Reader’s Photos

-- Could this be the ultimate 400EX? -- Honda sold thousands of TRX400EX sport quads and you still see plenty of them out on the trail. Rarely are they box stock though, because the 400EX has always been a popular machine for its owners to modify and improve. Of the modified and customized EXs we've seen, this one here is at the top of the pecking order. You just don't see that many with an exotic aluminum frame. This Honda 400EX belongs to Dirt Wheels reader Blake Holzgen. It was his winter project and here is how…

-- The latest version of the famous two-stroke three-wheeler -- Ever since Honda dropped their ATC250R after 1986, people have wondered how one would look today if it suddenly returned to the line up. Well, that has not happened yet, but what we have here is probably the closest thing to a 2019 ATC250R that Honda would build. It has an aluminum frame, inverted front forks and a 2-stroke engine with a power-valve, raising and lowering the exhaust port to make a broader power band. So, how did this modern ATC250R come…

-- ONE FOR THE ROAD -- Here's a three-wheeler you can ride down Main street. Is it available at your nearest Honda dealer? Well, not quite. This one was built by Michael Noska who has a shop called 220 Trikes LLC in Penn, Pennsylvania. His Honda ATC450X began as 2012 CRF450X dirt bike and then he proceeded to turn it into a three-wheeler with the goal of making it look like a production model from Honda. Most of the parts are all brand new, with the exception of the headlight housing, which came from a 1986 ATC350X.…

-- FAST QUAD FROM CANADA -- Kurt Boyko lives in British Columbia, Canada and he's been a Dirt Wheels reader for 15 years. We thought it was about time to take a look at the quad he proudly rides. It began as a 2007 Can-Am DS 650, but Kurt set out to boost its performance considerably. First, he stripped it down to the bare frame and had it powdered coated in Illusion Orange Cherry. The motor got a big-bore cylinder and a 5mm stroker crank, supplied by OMW Racing, which brought it up to 770cc. The head has 1mm larger…

-- YES, IT'S INCREDIBLY FAST -- Here is one of Tyler Clark's Banshees. This twin-cylinder, 2-stroke Yamaha is far from stock. In fact, there may not be one stock part on it. First of all, the chassis is made by Stellar Machine & Performance. The custom swing arm and A-arms are made out of titanium, and it has Fox shocks front and rear. The key to this beast is the Redline Racing 24DM engine with Mattoon Machine billet cases and Crankworks billet crank, custom domes and porting. It is reported to be 745cc which…

A reader built this custom Yamaha Blaster with a liquid-cooled Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke dirt bike engine in the frame!

-- It says YFZ250R right there on the gas tank and the engine certainly looks like a two-stroke. Is this a secret new prototype that Yamaha is testing and will start selling soon? That might be a logical assumption until you start looking closer at the engine. Hmmm, it says TRX on the clutch cover and the cylinder sure looks the same as that on Honda's 250R. Okay, the mystery is solved when J.D. Kimbrough provided us with some info about this quad. This is his 2005 Yamaha YFZ450. However, he took the four-stroke…

-- MODIFIED 2006 SUZUKI LTR450 -- Keenan Damery didn't want his Suzuki 450 to look like all the others, so he set out to change it up with a unique visual idea in mind. Along with the special forces military theme he also made sure his Zook had the performance hardware to match the serious appearance. The stock 450 motor was punched out to 535cc, the head was ported and got hotter cams and valves. It has Dasa intake and exhaust with a PC3 programmer. The transmission gears have been back cut for positive lock.…

-- THE LIFE OF A HONDA TRX250R -- For this "Reader's Ride" we go to North Carolina and check out Benjamin Hewett's 1986 Honda TRX250R. He has owned this legendary two-stroke machine for 10 years and it has been given many updates during that time. Here is a list of the parts it has now: ESR 330 Cylinder LED Performance 350G pipe, Silencer and Intake Fully gusseted stock frame Lonestar +2 +1 A-arms Lonestar -1 Swingarm Lonestar Hubs Galfer Rotors Hiper Tech 3 wheels Maxxis Razr Balance Rear / Razr2…

-- Not all of us live at a place where we can just ride to the trails right from our back door. Even if you can, there's always other great riding areas you like go to. So, that means hauling your ATV or UTV somewhere is a standard part of the sport. There are many different ways to do that, from fancy haulers to not-so-fancy. We typically see the full range of dos and don'ts when observing how off-road machinery is transported. Here is an example of some of that creativity and improvising. . When you gotta go… and you…

-- ADVANCED 2-STROKE TECHNOLOGY FOR 2018 -- Walt Shumacher is racing the GNCC cross-country series on a machine that is a little different from most. It's a 2-stroke, but not the standard Honda 250R you usually see. He wanted the most up to date modern version of a 2-stroke and that seems to be coming from KTM right now. We'll let him describe what all was involved in building his KTM 300 XC race machine... This is my 10th season racing GNCC.  Coming into this year, I was considering doing something different, just…

-- MORE POWER, SUSPENSION & VISUAL FLASH -- Blake is a Dirt Wheels reader who grew up near the Oregon Dunes. He still vividly remembers the first time he saw a chromed/polished/powder coated Yamaha Banshee there. He knew he had to have one of those custom 2-stroke screamers. Before reaching that goal however, his tastes began to change and he found himself preferring a 4-stroke instead. After Blake got hold of a 2005 Yamaha YFZ450 he set out to turn it into a show bike. However, he never intended for it to be…