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He’ll correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I heard a while ago, it’s not the first time ML is considered « too curious »...
Would you say he's just someone who is very bike-curious??
😁
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So you don't %100 know if that is kyb internals, you haven't seen them. It could be a wp prototype and you've told thousands of people it's a kyb conversion without actually knowing. I could see them being a little upset about it honestly.
Wait, shades of gray or nuance? Get that reasonable take out of here and hand me a torch.
ML showed them, KTMs reaction confirmed it
Yeah why would any consumer care? We all switch to KYB inserts on our KTMs anyway
Bike was using a modified production WP shock, not the works unit.
I’ve personally built some sets, so I’ve seen them. I also ran the photos by a few other techs and they agreed with what the lugs and cartridges are. Some of the best in the business signed off on my position on it. Also, the lugs for the conversion kit are made by a man I know for Technical Touch. He happened to be at the race, I walked up to him and showed him the photos. I asked if they’re his lugs, he said they were without missing a beat.
Im going to play the I can’t say card, I’m sorry, but there’s one more thing that gives me personal certainty to what they are but I can’t reveal how, when, why or it’ll get worse. That’s why I’m willing to put my neck out on this one. Could I be wrong, there’s a small percentage chance I might be. If so, I’m open to being proven wrong.
Also, I skipped Arlington and two team managers of competing teams had figured it out at that round. When I went for their opinions they literally said “you missed this last week”
Well I wasn’t at Arlington fellas. 😅
Outside of collecting statements from the party, it’s also not my job to take everything said as 100% truth without trying to confirm it elsewhere. I have enough against it that I don’t believe it to be quite factual. Again, could be wrong. I said it was my theory/opinion that these are X.
I found it Friday and waited to almost mid-day Saturday to post anything cause I was trying to confirm with as many people as possible.
I also asked on Friday if there was anything off limits on the bike to shoot for the weekend, because some of the crew were kinda standing between myself and my line of sight of the bike. They said there was nothing to hide and nothing had really changed. My photos were all taken outside of their pit area as any fan could access with a long lens.
Those WP/ KYB/TT photos have been banging around some group chats for the last day, and people who know the product are claiming that yes they are 100 percent KYB parts…
if KTM is pissed off that sharp expert eyes saw this, then they should have done a better job on keeping it covered?
Alright, well I stand corrected. They should have went with MX tech blackjacks carts tho!
I walked the pits last night, to be honest all i want to see are the bikes, isnt that the purpose of pit access, its cool ML has the knowledge that most fans wouldnt recognize. Bit off topic , you think a rider looks at his race bike and just thinks it bitchin?
If he doesn't it ain't in his blood and he never would have reached this level. So yes he does 🙂
Mike…..we are all behind you. Screw those guys. Good work finding that stuff. We know that sexton isn’t happy so it would make sense to look at his bike for changes.
Will these make Sexton happy?
Is there something specific he is trying to achieve with the forks, is it achievable, or is there something he can do with his riding technique?
Well I mean seeing that a million joe shmoes run that exact same setup with the kyb internals technically theyre still sticking to the integrity or whatever. If anything now its even closer because it seems like everybody is running those spring kits, at least anybody who races on the weekend.
Pit Row
Did someone at Ktm really yell at ML?
Remember when they were putting the stickers on the clamps to make them look like split clamps lol
I just don’t get this angle, anyone that’s serious about dirtbikes and buys/races them, knows they are not buying the same bike that’s being raced. Nothing stock about a stock car type of thing…
ML, you're the man and we support you!
I'd like to know this also.
Why the fuck is something like this five pages other than the manufacturers dumb ass alleged denials of something a third of their buyers do to their bikes anyway. KTM states, "we don't use KYB internals for just one rider and make everyone else that rides for us use something else", KTM owners/buyers state," alot of us use KYB internals anyways." Austria states, "We still only use all WP, Lindsay is a bab, bad man." Moronic, Triumph here I come. Sorry KTM, you pissed me off with the 1190 Adventurer that I bought that was a piece of shit, mad me angry when you shit on Carioli, and Kailub Russell, then your bullshit with the MX of Nations, but now shitting on journalism, truth and the right to know, what the hell are you thinking? You could just say, yes we are trying KYBs to see how they stack up. Do you think we don't think you try them anyway?
This topic perks interest levels up a notch. It’s cool to see the teams trying new things. It’s a shame everything is so hush hush, and most ‘journalists’ just wanna bromance with all the teams and riders. I like that ML sees past that and caters to a different layer of fan IQ.
I manufacture and sell a KYB conversion kit and I see it the same way.
At least the externally visible parts of a KYB cartridge are used.
I'll add one more piece of logical evidence that this is not some new invention by WP or KTM group.
Why would WP build a fork cartridge with an octagaonal (8 sided) cap?
They have had hex caps and hex wrenches for a long long time on their production 48mm fork parts through several design revisions and complete system redesigns.
Changing from the 50mm WP hex cap standard meant that they had to go buy or manufacture a (presumably 49mm) octagonal wrench to install the cartridges and another special octagonal tool to assemble the compression assembly.
I imagine they used an Enzo cap to get the compression clicker screw that allows installation of their own in-house triangular tool-less clicker dial similar to other WP products. You can't / shouldn't tell us that you talked to your friends at Enzo and confirmed the compression assembly cap, but that's my hunch.
ML, we need more of this investigative reporting and I appreciate you sharing. Cool stuff.
Storm in a tea cup that would have blown over without much fuss, if it weren’t for KTM’s reaction by the sounds of it. They’ve got no one to blame but themselves.
But we’ll done ML for picking it up and reporting.
Next week, he resorts to camera glasses to get the spy shots. Kicks the KTM manager in the nuts and yells: "I'm a baaaaaaad man!"
In ML we trust 🫡🙏
I wish this sport had bigger controversies like F1 or MotoGP, to see how these "Industry members" would react, ML did his job, which as a journalist is reporting, and now KTM is mad because they were caught making Chase bike faster? Imagine a RedBull F1 Team Crew shouting a F1 Journalist making a photo of the car, yeah, me neither because even F1 teams themselves make photos of rival cars to make them faster.
No wonder why this sport will be for years to come a minoritary sport despite having so much potential, always has been and it will always be when people like this are the main players in the industry.
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