Let’s hear your Thoughts on Kenny & the RMZ.

Looked rigid to me.

Not to mention the Id think he hasn’t rode sx conditions like those on that bike yet. Big difference from practice laps at home. 

That mfer carves a turn like a cat on carpet, I’d say it was a success on a very sketchy track that was grabbing dudes left and right 

I think we saw what is possible with a top tier rider on the Suzuki.        The weak link is Ken and his fitness fade.

Only been a month riding he needs more time setting the bike up and you could see that last night with him miss timing a lot of sections and bike didn’t look set up perfect and more racing time will help with that 

He didn’t look comfortable on the bike & appeared to be trying to man handle the yellow bike.  The other brands looked more agile & nimble..

I think the track was a curve ball for most guys. After training on perfect So Cal tracks all off season then they come race on this rutted up playdough track. Another couple races and we'll know more.

LIghter colored rims bring your attention higher on the bike making it appear larger

Kenny has the talent he could have ridden any color and had that result. Unless he can ride 22 min. like he rides 4 min. this will be normal.

TM

He did not look smooth, nor comfortable like he did on both of the Hondas.

He did as well as he did on the zook because of his talent.  The bike seems lacking to me.

I hope he finds a setup that works for him.

He also had a chance to race the 2023 YZ. That would've been interesting.

Kenny looked like Kenny. The bike is not holding him back. 

2nd fastest lap time on a bike he has only spent a couple of weeks on is impressive. The suzuki base setting was always going to be off as they haven't had a rider of Kens speed and his different than most suspension setting and riding style. 

Give him 5 more rounds and I reakon they find a setup thats going to work for him. 

Agree 100%.  He also could’ve stayed on a CRF..

1st race on a bike that he has VERY limited time and testing on.

Stayed in the hunt until around 6:30 on the clock. Trying to race Eli is when he got worked and ended up in some SHITTY lines. 

Kept his shit together while others were crashing and fading HARD. Actually loosened up during the last couple of laps…

DID NOT have enough in the tank to old off late race attacks; but, actually tried to “stay in it” in a way we haven’t seen from KR in quite a while (in U.S. SX).

Looks healthier than he has IN YEARS (He’s carrying more weight in a good way). 

My take: he’s in better over-all shape than he’s been since he started all the Epstein-Barr stuff. He seems to be on “The Road Back”…to me. 

Such bullshit 

It's the first race, give him a minute

He performed more or less the same as he did on the Honda at the end of the SX season last year but not as good as on the Honda at Bercy - at Bercy he looked extremely sharp and on the ball, better than he has in some time. Too early to tell what any of it all means but I'm rooting for him.

Technically I thought he was able to turn down quite nicely out of some the berms and his whoop speed looked solid but then (as mentioned above) his timing was a little off in the Rhythm sections at times, coming up short and then over jumping a touch here and there (though there was a lot of that from everyone). I do think he got tired.

Regardless of how you feel about his performance, think about the pressure he was facing last night.  IMO it was more than just a typical A1 for him considering he put himself in the spotlight the last few months with leaving Honda and then making his controversial move to Suzuki.  I'm sure he was feeling a lot of extra pressure to either perform at A1 or face an internet full of assholes claiming the bike sucks and "I told you so".  To me, it looked like he was playing it safe.  It did not look like he was going fast but the lap times and his ability to pressure Eli prove otherwise.  He's one of those smooth riders who doesn't always look like he's going fast.

I'm calling it A1 a win for Ken and HEP Suzuki to come out and perform like they did after a month on the bike. 

How many times do we see guys go into A1 feeling good and then leave A1 and change every setting on the bike? To me, Ken had an A1 that was good. Not great. But a good way to really feel that bike. Those track conditions did not help that Suzuki. Say what you want, but a bike that is heavier than the rest on an extremely rough and rutted sx track is always gonna drag someone’s results down. Give him a few weeks before you really judge.

he didn't look exceptional in the whoops.  nothing has changed.

 a solid first race on a new bike ......and a super tough track as well!!!

good stuff kenny.

Pretty certain he gives absolutely no shits about internet assholes and their viewpoints.

I think he did well. I think that when the track conditions caused him to be a little sketchy he backed it down. He has always been strong at A1. It could be lack of time on the bike. Its hard to blame fitness when you have a single example . If he backs it down on a  track with nicer conditions then maybe you could blame his fitness. I saw him get out of shape a few times then back it down a little bit.

 Same thing with Sexton. So many people  were saying how he was always crashing out. taking himself out of the races. I think that he also backed it down when he felt a little too close to the edge for the track. I saw a smarter version of Chase Sexton . With how bad he has wanted to win, and how fit he was during MX last season, I doubt he has a fitness issue . We will find out over the next few weeks. But I think this could be the beginning of Chase being a smarter rider and not crashing out as often as in the past.

And looks like Eli is not just here to show off the #1 plate. But again time will tell. He looked so good though. 

I'm even more excited for the next rounds now, I think A1 lived up to the hype. And there are a lot of riders that feel like they can win and want to win bad. Should be a fun season! 

If every rider that was or "should" have been if front of Ole Kickstart backed it down enough to keep from crashing outside of maybe Eli, Webb and chase who would have still been able to pass kenny if they weren't pushing the edge on a extremely beat track.

Seriously him and the bike looked about as good as anyone's last night. Only person i think looked better then the rest was Webb and Eli. An after watching Eli last year at A1 again today he looked much worse finishing 6th and 21 seconds on the "blue pig" behind the winner kenny then kenny looked finishing 10 seconds behind Eli on a "outdated, heavy, slow, rigid ect ect" suzuki 

On a track like this it's real easy to end your series before it starts. Ask Malcolm. Or ask AC and Wilson who rode well within their means becasue that was a track that can reach up and pop you knee before you can say WTF. Look for rounds 3 and 4 to be a better tell when we get on a good track.

Also for anderson sexton and Colt. First mudder on the bfrc I'm impressed. That could have been much worse then it was. That's gonna be a lot of data for the future.

He has called them out specifically on IG so yes I would say he does care as would any rider would who's heavily involved in social media.

I thought he looked good. I don’t doubt the mans fitness one bit… he trains like an animal as all the top riders do. I would say he looked much better on the firepower honda but he was also familiar with the bike. I think with a few more rides at “race pace” on the bike he will get it cleaned up. Well done Kenny!

Compared to the other top bikes, I thought it looked like the rear was noticably stiffer through the chop. Nothing that can't be fixed with some simple valving work. Other than that, I'd call it a successful A1; especially for such little time on the bike.