Washington Archives - Asphalt & Rubber

Racing

Photos from the MotoAmerica Round at the Ridge Motorsports Park

By Jensen Beeler 07/01/2021 3 Comments

MotoAmerica was in the backyard of Asphalt & Rubber last weekend, and we sent our man Ryan Phillips up to the Washington track to snap some photos of the national series’ stop at the Ridge Motorsports Park.

The temperatures were hot (115°F), and the racing was fast. The Ridge Motorsports Park has changed a lot too, since the last time the national series stopped by the Pacific North West.

With fresh asphalt, more facilities, and a heck of a lot more black-top, The Ridge is quickly becoming a national-caliber race track, and a popular destination with riders.

If you haven’t had a chance to spin some laps on its 16 turns (plus chicane), then you are missing out. The racing there is pretty good too.

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Dirt

Watch Some Honda Gold Wings Shred the Washington BDR

By Jensen Beeler 07/22/2019 No Comments

You know how every family has that one weird uncle? That is what the Honda Gold Wing is to the motorcycle industry – or more specifically, that is what Honda Gold Wing riders are to the motorcycle industry.

They are nice. They ride a lot. They are into it, and generally mean well. But…Gold Wing riders are just a little different from you and I.

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Dirt

What It’s Like to Ride the New Honda CRF450L Dual-Sport

By Jensen Beeler 09/17/2018 No Comments

Where do you begin about the 2019 Honda CRF450L? You can start with the dearth of 450cc dual-sport motorcycles for the American market, for one. You can talk about Honda’s new 450cc dirt bike lineup, which has spawned five separate models for the 2019 model year.

We of course have to mention the domination of the market by a certain European manufacturer, which prefers the color orange. And naturally, we should give a nod to the resurgence of the American off-road scene, and how Big Red wants to be part of that growing movement.

The truth is, all of these points are realities when it comes to the new Honda CRF450L – a dirt bike that is street-legal from the factory, for all 50 states of the Union. The United States is the target market for the 2019 Honda CRF450L, and for good reason. Honda sees a real opportunity for a 450cc dual-sport in the USA, one that can slot in between the woefully old Suzuki DRZ-400S and the “race bike with lights” KTM 450 EXC-F (sold in the US only as its kitted-out “Six Days” variant).

Among the first in the world to ride the 2019 Honda CRF450L, American Honda brought Asphalt & Rubber out to our own backyard, and let us loose on the CRF450L in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Providing a mix of gravel roads, single-track, double-track, and proper street use, we spent over 100 miles getting to see how well the Honda CRF450L plays on both the dirt and asphalt. In short? Very, very well.

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Dirt

Gone Riding: 2019 Honda CRF450L

By Jensen Beeler 09/12/2018 No Comments

For once, the motorcycle industry comes to us, as Asphalt & Rubber is up the road from our usual haunts, setting up camp in Washington state near Mt. Rainer, about we are about to ride the 2019 Honda CRF450L.

Sibling to the Honda CRF450X enduro, and cousin to the class-leading Honda CRF450R motocross bike, the Honda CRF450L is Big Red’s answer for those looking for a street legal 450cc dirt bike.

It has been a long time since we have seen a proper 450cc dual-sport from a Japanese brand, and Honda is finally taking up the charge to take on the competition from KTM and Husqvarna. As such, the Honda CRF450L provides a crucial stepping stone for riders looking to upgrade from a CRF250L (the top-selling dual-sport in the market), and it provides an option to those who want to ride from trail-to-trail with a plated dirt bike.

Per our new review format, I would be giving you a live assessment of the2019 Honda CRF450L right here in this article (down in the comments section), but American Honda has imposed an embargo until next week for ride reviews and critiques. So while we won’t be able to talk immediately about our riding impressions of the new CRF450L until Monday (not cool), we will still be able to field questions from our eager readers, which Honda can try and answer. Show them no mercy!

You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and you can see what our colleagues are posting on social media by looking for the hashtags #CRF450L #RideRed #DualSport.

Spec-Sheet Comparison of Relevant Models to the Honda CRF450L:

	Honda CRF450L	KTM 450 EXC-F	Alta Redshift EXR
Horsepower	~40hp	62 hp	50 hp
Torque	–	–	42 lbs•ft
Weight	289 lbs (curb)	255 lbs (curb)	273 lbs
Fuel Tank	2 gallons	2.3 gallons	5.8 kWh
Price	$10,400	$11,700	$12,500

Photos of the 2019 Honda CRF450L:

2019 Honda CRF450L

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News

States Object to Harley-Davidson Getting off the Hook

By Jensen Beeler 02/08/2018 No Comments

In August 2016, Harley-Davidson got into some deep water with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for roughly 340,000 “super tuners” that were sold, which ran afoul of the emission standards for on-road vehicles.

For its misdeeds, Harley-Davidson was slapped with a $12 million fine, along with an agreement to spend $3 million on efforts to mitigate air pollution. It should be noted, that all of this occurred on the heels of Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” scandal – and timing is everything.

However in July 2017, news came out that Harley-Davidson wouldn’t have to pay the $3 million in pollution mitigation, as the Bar & Shield brand saw some mercy from the Trump Administration’s new EPA.

That didn’t sit so well with 10 states, and the District of Columbia.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #50 – Pity the Fool

By Jensen Beeler 04/14/2017 8 Comments

Episode 50 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast celebrates our favorite day of the year, April Fools Day. As such, we start off the show with a re-cap on some of the best pranks that the industry had to offer this year.

We then turn our attention to two events we attended in the past few weeks, as we visited the World of Speed in Wilsonville, Oregon and Quentin was at the Desert 100 race in Eastern Washington. Both are items you should mark on your calendar, and it is great to see them showcasing motorsport in the Pacific Northwest.

We then turn our attention in the show to MotoAmerica’s call for volunteers, to help shoulder the workload at the track during this year’s racing events. We also discuss the very interesting Mugen E.Rex electric dirt bike, which has to be seen to be believed.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

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News

Washington Lane-Splitting Bill Passes State Senate

By Jensen Beeler 03/01/2017 25 Comments

Legalizing lane-splitting in Washington State just got a step closer to reality, as the State Senate of the Washington State Legislature has passed a bill that would allow lane-splitting under very specific circumstances.

Senate Bill 5378 (SB 5378) would allow lane-splitting only during slow traffic conditions – up to 10mph faster than the flow of traffic, but no faster than 25 mph – and only on numbered highways that have a median and multiple lanes of traffic in each direction.

The bill passed the senate with 32 “yea” votes from both Republicans and Democrats, while the 17 “nay” votes came solely from Democrat members.

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News

Washington State Weighs Pro Lane-Splitting Law

By Jensen Beeler 02/05/2015 29 Comments

The Washington State Legislature has a pro lane-splitting bill on its 2015-2016 docket, HB 1515. The law is moderately written, adopting a 10 mph speed differential between the motorcycle and traffic, with a 35 mph speed cap, as acceptable during lane-splitting activities.

Loyal Asphalt & Rubber readers will recognize these provisions as being more restrictive than the California Highway Patrol’s now defunct guidelines.

Lane-splitting is a near-and-dear topic to us here at A&R, as we believe a national effort to legalize the practice should be mission #1 for the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).

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Trips

Broventure 2014 – Day Three: 50/50

By Jensen Beeler 09/09/2014 14 Comments

The third day of a trip begins the true measure of the adventure. You see, on the first day, you’re excited to be on the open road, and ambition mixed with some adrenaline fuels you. The second day, there remains enough of a connection to back home, that you haven’t truly left it behind yet. But by the third day, the miles being to take their toll, and a trip truly begins to gel. The Broventure is no different.

Despite being one of our shorter days, 210 miles in total, the 50/50 mix of off-road riding made it one of our hardest. We were truly off the beaten path, judging our route not by its direction or duration, but by the conditions on the various “roads” we were riding. They ranged from packed gravel, to loose rock, to rough dirt, and ended with a proper baptism of off-road fire.

Expansive views, sheer drops, and thirsty miles dominated Day Three, but you wouldn’t know it by our demeanor. Tired yes, but Oregon, Washington, and Idaho gave us plenty for our effort. The Bros are gelling too…and where perhaps Colin and Pete were resistant to the eyeroll-worthy “Broventure” mantle, they’ve embraced the spirit…or maybe that’s just the heat and dehydration talking.

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Trips

Broventure 2014 – Day Two: An Embarrassment of Riches

By Jensen Beeler 09/08/2014 11 Comments

Day Two of the 2014 Broventure sees us riding from The Dalles, and ending up in Northeast Oregon, near the town of Joseph. It’s our first proper day of riding as a group of five, and our route is a solid 380 miles in length, approximately 60 miles of which is off-road fire trails. This all means there has been plenty of miles through which to get to know my fellow companions.

I’m not sure what contribution my presence brings to the ride, other than some sort of written/photographic record, but the rest of the group is very dynamic. Ronnie likes to pop wheelies on his Triumph Street Triple, usually down elevated freeway on-ramps — he’s also putting us to shame with his Dunlop DOT race tires on the gravel roads.

Quentin is easily distracted by cats, even when negotiating with locals over a five-gallon can of gasoline — I worry about him. Pete is our rock, and if I can be a bit self-centered, I’m grateful for every mile that his eight-gallon BMW R1200GSA is near me…as I’ll be the first one stranded on the side of the road, looking for a gas tank to siphon.

Colin is the glue the binds us, as he’s probably the only one of us who actually knows where we’re going. He’s planned an amazing route for our trip, which has us connecting an epic series of remote roads. He’s also even reluctantly accepted the “Broventure” title that these pages carry, or so he says.

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Lifestyle

Video: Dirt Quake USA — More Fun Than Wearing Pants

By Jensen Beeler 07/14/2014 8 Comments

By now, I’m sure you all have read Sean’s perspective on Dirt Quake USA (if you haven’t, well that was your cue right there), and how it was a flat-track event by only the loosest of definitions.

I was pretty bummed to miss this event myself, but I’m glad Dirt Quake USA made it onto the pages of Asphalt & Rubber nonetheless. So, big thanks to Sean for “pretending” to be a dirty bearded, skinny jean wearing, no good, hipster. He really melted into the scene, and captured the vibe.

What really appeals me to these events, put on by the good folk at Sideburn Magazine, is that it brings riding a motorcycle back to just being something fun that we do. You remember fun, right? It was some made up game with a ball during recess, it was that thing you waited all year for summer to bring, it’s why you bought a motorcycle in the first place (hopefully).

These Dirt Quake folks get it, and I hope you do too. Check out the video after the jump, their fun cup runneth over. Make sure yours does too.

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