Looks like Reed can hang with James

Reeds bike set up looks good, better than james. How about how smooth dungey looked. He looks like a young windham.

James is fuct....Reed was afraid to pass him and soon he won't be.

Whats fuct?

I think we all agree with what I wrote even though we said it differently. And I don't think we are going to be surprised when it happens....possibly as early as Sat. night.

Here's the deal, if all the talk about James having trouble with bike set up turns out to be true, given that he is on a factory team it shouldn't be to much of a stretch to assume they'll figure it out sooner rather than later. Which means he has a lot of room to improve.

And if Reed really is that comfortable on the Suzuki, and is riding faster than he ever has, it would lead one to believe that he doesn't have much room for improvement.

Since Reed-who is likely riding as fast as he ever has and is capable of going-is currently going the same speed as James-who isn't riding as fast as he is capable because he's having bike set up issues-what is going to happen when James figures out the bike and gets faster? That isn't good news for Reed.

Reed can't win the championship with 17 2nd place finishes (assuming James wins).

I don't know, Reed better not get to comfortable riding around behind James...and if he's going to beat him, he better do it before James figures out he Yamaha.

In my opinion I think James still has a DNF or outside the top 10 finish in him this season...but Reed better not bank on it.

Reed was faster than Bubbles in Phx.

There is some respect building between the two which is nice to see for once. The after race thumbs up and interviews were great from both. Hopefully it is just close racing all the time no matter the winner. I would love to see Reed win the thing but if he can put it all out there there is no shame. Its a lot different getting beat by .5 second then 45 seconds. Its a win win for either guy. If James thought he had that much more in the tank I don't think he would be letting Reed into his circle of respect so fast. No doubt James is working on the bike but so is Chad. He looked better and faster this week than last.

After watching Phoenix I was very suprised how James was riding. He was a little out of control in the whoops compared to how he usually looks and it seemed he lacked the corner speed from his green days.......

it's the bike coupled with the fact Reed has stepped up his already crazy pace.

Reed looks like he loves the Suzy.

I was surprised - but it looks like he can really beat Bubs this year.

“Assume facts not in evidence”

from what bubba said, it's a fact.

Who won? Hmmmmmmmm.......

Then why did Reed not catch and pass him? I was watchung the lap times every lap and sometimes Reed had a faster lap and sometimes JBS had a faster lap. Always within 1 second of each other. It's gonna be a great SX season.

No one could ever beat Bubba in sx, get with the program Bobby.

Chad has got James covered in the corners, and even so in the whoops. James cuts down to low in the corners, loses all his momentum, or takes to long to gain that momentum. Reed has just been railing every corner and getting out of there.

It's evident Suzuki's are the best bikes for cornering. RC and now Chad were/are amazing in the corners in the sense that, they get in, and they get out. No hesitation.

reed is finally AS fast as stewart. confidence is a hell of a drug.

callin it like i see it. with one eye...

I am just happy to see some actual racing for the lead no matter who wins.

Based on the footage from last week and now this piece from PHX, James still looks ' nervous ' on the bike, whether thats because of the yamy which i doubt based on the boasting of how good the bike was before the season, or whether thats because Reed really has stepped up to the plate on bubba's pace we will soon see. But Reed sure looked like he was doing it easier than James was in PHX, the look back to see Reed over the tripple proved he was looking over his shoulder for it. If it wasn't for the lappers and tight track layout Reed looked like he was waiting to pounce - but given it is round 2 with a long way to go, most likely made a conscious decision to take the points and not risk anything.
Whether bike set up is an issue right now for James i think its a pretty lame excuse. With the support and equipment the big factory teams have there is no real excuse in set up, that ultimately comes back to the overall package of a rider. F1 is a clear example, anyone in F1 is very talented just as the top AMA pros are.. however the guy that wins F1 feels the car too, and this is what seperates everyone - Schumacher is a mechanical genius with car set up, and he knew how to get from the car what he needed to match his ability, and it was this ability to get performance out of the car that brought Ferarri back to the forefront. Bubba no doubt has the same raw talent, any one would be stupid to dispute that and it seems this still gets him by all the same, but at this point Reed seems to be a lot more in tune with everything as a package, and even DeCoster said himself, Reed is one of the few rider's he's ever worked with that is extremly detailed and specific with exactly what he wants to the bike to do, from ignition maps to get the right power delivery to weird suspension details and everything in between. No doubt this attributes to high consistancy. I think this will be the deciding factor in Bubba's success on the Yamaha and further into his career as to whether he can be a great rider that was lightning fast, or another RC.
Just my 2c anyway, each to their own. As long as the racing keeps up thats all that matters.

Reed has stepped it up for sure, props to him and JS for some good racing.

That was a pretty damn good post Jimmy-g.

Whats more amazing, is that, these guys are half a second from each other, irrelevant to whether James has bike issues or not, they are that close, and yet 3rd place is still 30 seconds behind.

Chad has definately stepped it up. Windham, Short, Millsaps are people he was battling with last year, and only winning by 5-10 seconds. But for them both to beat the other riders by 30+ seconds is just amazing.

That settles it. Haven't owned one since 1986 but.......I'm buying a Suzuki!

its the bikes for sure... reedy knew the zuk was better (and he could ride it faster) and he knew james going to the yamaha would slow down... all it means is great racing until james figures out the yamaha....

Thats ultimately James's fault for chasing the $$$$$

JS was making lots of mistakes and was shit in the whoops. Reed looked incredibly comfortable. JS has to ride his bike like his kawi, then he will win with comfort. SINCE that is not happening, CR is going to take a couple of wins. You can tell by JS look back that he was surprised to see CR right on his tale.

Makes for great racing.

I don't care if it's the angel sitting on you shoulder ... the fact is Reed is doing what few on here though he could and now everyone is scrambling for excuses for James.

James just looks stiffer than ever. I don't know if its the fact that he is scared to crash and not finish another season or if it the bike or, but he definately isn't as fluid or fast as other years. A smoothness is gone, but if it comes back he will gap reed again