Magazine reviews & opinions

[grayracer513]

My all time favorite was the '05 250F shootout by a mag whose name I will not mention, in which it was said (and it's not paraphrased far from verbatim) "Well, the blue one was more stable, and stopped better, and won all the acceleration contests, and turned the fastest lap times, and generally beat up on the red one more or less totally, but we felt faster on the red one, so we declared it the winner." ? Maybe they just liked the color.

The point about the editorial focus is true. Dirt Bike, for example, takes a broad view of the general sport, including most of the more popular forms of off-road, MX, and recreational riding, and their tests tend to reflect that attitude. As said, MXA is very centered almost entirely on motocross.

But above that, I look for a pattern of objectivity that covers a number of years, the level of expertise and experience of the testers, and also the question brought up earlier with regard to what the test staff is willing to do with the bike to get at how it will serve a real-world customer. If they are unwilling to tweak the gearing, controls, suspension, and even the jetting in a manner that any reasonably serious end user would do to find out how the bike will perform in its optimum stock condition, then you can't expect the results to reveal much more than what the bike is like in showroom condition. In the sense that that will tell you which one is better right of the floor, I suppose that's fine. But inasmuch as virtually no one leaves them like that, it's a much better comparison to see what can be done with each unit using the adjustments provided by the factory. Besides MXA and Dirt Bike, how many mags have tested a KTM with the fork offset in both of the available positions on the models with that option?

[MotoGoalie]

The problem with Dirt Bike is the articles are written for 12 year olds to read and are about as in depth as an advertising brochure.

All my bike needs are served by the internet and these various forums.

[RoughR1der]

thx for your input Rick, I know what you're saying ?

p.s. I would never use a dirt bike mag for a droppings collector! ?

[DRH]

There may be a lot of truth in what you said, but I know I wouldn't buy 4 different novels of the same story......

[MotoRick]

All my bike needs are served by the internet and these various forums.

Oh, MG...and I thought you were a fan. ??

[MotoGoalie]

Oh, MG...and I thought you were a fan. ?

i buy the DR here and there. I thought you were a *shill* for that. ?

[MotoRick]

There may be a lot of truth in what you said, but I know I wouldn't buy 4 different novels of the same story......

Why not? Sometimes different viewpoints provide different insights, even if the subject is the same. ?

[MotoRick]

i buy the DR here and there. I thought you were a *shill* for that. ?

Thanks. A guy's gotta eat, you know. ?

[MotoGoalie]

Thanks. A guy's gotta eat, you know. ?

I heard that.

At least I paid Newstand price. ?

[RoughR1der]

raising this from the dead for one more interesting bit...

MX Action 06 YZ450F review

what does make me question the mags, specifically, after mxa test rode the yz450. they opened the article with claims like "if you are a fan of world changing events" and "the yz450 is the equv. of the fall of the berlin wall". they go on to say: q. is the yz better than all the others? a: "Yes. Unequvocally better." finally they say "This is without a doubt the best 450cc mx bike sold.".

May issue reguarding the best 450 4 stroke, YZ vs CRF: "These are tit-for-tat machines--trading superlatives in a dead heat"

Now remember what was in the YZ450F review: "q. is the yz better than all the others? a: "Yes. Unequvocally better."

Im a technical kind of guy, and if you say something in a mag, stick to it or don't say it. Making statements that there 'is no equal' and then saying the CRF & YZ are equal is crap. I'm sure both bikes are great, i know the YZ is, but I hate ppl contradicting themselves. I am just pointing this out for people that only use mags as reference for info. Good thing we have TT so we can research for 'real' answers & opinions. Not to mention the fact that they didn't mention jetting at ALL. /end rant