Fun Quotes from January 2010 MXA

[JohnN]

Whether you love or hate this magazine, they at least have an opinion. Sometimes it's abrasive and other time hilarious.

"Sir Issac Newton might think twice after hitting a tabletop on this flickable bike. It weighs a hair over 200 pounds (with no fuel). That's 17 pounds lighter than a 250 four-stroke." KTM 150SX Test

"Q: Can the KTM 150SX beat the KTM 250SF? - A: Yes. It is an underdog, but the truth is that it makes more horsepower (albeit a lot peakier than a four-stroke) weighs a lot less (it is more than 15 pounds lighter) is eminently more flickable (so much so that riding a 150SX is completely different from riding a 250 four-stroke) and can be repaired for a quarter of the price (should anything go wrong). The caveat is that not just any ham-fisted novice will have the skill or know-how to dance on the edge of the KTM 150SX's powerband."

"Q: What do we really think? - A: We are sad to see the KTM 125SX slip from the American scene, but more than happy with its 143.6cc replacement. Thanks to its 125 roots, the KTM 150SX is light, nimble and quick. Not only is it a unique bike, but it is so much fun to ride that you'll have trouble wiping the smile off your face."

"Yamaha's engineers built the most creative motocross bike of the last decade, but they couldn't figure out how to get to the air filter. Maybe it's just us, but removing six bolts and having to flip the gas tank virtically every time you want to put in a clean filter is just plain wrong." 2010 Yamaha YZ450F

"The 2010 Yamaha YZ450F's unique radiator wing airbox is designed 180-degrees opposite of how it would be if Yamaha wanted increased air velocity going into the engine. The YZ450F's small inlets dump into an expanded interior space, and the result is that the airflow is greatly reduced. We cut holes into the radiator wings to get more air into the engine (and so did James Stewart)."

Q: What do we really think? - A: As a science project, the 2010 Yamaha YZ450F is one giant leap forward for techno-geeks. To their credit, Yamaha was able to make a heavy bike feel light in motion. Yamaha also deserves kudos on the chassis. The 2010 YZ450F wants to turn. As for the powerband, it's decent-not great, but very raceable, competitive and fun. Best of all, a pipe and a rear sprocket can make it so much better."

I know which one I would ask Santa a for! LOL

[losec]

Seems to me that the "technologically" advanced 4strokes is just that- Getting more advanced and complicated for the average guy. Do they really need FI and and hi-tech crap when they just racing to met friends and having some fun?
 It also seems as if they're making changes that doesn't really improve anything, just changing so that can say another thing that is new in the brochure.

[Recovered]

As I said when first released, all the media would slobber over the "technical" advancements over  conventional engine mounting (meaning transverse). What they are doing is fighting the physics of the 4 stroke that every one hates. It's stupid and it's the exact same thing as putting lip stick on a pig. It's still just a pig.

Brutal honesty needs to find a home in motorcycling.

[JohnN]

But sometimes the pig is nice........



 

[AFG]

I think that's the same sales associate I talked to about the 2010 HD Mxer!

[JETZcorp]

Journalism in this industry needs to return to what it was in the very early days of Dirt Bike Magazine.  The writers had balls and weren't afraid to absolutely destroy a bike they thought was garbage.  When Honda pulled ads from the magazine after they printed pictures of their [four-stroke] 175 disaster in a pigpen (complete with pigs) they continued to lay down the law as they saw it.  Well, that is, until they got inundated with big-wigs who censored everything to the bone.  Here's an example:

I stood there and shuffled through the sheets of copy paper.  There were blue lines everywhere, and the margins were filled with notations and remarks.  My eyes focused on a Kawasaki dual-purpose bike test.  Every negative reference was removed via the surgical strike of a blue line.  The entire section about the grim suspension was deleted, and in the margin, was scribbled: "Once again, Kawasaki met the suspension needs of the enthusiast in a satisfactory manner."

I don't think it's that bad today, but to my knowledge we're not seeing bikes being dragged to the dogs and back in print like we ought to.  Reading the MotoUSA "shootout" of the '09 250Fs was very monotonous.  Every bike was portrayed as equally amazing, and the only sense of which bike was better than the other was the rating they gave in the first line of each bike's section.  Either bikes these days are practically identical (which actually wouldn't surprise me - just look at them) or there's a lot of "follow the money" going on.

[Recovered]

I love the quote from Super Hunky. This garbage goes on more than we know. I know from a fact that a Husky dealer was told they bike would get "rave" reviews. When published, Husky took the shaft. When questioned, the editor told him pretty much what Super Hunky said about the blue line. That was in 2005, and my source (who is so credible I would protect him in a court of law) wouldn't lie.


Long live the truth (where you can find it!! )

[MXLord327]

If you want to get the real skinny from the magazines, you need to wait for the next year's shootout in most cases.  During the year a bike is released, the mags may say for example, "the fork has a slight mid-stroke harshness."  But if you read the next year's test or shootout, they will say that "last year's bike's for was so harsh it would rip the bars out of your hands on braking bumps."  It seems like they only tell the full truth after the next model is released.  While slightly dishonest, it isn't as bad as when they do the same thing regarding durability.  I can't stand reading that a bike had a problem breaking pistons or cranks right from the start - a year after the bike is released!!

[JohnN]

You're right about finding out the problems in the following years tests. It seems that the truth does come out, but in so many cases it's overwhelmingly from the guys in the trenches that bought bikes and got burned.

I've always thought there needed to be better way to perform tests. An independent source, sort of like Consumers Reports. The problem is that no one wants to work for free. And to do the testing properly the bikes would have to be purchased and tested.

If you think about it, if a manufacturer loans or gives you a bike for testing, plus they spend thousands in advertising with your media outlet (it's no longer just magazines now) it's difficult for you to write bad things about their machines if at all possible. It's a Catch 22 situation.

In addition I want to see the bike in action! With video being so prevalent and easy to use, why don't we have video tests?

When the bikes are tested and raced you can see the skill level of the riders (who could be interviewed as well about their experience) you would get hear and see the new machine, plus be able to see how it compares to the other bikes. Not every new model could be that much better than last years, could they?

As I said earlier the tough part would be how to make money from performing said tests. With the Internet it seems that everyone wants stuff for free and very few would want to pay for a member site to read these kinds of tests.

So for the time being we're "stuck" with the magazines (or comic books as madscientist calls them) and the fluff pieces subsidized by the magazines.

Any ideas on how to make this work?

[losec]

Well, us guys on the forum could give some opinion if we get new bikes, but that would be kinda small scale not help the masses of lost sheep's that are the 4strokers hehe

[JETZcorp]

Well, from reading Hunk's tale, Dirt Bike started honest and it paid off at newsstands.  Very quickly outsold all the magazines that had been around before.  They lost ad revenue when they disliked something (like that XL175 or a particularly bad 2T oil) but soon got it back again once they made something worth a positive review.  All was well until management got greedy and compromised their integrity.  At one point, there was a push for Rick to put street machines in Dirt Bike!

This is the kind of thing that almost killed the sport.  There was a time when everyone and their cat rode off road.  Then the media, BLM, and safety Nazis rolled in...

[2smoker]

Transworld Motocross is another poser sell-out magazine... They are from the skateboard/ snowboard industry anyways...Go figure! Motocross Action and Dirt Rider are at least honest and still show some integrity to the sport and the 2 stroke. 

[Hondacrrider]

Go dirt rider magazine!