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Explains a lot as to why James or anyone else cant seem to get a set up they like.
No one to do testing year round and they havent had a solid base to work off of. And its a brand new bike.
Grudge? Nah I dont think so.
A hint of it might seem like a Matthes-grudge to some but I doubt his goal with this was to light a bridge up. If the riders/teams are talking about it, why shouldn't he?
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Its just weird, Yamaha comes out with a brand new bike the same year they pull out of racing. So who is left to do all of the R&D???
The riders.
And Yamaha hasnt had a good rider on that bike long enough to test it, see what works and what doeant. Every other team has a lot of work in their bikes and some teams have a dedicated test rider.
JGR is making their own stuff and can only see how it works in competition. No test rider or factory help. Now with a full off season, they will be a lot better coming into next year but that doesnt help this year much.
The riders."
Not true. Just off the top of my head I know 2 guys who test for them.
He isn't getting paid to ride it.
/extreme-speculation
Not to get into a magazine debate but I remember almost all the publications bar MXA glad handing this bike when it first came out. Some of those articles look pretty silly now. To be fair, just like the Honda in 09 I think the Yamaha has bags of potential. If it didn't then no one would win on it at all - yet James won races last year, has looked much better these past two weeks and it's a proven machine on the GP circuit. I think the article by Steve there is a probable scenario. Unlike Honda - Yamaha have been caught with their pants down longer than necessary due to poor R&D support and a general lack of interest since launch.
And you can say James and Davey. Yes they do test but they have to go through the whole laundry list of what does and doesnt work since they have no real base. Especially for James.
Like I said, next year should be better. Besides James, JGR hasnt had someone with that much speed ride the bike at its limits or past it to see what will or wont happen.
And Dubach would help with an outdoor setup but not an SX setup. JGR needs a guy like Jeremy or RC to test and develope the bike.
Pit Row
I believe that bike would be better if Yamaha had a factory team and a full set of engineers working on it. It would be better at the pro level (and it's supported teams wouldn't be lost when it comes to setting it up) and that would trickle down to the production level. They've built this brand new bike with all this innovation and then failed to do the proper R&D (at the racing level) to help it out.
Like Honda did with its 2009 bike that was last in a lot of shootouts and now, with some refinements, isn't anymore.
Its just funny to me that Yamaha would build a brand new bike and not have their guys doing R&D for the first two or three years. They need to get the bike user friendly and some R&D will help the average guy and the pros.
I really like Matthes work with pulpshow and podcasts ...its awesome to be completely honest. But this Yamaha trash talk is really starting to be a bit annoying.
To normal riders the bike ain't any worse than the other brands. Awesome motor , good stock suspension components and superior quality. The handling is different but it's all about learning to set it up...it needs a little different thinking.
Pro' s in both US and world mx have won on it last season. James Stewart in sx and Steven Frossard and David Philephaerts in world GP's.
It's time to give up this crap talk that bike is the reason for bad results. James failures are mostly done by bad judgement and to eager to outshine the competion. Most crashes has happened when James done things others won't dare to try. He jumps stuff that wornt built to jump...is it really that strange he crashes ?!
His two choices were on a team and bike, with a program that seems IMO to be losing or falling away (factory suzuki). Or a team that can do everything you want with a bike lacking development from the builders (JGR).
It's a tough choice to make, and I have to say I probably would have choose the same. He didn't have any other decent offers....
JGR will get it figured out. They have the reaources and the ability to make components. Just going to take some time to dail it all in.
Post a reply to: Good read on Yamaha written by Matthes