Posts
48
Joined
10/11/2015
Location
Valencia, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
10/13/2015 7:11pm
Where do you think eli tomac and the new Kawasaki team will finish in supercross in 2016 ???
Welcome noob
The Shop
Guys like Short, Hahn, Tickle, Wilson, Peick, Grant, and Brayton, will probably end up having to qualify through the LCQ for some races. This is going to be a tough year for privateers in the 450 class until attrition inevitably begins to take its toll.
Pit Row
I know the stock bikes aren't factory bikes, but if my bike is as good as it is with the minor amount of mods it has, then I know the factory Hondas gotta be incredible.. along with other factory bikes.
Point is, he was dominating on his 15 crf 450 like no one has dominated in a long long time.. Man he made that bike look good, or maybe it was the bike that made him look good.. all I know is together they were unbeatable... almost!!
I think he won't do as good on the new kawi. Not becuz the kx is inferior to the cr, but becuz rarely does a rider switch brands and immediately returns to the same speed they were on they're familiar bikes. There's been exceptions, but most of the time, that just isn't the case..
We'll never know the specific reasons Tomac left Honda, but I can't imagine any rider leaving any factory 450 team for lack of horsepower.
Judging by how well Tomac was doing at the beginning of the '15 motocross season, it's hard to imagine that he left for suspension or chassis reasons either unless it was a supercross specific thing.
Maybe he thinks he will work better with a different team? Maybe he wants to be on a team where he is the center of attention instead of sharing the spotlight with Tray Canard and Cole Seely?
I'm not forgetting about Wil Hahn and don't mean to degrade him, just speculation.
As for returning to the same speed, it seems to me that Kawi has their development figured out and their major bike changes have been fairly conservative and calculated (like KTM) where they don't often go backward with a new design. It seems like Yamaha and Honda on the other hand have been known in recent iterations to make big changes that lack overall improvements.
I think most people consider the 13+ Hondas to be an improvement over the 09-12 models in overall performance.. maybe not suspension as some don't like the air forks, but most consider it a better overall bike..
For whatever reason Eli has for leaving, I'm sure hethinks its the best thing for him..
I hope this is a good choice for Eli, and not something he'll look back on with regret. Not that I think he will, but Geico/Honda had that red bike looking great right up until he crashed this last season. And, he looked great on it.
Tomac's decision to look elsewhere was made before HRCs new focus resulted in the improvements in the bike set up, etc. Everyone talks about how great the bike was. Yeah...for two races out doors. The bike was not very good in 14, and ET was hit and miss in SX in 15.
If HRC had devoted those resources a year sooner, Tomac would probably not have made the jump. He was not happy with the bike in 2014...and when Trey went to KYB at the end of 14...and instantly went so much better....it was clear that Honda needed to rethink things with the bike. Too late... It took half of the next season to get things dialed, and by then ET was long gone.
If Kawi puts the full effort (like HRC did too late) into getting the bike dialed, there is no reason ET wont go just as fast. His real issue is recovery from the shoulder issues.
I just hope he makes a 100% recovery, so we can see that ET magic again. When he is as his best, I think there is no one who has ever ridden a dirt bike faster. It does not happen that often, but when it does, it is incredible.
So hopefully he does
He is not a super over the front guy like James. He is more in the middle of the bike than RV. Basically, he is a super physical rider who simply is a better athlete and bashes stuff harder than anyone else can, while not getting tired. Nobody consistently OJs and bashes stuff like ET...and just takes the hit and keeps it pinned. That is the sort of "style" that will probably be adaptable, so long as the suspension is good.
No one thought he would adapt to the 450 from the 250. There was all this talk about how KR would be a better 450 rider. Yeah...KR won a championship...but once the bike was dialed in...has anyone ever gone as fast as ET was going? Not according to JT...who has 15 years as a pro to tune his judgement of what fast on a dirt bike is.
Post a reply to: How will tomac do in SX on the Green Bike ????