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It’s kinda crazy to me how these elite level guys still feel the grass is so much greener elsewhere..
The Kawi is too slow for Prado, yet Chase thinks it’s the answer, the Honda guys are “struggling with the bike” the same bike that was the answer to last year’s problems with Hunter, that he won on right away.. So, the KTM that Webb couldn’t wait to get off is “working incredibly “ according to AP, he is ripping, and Chase isn’t happy with the same bike?
Meanwhile indoors we got Kenny battling for wins on a bike that hasn’t been updated since 1987
I get it, these guys are searching for 10th’s but man.. Enough about the bike…
I’m not a Yamaha loyalist but…ya sure don’t hear folks in that camp talking negatively about the bike much.
Which is nuts cause Tomac’s bike still doesn’t even look good. He just pins it
Ktm wouldn’t let Webb run 48mm forks and he had to run the 52mm. Next year ktm runs 48mm forks. They shoulda let there egos go and they prolly woulda been able to keep coop.
I love the sarcasm and I truly just laughed out loud.
I have the same sarcastic humor.
“ Kenny winning on the 1987 rmz 450”. Thats good.
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Horses for courses…..
Don’t be so hyperbolic.
The Suzuki was updated in 1989, not 1987……..
Cheese and rice, people!
I know large corporations are very strict. They also are slow moving and thick skulled.
Makes we wonder how aggressive and open to rider feedback companies such as Ducati, Beta etc will be.
Makes me think back to 97 when MC told honda to peace out and would have rode a puch moped instead of the CR. You’d think Honda would have had MC spin a few laps on that crab walking machine 8 months before they mass produced.
To be fair the '22 KTM was shit and its improved A LOT since then
I just want to see all the factory riders from each brand do one exhibition race on a tamed down groomed national track on box stock bikes. Like delivered to the track by local dealers so no tampering can be done stock and see how they stack up then maybe they would chill on the “it’s the bike” stuff
Reminder: only 2 years ago, Ty Masterpool pulled holeshots and finished 7th overall in points (without even racing the first round) aboard his clapped out stock-engined KX450 because his KX250 had shit the bed in the first round.
This year release, what about 2010 to 2021?
Bob in 78
I bet he prolly rode that new cr for a day months before or maybe even the year before. One day on it something new prolly felt amazing. Then once they really got into testing mc realized it was shit.
It's not drag racing or Nascar where you need the machine to do one thing. Motocross requires the bike to handle many different things well. Setting up for one aspect makes another worse. Never going to have a bike that does all things great.
These guys want a bike that does all things great so they'll always have something to talk about. Settling on what you need a bike to do well vs what you can tolerate it not doing well and setting up accordingly is the trick, but easier said than done.
I wonder if that's part of the reason star has so much success getting their bikes to be so good? They definitely seem like they might be more interested in what the stopwatch says than the rider.
You should shoot your shot and just ask him out
My take is that if you are a pro rider. You should you know a thing or two about motorcycles. Setting up a motorcycle is part of your job. Bitching about the bike is like bitching about your own fitness.
Unless you are riding something with exotic geometry. Let say a cannondale. Then you get a pass.
I think those guys that have sound mechanical knowledge of their machines end up becoming really good testing/development riders when their racing careers are over.
The yamaha is a great bike, but if you notice something once they got something that was working really well theyve stuck with it. The other brands will have the best bike on the track one year and then decide to throw it all in the trash and introduce an entirely brand new bike the next year. Look how long it took ktm just to get back to where they already were and everybody said the previous bike was amazing.
I know that they have engineering departments that theyre paying a lot of money to do stuff, but yamahas strategy seems to be working the best year to year. Funnily they took the strategy from ktm! Ktm used to just do slight tweaks over long periods of time to the same general bike that would compound over time. Yamaha is doing this brilliantly lately. They refresh the plastics every few years to make something “new” but even then its just a trim up of the same general look… just like the old ktm from 2016-2021.
Pit Row
No, it was definitely an issue all along. American Honda even delayed the release because they refused to sign off on the "suspension settings"
That said, corporate Japan was probably right in this weird case. The bike was a turd, but was one of the biggest sellers in history. Everyone was so hyped on that thing.
I agree.
We ran sprint cars and dirt late models for many years. When you win, the car is great.
When you dont win, car was loose, pushing or not getting forward bite.
You win a lot at the local track, car is working great. Then they run a big event and the top guys come to town. Nothing happened to our cars, the other drivers just went faster everywhere. Very humbling.
This. As good as Jorge is as a starter, he should have pulled a top 4 start by now in 6 motos even if he was on a 2013 KX. It is true that bike of Ty's had a different base engine than the one now in Jorge's bike. However I have the new KX and yes stock it's super slow, but that's mostly because of the muffler and airbox. There is zero doubt in my mind that Factory Kawi can put a competitive bike out there. This is in Prado's head. Like all elite talents, it will click eventually and it will be on this same platform and we'll all realize how stupid the bike conversation is. Elite riders win on all bikes.
Ktm got it from Suzuki who have been doing this since 1987 or maybe 1989.
Also, he was pretty damn good on the '23. 7 podiums and 2 wins. Wins werent exactly easy to come by that year either with Eli riding amazing. And Chase was going mach 10 and would win unless he tucked the front. Coop was better in '23 than in '22
I'll let you guys in on a little secret: the manufacturers are done "improving" the motocross motorcycle. It's about as good as it's ever going to get with an ICE. For now, they make incremental changes which work well for their current crop of test riders, but only because it's "different."
I remember in the late '90s Yamaha changed the YZ80 every year with little tweaks. After several years of the changes, I went back to the specs and determined there were only two motorcycles and they were changing the ignition timing and suspension settings... back and forth. What's this year's update? "New ignition calibration for more pull in higher RPMs." What was last year's update? "New ignition calibration for harder-hitting power out of the turns." Year before that? "New ignition calibration for more pull in higher RPMs."
Oh sure, we'll see some kind of tangible improvement when weights come down or traction gets better, but that is in tiny fractions. These improvements make themselves apparent in laptimes, which are largely thrown out the window in this sport by a good, elbows-out block pass.
I am willing to bet that all those times when Eli beat Chase or Jett beat Eli, you could have had them swap bikes for that moto and it wouldn't have made one damn bit of difference. One rider was simply better that day. As long as the platform is close enough, It's not the bike.
Hey now, you go wash your mouth out with soap for that language! That kind of talk will not be accepted. We are all waiting to see what amazing new features come out for '26.
Bold New Graphics
The '97 CR250 has been discussed on podcasts (and elsewhere, I'm sure) by Honda insiders. Apparently the early prototypes of that aluminum frame were great but Honda got scared so they beefed it up which obviously changed the handling characteristics completely.
Sold my 96 got a 97. Went from the penthouse to the outhouse.
I got lucky! Working at a Honda dealership and had a new 250 every year, I was so stoked when it came in and stayed late to put one together. As soon as I started it on the stand and couldn't feel my hands, I drained the fuel out and put it out on the floor.
Same here. Worst trade deal ever.
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