450

You don't see TM's tooling around most local tracks. It is rare, exotic, jewel-like and as close to a works bike as any production bike can get. Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, WHAT IS A TM? A: TM is an Italian boutique brand that was started…
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KTM is excited to announce the release of its first-ever digital brochure highlighting the new 2012 450 S-F Factory Edition motorcycle. The new model which has been showcased by Red Bull/KTM Factory rider, Ryan Dungey, is now on…
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WHAT IS IT? The Yoshimura RS-4D uses the same basic design and dimensions as their standard RS-4 system, but with the addition of a unique dual-core muffler design. WHAT'S IT COST? $1045 (titanium with carbon end cap), $1095 (titanium with…
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There are only three reasons why anyone would want to start an expensive and time-consuming AMA National race team. (1) Winning. The thrill of victory. There's no greater feeling than winning. Garnering victories and championships is…
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Mike Alessi's KTM 450SXF was the last of the carbureted Mohicans. The petcock will become a thing of the past on the National circuit and KTM SXFs. When KTM asked MXA if we?d like to test the last carbureted 450cc works bike they…
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MXA test riders spent all of last year investigating the areas with the most potential for improvement on the 2011 Kawasaki KX450F. As a rule, we try to find practical and affordable solutions, but when a thrifty option fails, we do…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2012 YZ450F BETTER THAN THE 2011 YZ450F? A: That depends on how you define ?better.? It is quieter and the rims are black, but apart from that, the modifications are of the garden-variety type?new mapping, new…
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The MXA wrecking isn?t totally bummed out when a manufacturer doesn?t make any changes to his new model release. As much as we like totally new bikes, we aren?t big fans of totally new problems. A bike that stays the same is a known…
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Let's cut to the chase, which in Hollywood parlance means let's skip ahead to the action-packed part of this horse opera. You don?t need to be the Amazing Kreskin to realize that motocross racers read shootouts for three…
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Historically, choosing shootout winners is easy for the MXA wrecking crew. We race the bikes every weekend for six months, switch back and forth (sometimes between motos), try every possible gearing and suspension combination,…
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NUMBER ONE: 2010 KTM 450SXF There is only one bike in 2010 that can claim to have the most peak horsepower, most top-end rev, best handling, strongest clutch, most powerful brakes, a no-tool airbox and an electric…
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There is a point in every motocross racer's life when he believes in magic. No, not voodoo, psychic readings or David Copperfield. Motocrossers cling to the idea of the ?magic motorcycle??the machine that will change them from an also-ran…
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NUMBER ONE: 2009 KAWASAKI KX450F Unlike the other fuel-injected bikes, which stumble at 8000 rpm, the 2009 Kawasaki KX450F keeps pulling to 9400 rpm. The ?09 KX450F has the second most horsepower in the class and decent…
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No offense to Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Husqvarna, but in last year's 2009 450 Shootout, the Kawasaki KX450F and KTM 450SXF finished one-two . And, with a full year of R&D behind them, the MXA wrecking crew wanted to take the latest…
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First, let's get one myth out of the way up front. It is common for modern critics of the 450cc four-stroke to claim that the AMA 500cc National Championship was terminated because bikes like the CR500 and KX500 were too powerful. Not true.…
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Pity the poor fool who enters headstrong and dimwitted into the 2011 motocross fray. For the uninitiated, the motocross world is a confusing maelstrom of conflicting information?made all the worse by the rapid expansion of avenues of…
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The Honda CRF450, KTM 450SXF, Yamaha YZ450F, KTM 350SXF, Kawasaki KX450F and Suzuki RM-Z450 are all major players in what consumers might well think of as a $8500 crap shoot. It is the MXA wrecking crew's goal to take the gamble out of…
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The MXA test crew spends months racing every test bike in our stable. We don?t just spin a couple laps, we try to find out every possible detail about every bike we test?and we race them to ensure that they are pushed to the limit. As cruel…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2012 SUZUKI RM-Z450 BETTER THAN THE 2011 RM-Z450? A: Not unless the red stripe down the seat cover has some technical edge that we are unaware of. Q: WHAT DID SUZUKI CHANGE ON THE 2012 RM-Z450? A: When we tell…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2012 KX450F BETTER THAN THE 2011 KX450F? A: Yes. Always known as an ?engine company,? Kawasaki has finally begun to make some headway on its weak points. Q: HAS THE KX450F IMPROVED SINCE ITS 2006 INTRODUCTION?…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2012 KTM 450SXF FUEL INJECTED? A: Nope, and unlike the mob majority of a world sold on technology, the MXA wrecking crew is glad. Why? History has proven that fuel injection, for all its hype, does not make an…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2011 YZ450F BETTER THAN THE 2010 YZ450F? A: Nope. Oh, don?t get us wrong, we love that the new clutch actuation arm has a slightly heavier pull with less free play whether hot or cold. But in the grand scheme…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2011 KTM 450SXF BETTER THAN THE 2010 KTM 450SXF? A: Yes. Why? Because it has the same great brakes, superb handling and incredible powerband as last year in a smaller, shrink-wrapped package?all the good stuff…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2011 RM-Z450 BETTER THAN THE 2010 RM-Z450? A: Yes, but with so few 2010 RM-Z450s offered for sale last year, the important question is whether the 2011 RM-Z450 is better than the 2009 model?which it is by leaps…
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Q: FIRST AND FOREMOST, IS THE 2011 CRF450 BETTER THAN THE 2010 CRF450? A: That depends on your definition of ?better.? Honda made some changes for 2011 that, on paper, should have made a significant difference, but on the track there is…
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With the 2011 Grand Prix season set to start in Bulgaria in April, the MXA wrecking crew decided to take the time to ride what may be the last of the KTM 450SXF's to race the World Championships. It is a unique bike and worth looking at.…
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Ryan Hughes has always appreciated the FIM World Motocross Championships. His appreciation started when he was a little kid standing by the fence at the Carlsbad USGP cheering on the Americans, and it culminated in him representing his…
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Yamaha used to have a race team to develop hop-up products for their race bikes. The only problem was that when Team Yamaha did the R&D, they kept the results secret. In fact, they hid the data like it was the formula for Coca-Cola. Now…
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With each new medium of information comes new opportunities for marketing, and believe it or not, computers are yesterday's news. Cell phones with web browsing, GPS and many other impressive applications are literally attached at the hip of…
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