#enduro

No doubt about it, Graham Jarvis‘s ability to control his motorcycle is nothing short of amazing. It would seem the world champion enduro rider can make his motorcycle do just about anything he wants it to; including complete a 360 degree turn while riding a wheelie.

Keeping with the 650-ish psuedo Adventure/Enduro bike theme started last week with the 1997 Suzuki XF650 Freewind, this week brings us the 2003 BMW F650CS Scarver. At the time few would call the Scarver a good-looking motorcycle, and unfortunately, the same is true today. We can thank American David Robb, former head of design for BMW Motorrad. Nonetheless, the F650CS Scarver was a new bike for 2003, shedding much of the off-road capabilities of its F650GS cousin with its 17-inch cast wheels, though the engine remains. How does it stack up? Here’s Yossef Schvetz to tell you…

KTM is introducing a new two-stroke engine with a fuel injection system to its 2018 EXC enduro lineup. KTM calls the new technology “Transfer Port Injection” or TPI, with a new 250 EXC TPI and 300 EXC TPI arriving in European showrooms this summer while North Americans will have to wait until late fall for the 250 XC-W TPI.

When Editor-in-Chief Duke asked who wanted to sample a $250 jacket of questionable origin from a brand unknown to us a few months ago, all our hands did not shoot up as one. We MOrons tend to sashay about in premium gear as much as possible in the interests of both style and safety, things that don’t generally square with a $250 price tag. For the sake of science, though, I volunteered.

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.

Who crams a V-Twin into a dirtbike frame, anyway?! Aprilia, that’s who, and in 2005 it just happened to cram a highly oversquare 77-degree V-Twin into not one, but two(!) different models: the SXV supermoto, and the RXV enduro model. As if that wasn’t audacious enough, Aprilia even made each bike in two engine sizes: 450 and 550. Personally, I remember lusting after the SXV when it launched, dreams of sliding back tires happily floating through my mind. As the years wore on that lust slowly faded as I learned that the bike needed constant attention and upkeep wasn’t cheap. Still, I’d love to flog one around for a day… and then give it back to someone else. Here, let’s jump back in time and let then Senior Editor and current MO contributor Gabe Ets-Hokin, and MO’s beloved former staff photog, Alfonse Palaima, tell you how both bikes perform. Of course, there are tons more pics. Visit the photo gallery to see them.  

From the undeniable truth in the blanket statement “Motorcycles Don’t Suck,” one can journey down many a rabbit hole and come to many a contradictory conclusion, depending on what you want from your bike or where you happen to be riding. However, just as much as the answer to ‘Do Choppers Suck?’ tends to be a resounding “Yes!” for most situations, the answer to “Do Adventure Touring Bikes Suck?” almost always tends to be “No!” This is a fact more and more riders are learning first-hand as sales in the category continue to outperform the broader motorcycling landscape. And it’s no mystery why, really, as today’s adventure-touring formula relies on the strengths of several platforms to produce vehicles that can convincingly perform in every non-competition role for which a motorcycle can be used. There be bags, and performance, and comfort, and wind protection and maneuverability, and ground clearance, oh my!

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.

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

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.