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It would be nice to know what exactly happened. Even though we have a pretty good idea
Did Vital bend over for KTM and remove the interview? Pretty disappointing from a media/journalism standpoint.
My sister drinks Pepsi, my mom drinks Coke, but you’ll never catch me without my JOLT jjjjj j j j JOLT
Chase asked, personally. It’s a very weird situation.
So chase musta got a phone call from one the bosses
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Not necessarily. Ktm has slapped KYB components on the bike to make him happy and constantly working. Both parties seem to understand that they aren’t in the sweet spot and are working to get it done. Perhaps Chase listened to his own interview back and decided he didn’t like it himself.
The fact that ML came on here and mentioned what he did was more than I was expecting.
That changes things then and I appreciate you sharing.
Chase and KTM have to realize that an interview like that is GOLD in this industry. Not only for media content, but for information to the fans of the sport. It doesn't make KTM 'look bad'. It just shows that not everything can fall into place so easily in this sport and making wins happen is such a high feat to accomplish. They just came off the most dominant moto win in the current SMX Series. If anything it shows that KTM has figured out the communication with Chase and its going to work a lot better moving forward.
KTM starting to feel like the CCP. They are hurting the brand more than Chase did with that interview.
KTM has never been the best SX bike, Japanese bikes have always been better in SX.
I love the honesty in the interview, I just find it weird that Chase tested the bike and was happy enough to move to KTM.
And the Chase robot era begins...
If Chase wanted to bury it, it’s too late. Title 24 reviewed the video yesterday.
I’m sure he got some heat but sometimes the truth hurts
I saw some clips of this on Twitter but does anyone have a link to the full original video?
Dude was definitely candid. Dig and respect that.
We all have that, right after a race. You're still riding that adrenaline rush and super talkative. Mind still rolling.
Ppl forget that it was in sx where chase was constantly washing out the front over and over and over and over on the honda. In outdoors vs eli in 22 on the honda he looked like a beast and didnt have the problem. Now on the ktm he once again looks like a beast in the outdoors and indoors if anything by the half way point in the sx season he looked just as fast as he was on the honda but without constantly washing the front. So if anything at this point he appears to be better on the ktm than the honda. The bike seems to be pretty good tbh, when he got a good start this weekend he was able to win by 12 seconds.
Wasn’t the ktm regarded as the best sx bike out there when CW2 came over till last year or maybe 2 years ago?
Agree 100%.
If KTM followed up Sexton’s interview with Harrison being candid about the team’s struggles with setting up the bike for SMX, just a few short weeks after producing an awesome dialled-in, title winning MX bike, and provided some actual insight, would anyone, from the casual fan to industry stalwarts, think any less of the team or KTM as an OEM?
Absolutely not, but it would have won them some fans. Instead they blew a good opportunity by being too conservative imo.
Barbara Streisand effect. Pulling the video that nobody was having a negative reaction to is causing a negative reaction towards KTM.
And besides the hater label if you give a critical assessment of a rider, the response is "well he can smoke you!" Um, yeah no shit. Fast kids on 85s smoke me. What's your point?
Pit Row
Webb on this years Yamaha is the best he's ever looked on a 450, especially through the whoops.
I have to respectfully disagree. You and I may appreciate Chase's honesty about the setup, but KTM pays its riders to present the best possible sales environment for their products, period. Having their #1 rider say the bike isn't that great at supercross is like a big, flashing neon sign that says "OTHER BRANDS HAVE BETTER MOTORCYCLES. YOU SHOULD GO BUY ONE OF THOSE."
It's 100% OK to admit that your setup wasn't on point or that you weren't as fast on that day, but saying the bike isn't suited to supercross is a big no-no. Chase would be well-advised as a professional not to leak such info in the future.
Here is the scenario that Chase and KTM want to avoid:
"I believe in myself. I think I can ride a 450 to its full potential and I'm going to be a supercross star as soon as I get one of those new MX bikes. I just got paid and my mom says it's OK to go buy a bike, but I'm not going to get an orange one because they suck at supercross. Even their top rider says so."
MXA sells more bikes than pro motocross racers do.
So is Lewis OK?
Will he come back to the states with all of his fingers and toes?
Lewis; tuck the front 3 times if you’re in danger!
What % of customer's are riding supercross? Very few
I think you may have missed my point, either that or I didn’t explain it well.
I didn’t mention anything about saying the bike sucked at SX. I said talk about the struggle to set a bike up for SMX. Be more engaging and open with the fans. As others have said, getting the video pulled sends a message more negative than the video content.
For example, look at what Lars has done with Honda. HRC was probably the most conservative team going, but now with his open approach and accessibility, they’re engaging with exactly the demographic that buys bikes
And as Tautog said, not many new bike buyers are riding SX. MX on the other hand, perfect opportunity for KTM to ‘sell’ their recent domination.
2 things are true here:
1) for the entirety of time Chase has been a top 450 contender, 2 riders have straight up beat him consistently: Eli Tomac, and Jett Lawrence
2) for the entirety of Chase's time as a top 450 contender, he has complained about his bike (regardless of manufacture) except for one small window of time which took place over this past summer
That one small window of time was when Eli Tomac and Jett Lawrence were not racing. Hmm....
Why am I the only one who thinks the stuff chase said is not just silly, but would be very irritating to your employer investing millions in you and this bike you claim is the reason you can't beat the two guys you could never beat?
No one has or will ever say Chase sucks. But everyone with eyes and the ability to access results over the last 2 years will tell you Eli and Jett are better than him.
Leave the shock alone and maybe test for talent at the practice track this week?
He looked fine on it last week now all of a sudden he's not at all comfortable?..... I get the soil difference but it can't be THAT big of a problem
Have to add in speed difference, the length of the start, etc.
Probably KTM is too big and corporate to be bold like that. It would take some skill to navigate that discussion so you don't crap on the current model, but show how KTM pays attention to it's riders (and by proxy consumer) by continuous improvement. Which you can say was very fast paced during the initial Factory Edition mid-year releases during Dungey years.
Hint: I like Chase but that interview was a clown show..
Won two SX races this season, just won a SMX moto but the bike sucks mysteriously when Jett comes back.
KTM is still paying the price for the Webb bad mouthing the bike when he was unhappy about KTM making him train at Aldon’s, train in general, etc. Now it’s become a thing for the internet to bandwagon, and excuse for riders, etc.
Remember how bad the Honda’s “Sucked” until Jett/Hunter smoked everyone on them? Same bike, but the internet chatter instantly went away…
HUGE Chase fan (honestly)...weird theory (or I didn't get enough sleep): KTM to drop Chase after SMX finals (regardless of overall ranking) citing something to the effect of tarnishing the brands image (said deleted interview, etc) while also saving quite a bit of money in a time where money may be a concern for the brand.
I think both KTM and Chase are awesome. Nothing bad here....just thinking outside the box. I would like to see him win the SMX title...although the Brothers Lawrence are badasses.
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