Road Dirt Crew

MZ’s Moto Memories, Part 1

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | May 26, 2023 | Legendary Bikes, Ride Life |

While Frank and I were both into Kawasaki triples at that time—he had the ultimate mint blue 1972 750 H2 I always wanted—we made our money from buying up the “skid row” trade-ins that the new motorcycle dealerships in our area didn’t think were good enough to sell. That meant we had plenty of tired Yamaha Enduros, flogged Honda 750-4s with mini-apehangers and “king and queen” seats, thrashed Honda Elsinores, and rusty Japanese twins to sell. But one time, we bought a pair of really nice 1976 Kawasaki KH500s from a local Honda dealer who didn’t want to deal with them. They were orange and identical other than one of them had a sissy bar on the back.

Chase Sexton and the Brothers Lawrence

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | May 15, 2023 | Industry & Racing |

Team Honda HRC swept the titles in this year’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross indoor season, with Chase Sexton wrapping up the 450SX title and Aussie brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence claiming the Western Regional and Eastern Regional titles respectively, before a sold out crowd of nearly 50,000 at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. Jett also snagged the coveted East/West Showdown race, making it a perfect weekend for Honda HRC. Chase’s championship gave Honda its first Supercross title since 2003, and with the Lawrence brothers’ wins, the weekend was truly historic, marking only the 3rd time ever, and only the 2nd for Honda, that a single manufacturer has captured all three Supercross titles in the same season. And appropriately, they come in the 50th anniversary year of Supercross racing in America.

Burning Bikes, BMW, and the Beaubier Brothers

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | Apr 25, 2023 | Industry & Racing |

The opening round of the 2023 MotoAmerica road racing series got off to an exciting start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta over the weekend, with thrills, spills, and chills. It was two days of some of the most exciting racing in recent memory.

Josh Herrin Wins Daytona 200

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | Mar 13, 2023 | Industry & Racing |

Thirteen years ago, a younger Josh Herrin won the Daytona 200. Unfortunately, back then it was the pole sitter who was awarded the coveted Daytona 200 Rolex and Herrin didn’t start the race from pole. Thus, no Rolex. When it changed to the race winner getting the Rolex, Herrin started earning poles but not wins. Saturday he got it all, winning the 81st running of the Daytona 200, and snagging his second D200 victory. And the Rolex.

TOBC Racing Set To Defend Daytona 200 Title

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | Mar 3, 2023 | Industry & Racing |

The TOBC-Triumph racing team returns to the Daytona 200 aiming to repeat Brandon Paasch’s sensational win in last year’s race. For the 2023 race, a win by either Paasch or teammate Danny Eslick would further cement the legacy of the TOBC-Triumph team and the iconic Street Triple. It would also make history for both the winning rider and team principal Michelle Lindsay.

Zero/HUGE Custom Concept

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | Feb 24, 2023 | Bikes & Gear |

We’ve been following the designs and development of Zero Motorcycles in recent years, and enjoyed our time with a pair of their innovative electric bikes a couple of years ago, the SR/S and the SR/F. We currently are riding their sport adventure offering the DSR/X for a few weeks, for a review we’ll publish soon. Spoiler alert: we’re impressed with it so far.
So when Zero sent us some info and pics of their collaboration with HUGE Design, the SR-X, we were intrigued, to say the least.

Indian Unveils All-New Sport Chief

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | Feb 22, 2023 | Bikes & Gear |

Since Indian revived the iconic, 100-year old “Chief” moniker two years ago, the reimagined line has grown in model offerings as well as sales. Mike Dougherty, President of Indian Motorcycle, recently stated, “Since launching in 2021, the reimagined Indian Chief has garnered incredible feedback from riders all around the world. With the introduction of Sport Chief, the 2023 Indian Chief lineup is more diverse than ever– offering a wide range of performance and styling options to meet each rider’s unique personality and riding preferences.”

Goodbye, Ron Mass

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | Feb 13, 2023 | Legendary Bikes, Ride Life |

We found out over the weekend that retired AMA Pro road racer Ron Mass died last month from complications of COVID-19 pneumonia. Ron was 74 years old.

High Tech Motorcycle Helmets

Posted by Road Dirt Crew | Jan 27, 2023 | Bikes & Gear |

In the modern era, protective helmets made their appearances outside of war in the fields of firefighting, horseback riding, skiing, and American football, to name a few. However, it wasn’t until 1953 that the first motorcycle helmet (made from rubber and cork) was patented for commercial sale.