Transworld Motocross January 2017

“DO I HAVE TIME TO RIDE ALL THE BIKES AGA IN REAL QUICK?” —PAT FOSTER Believe it or not, I hate our annual TransWorld Motocross Bike of the Year Shootout comparisons. Yeah, I know that I may be jaded, but hear me out! By the time all the new bikes are released and it’s time to start our multiday comparison testing, we usually have a good idea of how all the bikes rank against each other from the time we’ve spent on all of them beforehand. Granted, riding them all back-to-back on the same day gives you a better idea of the differences in the way each bike performs, but there usually aren’t any curveballs thrown our way come shootout time. Assembling a cast of test riders for each shootout…

Unlike many new professional American motocrossers, Thomas Covington elected to bypass the glitz and glamour of Supercross for the culture and heritage of the FIM Motocross World Championship instead. With three seasons of MX2-series experience under his belt now, the likable kid from Alabama seems poised to challenge for the World Championship in 2017. He’s already proven that he can win—that victory came at the MXGP of Mexico in 2015—but during this most recent season he opened a lot of eyes by beating world champion Jeffrey Herlings at his own game with a moto win in the sands of Assen. We caught up with Covington in Germany during the off-season as he prepared to start a long series of preseason tests in preparation for his championship campaign. This was your…

Enzo Lopes Age: 17 Hometown: Lajeado, Brazil Classes raced: 250 Pro Sponsors: Red Bull, Léo Motos, KTM, Fox, Oakley, Split Designs, Ethika, FMF, Dunlop, Stance, Stocovich Racing Products, DC We’ve seen Brazilian speedster Enzo Lopes riding and racing at our local tracks for years now, as he’s been making the trek to the United States to race since he was on mini bikes. In early 2016 he made the full-time move to SoCal to pursue a professional racing career, and he’s already made quite a splash in the TWMX Race Series pro classes. “I moved to Murrieta, California, to make my dreams come true,” Lopes says, who’s amassed 11 National championships in Brazil. “Being in the United States full-time has been a goal of mine forever, because the best racing…

THE BIKE The 2017 Honda CRF450R is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated bike of the year, and it has caused a commotion at every track we’ve taken it to. Equipped with an all-new chassis, suspension, and engine, the bike is a huge improvement over its predecessor. As is always the case, there’s room for improvement, and we’ve been busy testing different parts and settings in search of even greater performance. The Yoshimura RS-9T exhaust gives the bike much stronger low-end power and provides a throatier exhaust note, and we had the crew at enzo racing firm up the Showa fork and shock for greater control. We also replaced the wimpy 7/8-inch stock handlebars with some stronger Torc1 Attack handlebars and had our friends at Split Design Co. whip up a…

The 2016 All Japan MX National Championship Series came to a close at Sugo Sportsland in the Tohoku region of Japan, and it was an all-Honda affair on both the day and series with Red Riders dominating all of the action. The big news for Japanese fans was that American Honda HRC rider Cole Seely was making a guest appearance, and he drew the lion’s share of spectator attention as he turned in a perfect 1-1 showing in the motos aboard his Rich Simmons-tuned 2017 Honda CRF450R. “This is actually my first-ever trip outside of North America, and coming to Japan has always been a dream of mine,” Seely said. “It was great to get another race under my belt on the new bike, and the Japanese fans were crazy.…

Ibis Cycles is a smaller manufacturer located in Northern California, and it specializes in high-quality, handmade bikes that aren’t massproduced like many more-popular brands. The Mojo HD3 we tested was a later 2016 model that was Boost and Plus compatible. What the heck does that mean, you ask? Boost is a rear-triangle style that features a wider stance that can accommodate a variety of tire sizes including the new 2.8-inch 650B plus-sized tires, which have made quite a splash this year thanks to their seemingly unlimited traction-finding abilities and forgiving ride. The Mojo HD3 is an aggressive enduro bike that boasts 150 mm of travel front and rear. While one would assume that this bike is more for the thrill-seeking gravity pilots and not so much for cross-training efficiency for…