Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 245 i Dirt Action

Following the launch of the 2017 RM-Z450, Suzuki was nice enough to leave us with one of the bikes for a couple of months and let us get some more seat time away from the official press event. Here’s what we thought. THE ENGINE While this bike isn’t going to win any outright horsepower contests on the dyno, what it does have is delivered in a way that goes a long way towards making that a moot point. This bike’s power is dished out in a way that more riders would be able to use than if it was just another angry 450. (And haven’t they reached saturation point? It has to be asked, who do they serve?) It has a strong bottom-to-midrange delivery that makes it feel easy to…

This issue we are heading to Victoria — to Dutson Downs to be exact. What little gem is hidden just two hours east of Melbourne, I hear you ask? None other than the fresh facility known as Krusic’s Ride Park. Built for year-round riding, the six tracks here are primed, ready and waiting for you! LOCATION: DUTSON DOWNS, VIC WHERE TO STAY With Golden Beach a five-minute drive away and just fifteen minutes to Sale, there are plenty of places to kick the heels up after an epic day riding. Wellness Beach House in Golden Beach offers six beds, a huge deck and you can even bring the pups along. If motel life suits you better, the Matador Motel in Sale might be more your style. There are plenty of…

Trials bikes take an immense amount of talent, patience and finesse to ride well. They’re an incredible training tool in the right hands and can make a rider look like a complete fool if you don’t have the ability to ride one successfully. Sherco Australia invited us to have a spin, and hopefully not make fools of ourselves, on their trials bike range. Despite the weather playing havoc in the lead up, we rolled into the picturesque Bilpin region for a day with Tim Coleman and the Bilpin Moto Crew. Unluckily for me, I managed to do a number on my wrist and cartwheeling off a truck tyre on a trials bike wasn’t on the doctors’ orders, so I called up my good mate Josh to come along for the…

FOX INSTINCT BOOTS These days, most motocross boots claim to be the most comfortable. But, heck, it’s hard to go past the Fox Instinct boots when it comes to instant comfort when sliding the boots on. The fluid movement you have in the hinge of the Fox boots is super impressive. They have such a comfortable feeling in the movement when riding — the ease of shifting and the way you can feel the motorcycle is awesome. The toe-pocket allows for a good feeling on the gear lever and the boots themselves are quite compact and obviously designed with performance and the racer in mind. The grip you have on the bike is pretty impressive, but it’s not on the top of my list when shopping for boots — I…

The all-new KTM two-stroke and four-stroke motocross bikes have broken cover. The range is boasting some huge groundbreakers including the new KTM300SX, a two-stroke fuel-injected 300cc beast. The 2023 KTM SXF range will offer two maps — one standard for softer and linear power and another for a more aggressive response — plus launch control, traction control, a ‘roll-over’ sensor for large crashes, an hour meter as standard with electronic fuel injection status, and a fuel indicator through the Keihin engine management system. New cylinder heads offer performance gains while rearwards rotation of the engines by 2° has given better centralisation. Five-speed PANKL Racing Systems transmissions with an additional sensor for the four-strokes mean that up-shifts are possible with the throttle wide open and no clutch thanks to the Quickshifter…

I ORIGINALLY BOUGHT THIS KX125 FOR $3000 FOR A RESTORATION PROJECT, BUT IT BECAME CLEAR THE BIKE NEEDED SOME TENDER LOVE AND CARE. What started out as a simple restoration quickly became more than I could have ever anticipated. I originally bought this KX125 for $3000 for a restoration project, but it became clear the bike needed some tender love and care. I reached out to Nick from Sixty7 MX at Yatala on the Gold Coast to get the motor fully rebuilt. I found his page on Instagram and took in the frame, swingarm and subframe for a matte-black cerakote finish as I’m not a fan of powder coat. The end result was perfection. He also completed some vapour-blast finishes on the brake calipers and then coated them with the…

The YZ450F has had a strange relationship with the buying public around the world. The bike has always done well in Australia and had on-track success with the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team, but in the US the popularity of the bike has been directly linked to its results. Prior to 2021, the bike was referred to as the blue pig and apart from a small fanbase, it wasn’t worthy of even being on the same track as the other brands. But a French rider comes along and wins a few races and the bike instantly turns into one of the great machines of our era. Sure, behind the scenes a change of team developing the bike had changed, but the US production rule means the bulk of the bike…

Penrith Minibike Club welcomes new and existing junior riders. Their events include minikhana and motocross styles and cater for children aged between four and 16 years. They conduct eight point-score days throughout the year and attend inter-club events, plus they also hold training and coaching days and fun family events. Minikhana is the motorcycle sport designed to give kids a chance to learn motorcycle skills in a controlled environment. The sport focuses on kids learning bike control by racing around cones, a small motocross track, trail tracks and enduro tracks all as the one discipline. HOW TO GET STARTED: Your child requires a licence from Motorcycling Australia to ride at the club. There are two different processes for children under seven and over seven. If your child is under seven…

01 APPROACH Always make contact with a log straight on. Any attempt to deal with a log of this size at an angle will end in tears, especially when it’s wet and slippery like this example. Try to read the surface as best you can, especially where you will apply the throttle and clutch to lift the front wheel. Misreading the amount of traction available at this point will send your front wheel straight into the log. 02 BODY POSITION Attack a log like this in the standing position. Grip the bike tightly with your legs to help it stay straight and discourage the rear end of the bike from skipping sideways. Stay strong on the bike so you don’t collapse or fold down on impact with the log. 03…

When you arrive on race day and the weather hasn’t been kind, you need to prepare yourself, your gear and your bike for the day ahead. You need to look at the tough conditions and remember it’s the same for everyone. In many ways, you can remove all pressure and expectation from yourself and literally try to enjoy it. Most of all, stay positive — or you might as well load up, head home and save yourself a big clean-up. KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME So many riders throw in the towel when the skies open up — you can’t afford to do that if you want good results. Stay positive and focus on everything you can do to help make the day easier. Forget all the things you…

Welcome to Camp and Ride. We love getting out in the great outdoors, ripping dirtbikes, cooking a killer feed and shooting a few yarns over a couple of beers, so let’s dedicate these pages to all things camping and good times! FRASER MX CAMPER TRAILER The all-new FRASER MX is suited for those who want to go camping but keep their bikes with them! The MX edition is suited for two bikes plus has a huge side-loading storage rack on top. This superbly designed and quality-built camper trailer may be the best-value forward-folding hard-floor camper trailer in Australia. The easy-fold-out framework includes tropical roof free stands without guide ropes. Attaching a very generous annex gives a total 4300cm by 4000cm total enclosed area. The whole camp can be set up…

AS A KID GROWING UP RACING THROUGH THE ’90S AND 2000S BEFORE FOUR-STROKES BECAME SUCH A BIG DEAL, I OBVIOUSLY SPENT THOUSANDS OF HOURS RIDING TWO-STROKES The Beta RR200 is an incrediblly fun machine! The chassis setup and the engine are based on the 125cc counterpart to ensure it’s light and nimble, but with an increased burst of grunt. The engine has an increase in both torque and horsepower. Featuring oil injection and electric start, the 200 is one hell of a weapon and, well, wasn’t this fun! As a kid growing up racing through the ‘90s and 2000s before four-strokes became such a big deal, I obviously spent thousands of hours riding two-strokes and working on getting them running perfectly by jetting them spot on. This was a bit…

By any reckoning, 35 years is a hell of a long stint at the crease for a motorcycle, which in this case stepped up to the wicket back in 1987. Save for a brief hiatus in 2019 when it looked like the bails might have tumbled as ever-tightening emissions legislation threatened the KLR’s run haul, the evergreen adventurer has kept batting on. In all that time, the KLR has only undergone one major model overhaul — way back in 2007 — until now. For 2022 there are two KLR models: a khakicoloured ‘standard’ model that’s priced at $10,294 ride-away, alongside an all-singing, all-dancing new Adventure model that is the feature of this review. The Adventure is decked out in a snappy camo-grey colour scheme and is priced at $11,324 ride-away.…

STEP 1: REMOVE DIRTY FILTER & CLEAN AIRBOX Remove your dirty air filter carefully and replace it with an airbox cover like the one here. This allows you to wash the airbox out properly when you’re washing your bike. Although they do seal well, don’t aim a pressure cleaner or even the jet spray from a hose directly in there as you may force water through into the engine. STEP 2: ON WITH THE GLOVES Some latex gloves don’t go astray at this point to keep the hands clean. Hardcore dudes will just get amongst it but 90 per cent of riders go with the gloves. STEP 3: REMOVE OLD OIL FROM FILTER For this step you want to invest in some foam air filter cleaner. This stuff is designed…