular riders in the field. 450 CLASS 01: Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna - 355 Points 02: Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki - 343 Points 03: Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki - 321 Points 04: Marvin Musquin, France, KTM - 314 Points 05: Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda - 290 Points 06: Christian Craig, El Cajon, Calif., Honda - 235 Points 07: Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha - 234 Points 08: Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., KTM - 232 Points 09: Max Anstie, England, Suzuki - 193 Points 10: Broc Tickle,…

The return of GasGas to international competition has been swift since it joined the Pierer Mobility Group, which includes KTM and Husqvarna in its stable. Close to completing a total global placement, the company introduced its much-speculated-upon AMA team charge with the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory Racing team. The team will be headed by Justin Barcia on the 450 and Pierce Brown and Michael Mosiman on the 250s. Justin Barcia: “Hey everyone, I’m sure many of you have heard by now about the exciting news, I will be joining the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Gas Gas team for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. A lot went on to make this deal happen and I am grateful and privileged to be part of the team. “I would also like…

Sherco Australia has introduced two electric balance bike models as part its commitment to nurturing Australia’s next generation of enduro riders and trail warriors. The Sherco EB12 and EB16 are specifically designed for children as they embark on their two-wheeled journey. The EB12 is powered by a 100W brush motor and a 2.6Ah lithium-ion battery, with 12-inch wheels. It’s suitable for children between the ages of two and six, or weighing up to 34kg, with little or no experience on a balance bike. The 16-inch-wheeled EB16, meanwhile, is suitable for children between five and six years of age and weighing up to 40kg. With its 170W brush motor and a 5.2Ah lithium-ion battery, it’s suited to riders with some experience on a balance bike or who are taller and need…

Every time you rock up to the Sydney MX Dome you get a reminder of how insane this place is. The structure is massive and as I drove down the driveway, it was cool to see all the Kawasaki vehicles parked up. Being a bit of a nervous bloke, I was intimidated to walk in until good friend and film god Adam Spence pulled up. We walked in together and saw the Dome kitted out with Kawasaki KX250s and Kawasaki signs and banners. I got straight into it and walked over to the all-new KX250 checking every detail, and I was happy to see the KX has joined the electric start party for 2021. THERE ARE A LOT OF NEW FEATURES ON THE 2021 KX250. THE NEW ENGINE HAS AN…

The Gloucester Tops/Barrington Tops is an area that has much to give for adventure riders. It takes me a couple of hours to get to the area, which was a good chance to give the 1290 a road run. As a big bike it’s not challenged by distance and freeway speeds, with the heated hand grips and cruise control getting a much-appreciated workout along the way. The windscreen is inadequate for any meaningful wind redirection, however. It is height adjustable but at its highest setting it’s still very low. KTM does this because it’s then kept out of the way during any vigorous dirt riding to avoid any possible rider contact, but a large percentage of adventure riding involves road and freeway sections and on the 1290 that leaves a…

It’s fair to say Antonio Cairoli’s career, as spectacularly successful as it has been, is all too often overlooked or underappreciated. It’s hard to know why this is; perhaps because MXGP doesn’t get the coverage AMA motocross does outside Europe given the native languages vary so widely across the riders and the media that covers the series. Maybe it’s because he isn’t a gregarious character prone to controversial statements like Stefan Everts was. It’s hard to say why certain things move the needle in different parts of the world but barely rate a mention in others. As hard as it is to imagine a world without easy and frequent access to a schnitzel, you won’t find many people who know what a schnitty is in Thailand, let alone get hold…

PREMIX FUEL 01 The smell. If they could make an accurate cologne, we’d wear it. If they could make a premix air freshener, we’d use it. 02 It teaches you maths. Doing those oil ratio sums has stretched all our brains at times and maybe even caused a few arguments at the pump with a mate. What’s 6.32 litres of fuel at 40:1? Who the f$%k knows! 03 Men become attached to old jerry cans — the ones that have served and travelled for so many years. They’re like loyal mates and the metal versions look cooler as they age. 04 If you’re premixing you’re riding a two-stroke, and that’s just one of the greatest outdoor endeavours modern humans have devised. 05 It makes the absolute worst mechanical brains feel…

Imagine the feeling of a race team rolling into your local club day, setting up the truck, allowing you to ride their race bikes, supplying mechanics to take care of you and your bike, decking you out in team gear, having a pro rider on hand to give you tips and the whole thing recorded on film to relive over and over again. It would have to feel pretty good, right? And your mates would have to be jealous! That’s exactly what happened recently when the Yamalube Yamaha Racing team offered two lucky and deserving Yamaha customers the chance to be ‘Factory for a Day’. WELCOME TO THE TEAM The team truck pulled up at the Kilcoy motocross track, northwest of Brisbane, and gave two lucky riders a true bLU…

KTM has given the 690 Enduro R and SMC R a host of updates to bring them into line with Euro 5 emission standards and sharpen an already stupidly-fun bike to ride. KTM has added improved ride mode functionality through the handlebar switch: Street mode enables two channels of ABS both on the front and rear of the bike, while the Offroad setting disengages rear-wheel ABS for that important rear braking feel for low-traction terrain. The ABS itself benefits from a new modulator unit to better regulate the force and application of the braking power required, which also means it can be activated on the fly and there is no longer a need for a dongle. The new dashboard has an ABS button to provide a rapid way to switch…

Aussie Jaimon Lidsey was crowned FIM World Under-21 Speedway Champion. “I didn’t feel like I had won a World title until a few days later with people messaging me and when I looked back on the replay it sunk in. Now I know I’m a world champion so it’s a pretty good feeling,” he said. FINAL RESULT: 01: Jaimon Lidsey (Australia) 02: Dominik Kubera (Poland) 03: Oleg Mikhailov (Latvia) 04: Dan Bewley (Great Britain) Australia finished an excellent fifth in the Speedway of Nations (SON), which was made even sweeter by the fact that we beat Great Britain. MONSTER ENERGY SON FINAL RESULT RUSSIA 23: 1. Emil Sayfutdinov 15, 2. Artem Laguta 8, 3. Evgenii Saidullin DNR. POLAND 23: 1. Bartosz Zmarzlik 15, 2. Szymon Wozniak 8, 3. Dominik Kubera…

Beta Factory Racing’s Steve Holcombe won this year’s EnduroGP World Championship, bringing his world title tally to an amazing seven. The Brit had secured the E2 title on day one of competition, but fellow Beta rider Brad Freeman made it a tough day two for Holcombe to grab that crown. Ultimately, a small lead going into the day and some bad luck for Freeman was enough for Holcombe to take the title, the first for Beta on a four-stroke. “Today was a crazy day — in a way I guess it’s fitting for how strange 2020 has been. I was behind kind of where I needed to be, but also not able to find the speed I had on day one. But I just tried to keep fighting and hoping…

Finally, Manuel Lettenbichler beat a field full of the planet’s greatest offroad beasts to win a brutal Red Bull Romaniacs. Every bit of the race looked like hell. 01: Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 20:27:11 02: Graham Jarvis (GBR), Husqvarna, 20:29:37 +2:26 03: Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 20:41:20 0+14:09 04: Wade Young (RSA), Sherco, 20:41:33 +14:22 05: Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 20:58:29 +31:18 06: Mario Roman (ESP), Sherco, 22:11:39 +1:44:28 07: Michael Walkner (AUT), Husqvarna, 23:15:01 +2:47:50 08: Teodor Kabakchiev (BGR), KTM, 24:57:25 +4:30:14 09: Michele Bosi (ITA), KTM, 29:22:42 +8:55:31 10: Sonny Goggia (ITA), Beta, 30:04:05 +9:36:54…

“WE WERE GETTING READY FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS AND THEN THE PANDEMIC KICKED OFF. WE’VE ALL HAD A VERY, VERY QUIET YEAR.” Roughly 400 kilometres into the 2020 Dakar rally, Toby Price’s rear tyre fell off. This isn’t something you’d want to happen at the best of times, but it’s especially inconvenient during a two-week rally raid through the harshest desert Saudi Arabia has to offer. While Price was unscathed, the freak incident resulted in the reigning Dakar champ (and two-time winner) giving up some 16 minutes to American Ricky Brabec — 16 minutes that, through the remaining 7000+ kilometres — he was never quite able to get back. Price ultimately came third overall, 24 minutes behind Brabec. Still, it was Price’s fifth time on the…

Testing bikes is hard. There are no bad bikes out on the market and it’s very hard to have a standout bike now. It’s easy to get caught up in the reviews and shootouts from America and think that that’s the best bike available after just one day of riding, but it’s always best to have more time on a bike to make the decision on what’s best for you. So when we got the chance to pick up a 2021 KX450 and kind of have free rein to ride it where we want, it gave me a good opportunity to see what this bike is really like to ride and if all the hype it’s getting overseas is true. I’ve always been a big fan of the Kawasaki, from…

CHRIS TEDESCO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL The new event, from the mind of Bereman himself and brought to life by course designer Jason Baker of Dream Traxx, marked a major step forward for the sport. A host of the sport’s top riders — including Cole Seely, Tom Parsons, Vicki Golden, Ryan Sipes and Darryn Durham — braved the massive jumps to showcase their own personal riding style on the innovative course. Carved into the Midwestern landscape just outside Fort Scott, the 18-acre course took a crew of five moving 50,000 cubic yards of dirt just 19 days to build. There were 45 features such as berms, a shipping container and a quarterpipe, with some jumps launching the riders 140 feet across and 55 feet up into the air. Three days of…

SHERCO RACING » 125 2T Racing - $11,590 » 250 2T Racing - $12,390 » 300 2T Racing - $12,690 » 300 4T Racing - $13,690 » 450 4T Racing - $14,090 » 500 4T Racing - $14,290 BETA » RR125 2T - $11,495 » RR200 2T - $12,295 » RR250 2T - $12,595 » RR300 2T - $13,095 » RR350 4T - $13,295 » RR390 4T - $13,595 » RR430 4T - $13,795 » RR480 4T - $13,995 SHERCO FACTORY » 125 2T Factory - $12,990 » 250 2T Factory - $14,390 » 300 2T Factory - $14,790 » 250 4T Factory - $14,990 » 300 4T Factory - $15,490 » 450 4T Factory - $16,090 » 500 4T Factory - $16,490 SWM RANGE » RS 300 R $8,590…

In a blow to the sport and a worrying sign for times to come, two major US teams have seen support from both sides of the fence pulled with Honda losing a major sponsor and JGRMX losing manufacturer support. Factory Connection Geico Honda, home of the Aussie Lawrence brothers, released a statement saying: “We definitely didn’t see this announcement coming and the term ‘all good things must come to an end’ just doesn’t seem fitting. After 22 years and 12 championships, we were forced to make the decision of closing down our race team. We were thrown a curveball in August by losing our title sponsor. We have worked tirelessly to try and find a replacement but given this unpredictable year, we ran out of time to get something put…

It started with a message that the great Ricky Carmichael was leaving Suzuki after 15 years with the brand — a blow to ‘Zuke after Travis Pastrana did the same recently. RC released this heartfelt statement calling the end: “To all of my fans and everyone in our motorcycle community, “After 15 years with Suzuki, I wanted to take this time to say thank you and express my gratitude to the entire staff at Suzuki of America, Suzuki Japan and to all of the other regions I have been fortunate enough to work with over the years. We were able to accomplish some great things together, both as a rider and as a team owner, and I am very fortunate to have made many great friendships along the way. “As…

With the static photos out of the way it was time to gear up and ride. While Damien and Sam thumbed the electric starts on the four-strokes, I had the chance to prove my manliness by choosing a bike that needed a good kick to get started. The Gasser runs a tiny kickstarter, yet the bike couldn’t be much easier to start. We took off from the Lochmaree car park not really knowing where the tracks went but keen to find out. Less than five minutes down one of the main bush trails, the boys on the four-strokes needed a pit stop to finetune levers and pedals. The firm, race-ready Gasser seemed eager to keep moving so I entered the adjacent motocross track, keeping me and the bike happy. After…

Honda’s CR500 is the big-bore banger that gets the blood pumping for most punters lusting for a vulgar display of power. This stands to reason given the incredible history of the model and the superheroes that rode it, including Australia’s own Jeff Leisk. But what’s often mistaken is that it wasn’t Honda that started the Japanese 500cc motocross era. The CR500 arrived in 1984. Yamaha’s YZ490J arrived in 1982, followed by Suzuki’s RM500 in ’83 and Kawasaki’s KX500 in that same year. The RM was short lived and the YZ490 was...not great, but to its credit it still achieved good things. Of those three early models, one stands tallest — the green machine. The mighty KX500. At the height of the 500cc battles, it was the CR against the KX…

Riding a minimum of 1610km in less than 24 hours on gravel/dirt in the Iron Butt Association (IBA) world is called a Dusty Butt. If there’s any sealed road in the route it has to be subtracted from the kilometre count. High standards of proof are required for the IBA to certify it. There’ve been 52 Dusty Butts certified worldwide on bikes ranging from BMW R1200GSs to the smallest, a KTM 620. I thought it might be worth upping the ante — or lowering it — by having a crack on a Yamaha WR250R. A proper test of man and machine. THE BUILD During COVID-19 it’s been difficult to get hold of used bikes, but I fluked an already ‘adventurised’ WR with 24,000 kilometres of relevant experience. It sported a…

01 What year did the Motocross of Nations begin? A - 1947 B - 1952 C - 1978 02 What was the original name of the MXoN? A - Chamberlain of Nations B - Motocross des Nations C - Motocross with Nations 03 What year did USA last win the MXoN? A - 2012 B - 2010 C - 2015 04 Who won the first MXoN? A - Great Britain B - Finland C - USA 05 The biggest winning streak for the US was A - 16 years B - 8 years C - 13 years 06 How many times did Roger De Coster ride on a winning team? A - 6 times B - 5 times C - 9 times 07 What year did Australia podium for the…

KTM 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE R The biggest adventure bike on the planet with a 21-inch front wheel, the 1290 is Kato’s way of offering bulk power in a package designed to stalk the back tracks. Arguably the 1290’s greatest attribute is that it’s so very good in the dirt for such a big machine. We’ve done plenty of kilometres on it where we thought things were going to get tough, but the bike just made it seem easy through an excellent suspension and chassis package. That said, it is a big bike and therefore it’s not so fun to pick up should it hit the ground. If you’re looking for 160hp in a dirt-ready package, this is the bike for you. HONDA AFRICA TWIN The new Africa Twin is, in…

YAMAHA WR250R ‘TÉNÉRÉ’ Interestingly, we come across more people using the WR250R as an adventure bike than a trail or commuter bike. Whack a big tank on it, throw on a luggage rack and windscreen and take off into the wide unknown. The formula is simple and the little two-fiddy has proven to be a go-anywhere option for riders not keen on the big-bore bikes. Just two years ago, KTM rewrote the adventure bike design book with the release of the 790 Adventure R. None of us had ridden anything like that before and it continues to stand alone through many of its engineering ideas. Alas, we couldn’t have known it was to be an astonishingly short journey for such an impactful model, which has now been superseded by the…