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Believe it or not, this issue of MXA has tests of the Service Honda CR500AF, the KTM 550SX Factory Edition and the 2016 MXA 250 Shootout. It is jam-packed.

 

The MXA wrecking crew spent six months testing the six 250cc four-strokes in this shootout. We dyno’ed them, weighed them, raced them, tore them down, broke a few of them and learned all of their foibles—now you can learn them also.

 

Very few motocross bikes reach cult status, but the Service Honda CRF500AF is number one on the list.

 

However, the CR500AF has a big brother breathing down its neck. Jeff Moffet blended a KTM Factory Edition chassis to a 1994 KTM 550 M/XC two-stroke engine.  This is one beautiful machine.

 

Not only did a Husqvarna win the Anaheim Supercross on Saturday night, by the Swedish-founded and Austrian-made bikes have single-handedly increased the number of 125cc two-stroke option by almost 30 percent. You used to have to chose between a Yamaha or a KTM (with the occasional TM thrown in the mix). Husky makes it four choices.

 

The Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke may not have the cult status of the CR500AF or the cool factor of the KTM 550SX, but it has a loyal following of fans. How is the old warhorse holding up? We tell you.

 

This is the Yamaha YZ125 that you would build if money was no object. And you’d be hard-pressed to find anything else to spend money on.

 

MXA wanted to refurbish a 2015 Yamaha YZ250—Cycra, FTi Racing, Hinson, ProX, Tusk and FMF were more than willing to help us build a classy looking smoker.

 

How much do you want it? Are you willing to take it to the limit…and then go over your personal threshold. Vintage racer Chris Alamangos is.

 

MXA has an massive tech department ready to answer any question you can ask about motocross. And, if we don’t know the answer, we know somebody who does.

 

Are you over 30? How about 40? 50? 60? 70? Whatever your answer, the Dubya USA World Vet Championship is the Woodstock of motocross—largely because everybody at the race is old enough to have actually been at Woodstock.

 

Jeremy Albrecht has seen it all. The racer, mechanic and team manager has worked with the great and the not so greats. Let him tell you about how he ended up at JGR.

 

We were shocked when we bolted WP’s Cone Valve forks and Trax shock on our 2016 Honda CRF450. Shocked that it worked so well. We love this CRF450 mod.

 

What were you doing 5 years ago? We were working on producing this awesome February 2011 issue. It had interviews with Roger DeCoster, Bob Hannah, Broc Tickle and Andrew Short in it.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO MXA AND MAKE MONEY

If you had subscribed to MXA, the February 2016 issue would have been placed in your mailbox by the reliable hands of a uniformed agent of the U.S. Government. And you should want to subscribe so you could read all the details of the 2016 MXA 250 Shootout, peruse the test of the Service Honda CR500AF and find out what it’s like to a ride a 550cc KTM Factory Edition two-stroke. Or, you can wait for these tests to appear on the internet…in a couple months. Your choice.

Do you subscribe to MXA? You should. We know that you think that print magazines are dead and that the internet will fill the void, but most of the stuff in the current issue of MXA won’t appear on the web for several months, if at all. Luckily, you can get all of MXA on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle or Android by going to the Apple Store, Amazon or Google play, but better yet get the Digital desktop version at https://hi-torque.com/product/motocross-action-digital-edition/ for $9.99 a year.

The MXA test riders prefer the print version and not just because it is delivered by a uniformed employee of the U.S. Government, but because for only $15.99 you get 12 issues and a free $25 Gift Card from Rocky Mountain ATV/MC. That means that there is a profit to be made in this deal for you. For the Print magazine go to: http://hi-torque.com/product/subscribe-to-motocross-action-magazine/