Kawi loses Forkner, Dudney, Janik in one week 😬

 Big revolving circle kawi kid goes to star, star kid goes to kawi and its always the best bike they have ever ridden 

But they’re gaining Prado, and possibly going for Deegan 450 according to Pulp. As someone rooting for Forkner, he really hasn’t raced much due to his injuries and both sides probably need the change

If any team has invested into amateurs and lost their riders, it’s KTM though lol

well 1 benefit of the amateur program is it also sells mini bikes just like the big bikes. RV2 made me want a Kawi 65 just cause i wanted to ride the same brand as him, then Jett Reynolds went out and dominated lorrettas on a KX65. That fully solidified me putting a KX65 on my Christmas list. 

Those 2 riders sold Kawasaki a motorcycle. So to answer your question the Amateur program 100% sells mini bikes.

IMO Star Yamaha is a meat grinder for young talent. 

Produce now or hit the road is maybe not the best way to work with talented kids. 

 If I had a kid at that level, I would take a team Green offer instead, they at least show some patience and loyalty.

Where’s Janik going ?  He had a bad 1st moto crash at LL.  Red bud he did good the next day had a great 1st moto in Canada. He went 2-2 at the last Canadian national.  So he’s riding great. 

“Lose” implies they were trying to keep them. Im pretty sure Kawasaki would describe it differently. “offload” comes to mind. 

Think about what Forkner have cost Kawi and what they have got back from their investment. They did not lose him…

How can Kawasaki afford to pay Deegan massive money they gonna ask after they just got Prado that would be one of highest paid guys after Lawrence brothers? 

Star Racing doesn't value their riders as much as Mitch Payton does, and kids these days don't value that, they rather sign a 1 year cut throat deal with Star, hope they win races and stay in the best 250 by far, Star is a doble edge sword, you either win or you are out, if you have an injury and your deal is up there's a high chance they will not offer you another contract, and try to get another Factory Contract with not many pro races...

Mitch Payton is much more considerated to his riders than Star, he sees his riders as persons, not as riders, and that has helped a lot of young riders in their careers. Haven't seen any riders that have bad words for Mitch or PC Racing. 

Yeah, they'll never be able to recover from that.

😄

That national he won 8 years ago was pretty good…

How you figure?  Prado’s fast outdoors, for sure, but here in the US, Supercross pays the bills, and he’s being thrown straight to the lions in the 450 class.   I can’t remember anyone that was a title threat in their first ever full Supercross season in the 450 class (with no 250 SX experience).  They took a chance on the fact that his overall talent level might carry him safely through Supercross so he can give Jett a run for his money outdoors.  With Honda locked in with the Lawrences, Yamaha feeling strong with their duo of Webb and Tomac (and trying to keep some money in reserve for Deegan), and KTM living on borrowed time (and money according to their latest quarterly financials), I’d be surprised if a Prado was able to demand a big signing bonus.

As for Dudney, that is certainly a loss, but it is a common theme.  Unless Kawasaki has an in-house 250 effort, it will be difficult for them to be able to guarantee a young rider a ride into the pro ranks.  Star is quick to throw a short term “show us what you’ve got” contract in front of guys like this, and who can blame them? 

As for Janik, he’s been on Team Green for years now and with his 19th birthday right around the corner, maybe Holliday didn’t see what he needed to fight for his services in the future.  He certainly hasn’t attracted nearly the hype that his younger teammate Adams has garnered.
 

Kawasaki isn't hurting for money

Well they did pick up Vincent Wey this week.....

quadzrulebro wrote:
"I can’t remember anyone that was a title threat in their first ever full Supercross season in the 450 class (with no 250 SX experience)."

Bayle in 1990.  7 points behind Stanton for the title; 5 main event wins.  Showed up for a handful of supercrosses in 1989, left back to Europe, won the motocross title there, came full time to USA the next year.  Just as Prado is planning.

My guess is they had the opportunity to match with Forkner and didn’t. They were probably bummed but happy for him. 

My guess is Janik was a Kawi choice. He is a great rider but being around the amateur side of things I don’t believe people think he is going to win titles in pro.

My guess is they were very upset about Dudney.

Brother, I want Prado to do well also, but it ain't 1990 anymore. The tracks are different, bikes are different, and riders much different. 

They’re not paying Prado a bunch of money. 

   One Lawrence brother is highly paid, the other is mid rode. 

Remember he beat Deegan in super mini on a bike much slower. Showed speed to run Deegan down & that whip on the pass was Great. Due to Deegan  ,s shady riding was Great.  Last yr I think he was injured he didn’t race any early big stuff.  2 yrs ago he was faster than Adam’s.   Adam’s rode amazing this yr pretty hard to stop that.especially coming off injuries. But he’s rt there in 2nd.  He’s the current RV but more stylish & smooth . Adam,s is like Allessi dominating but not by much.  

Doubt that Prados Kawi contract pays that good until he deliver at SX…

Much better contingency program as well.

I feel like Star has been pretty loyal to their top tier amateur to pro talent - Martin, Webb, AP, Cooper, Thrasher, Kitchen (offered an extension, left by choice), Deegan, even Bennick got an extension. The only one that didn't pan out was LeBlanc and by his own admission he was done chasing the dream. 

Contrast that with Kawi's recent top tier amateur to pro talent - Ryder D had his contract slow-played and finally said F-it and left, Reynolds was cut before he ever really had a chance (due to injuries, understandable), they are now doing the same slow-play with Adams they did with Ryder D, and they obviously had no interest in Towers, Janik or Dudney. If I'm Landen Gordon I'm sitting there thinking geez at what level do I have to perform to get a locked in deal with Kawi? 

If you believe some on here that seem to know, Mitch doesn't get to shop for his own groceries anymore. I think he has a Kawi problem.

Fair point, but that was prior to the era where his competition had been honing their Supercross skills at training compounds since they were on 65s.  That, and the fact that Bayle is arguably the greatest overall motorcycle racer in history.  The MXoN proved that Prado isn’t even the dominant motocrosser in the world currently.

Adam’s dominated this yr like no other rider in yrs.   Janik grew like 2 ft in 18 months, body coordination is catching up late in the yr. He,s racing a lot too, doing 250,450 pro ams .  He’s basically a Huffman, Jmb smoothness. I see him being as good as Chase. 

MC .  It took Bayle 3 yrs to get his 1st title in 88 on a hrc 125.  These bikes where a Huge advantage.  In 88 I read he rode sun up to sunset. Pound laps, pond skimmy & crashing . He had Awesome bike skills .  Honestly I think Damon Huffman was alot better and talented.  Most dominant 125 sx rider with the most podiums ever.  Only rider besides Reynard to beat RC . Damon did it in the hottest race ever Troy Ohio.  I see jmb 3-3 on that day.  People make a big deal on jmb,s brake slide technique.  Go ice riding and you’ll see all kinds of riders that will blow your mind . On bike skills best way to get the feel for what a bike can do. Because it’s all bike feel to wheel slide and traction. 

Comparing Janik to Huffman is a bit of a stretch.  Janik (who turns 19 in January) is still an amateur.  Huffy was winning Supercrosses at 17.  A little bit of Chicagoland bias, perhaps?

With some of the deals they've had this summer, they sure are hurting to sell some bikes and UTVs.

Prado won't win a race here next year. Doesn't have that top end speed of Jett, Chase, Eli ect. Stamp it.

End of year Kawasaki deals are nothing new. That’s been the norm for Kawi to have killer sales for the past 10+ years. 

Mmmm, I don't think they're hurting for much of anything.  They posted a 105M profit over April-June this year. 

https://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/ir/library/pdf/sta_240830-1e.pdf

"Powersports & Engine

 Regarding the business environment surrounding the Powersports & Engine segment, in the major markets of the United States and Europe, although market competition has intensified due to actively supplying products by competitors, demand has remained strong. The market in Southeast Asia is still at a low level, despite signs of recovery shown for some cases. In addition, demand in the Chinese market has declined due to the impact of the economic downturn. Amid such an operating environment, consolidated revenue of ¥144.7 billion was on par with the same period of the previous fiscal year's result, due to an increase in motorcycles and an increase in the revenue resulting from a weaker yen on foreign exchange rates, despite a temporary decline mainly in four-wheeled vehicles for North America because of delays in shipments. Business profit decreased by ¥2.7 billion year on year to ¥11.5 billion due to an increase in fixed costs."