Yes, obviously it's a big matter, we are all aware of that. But how come that even eight rounds into a eleven round championship riders make full swings in their setups or even go back to last years setup? When was the last time you heard a rider say: "I need to work on some technique things" or "I need to get fitter".
No, instead every single answer is: "We made huge changes this week that didn't pay off" or basically saying: "I tried my best but the bike didn't allow me to finish up there".
I'm not delusional, I know it's a big difference maker and can for sure be the decider between winning or not, but it seems like riders completely blame every single performance on their bike these days and as a big fan of this sport since I've been a little kid those answers really start to annoy me. It's slowly starting to feel like MotoGP.
When privateers who don't even ride during the week come out and get top 10th finishes on stock bikes something isn't right..
Yeah it’s annoying the media pushes conversations about bike setup . The top level is crazy fast & there’s Great racing 12th to 29th . But they need to start covering another level like the pro ams . But no mention of it or coverage. I don’t remember a single works Honda rider talking about bike setup or building there program .
Bike setup is the direct interface between rider and machine—arguably the most critical factor in performance across all motorsports. F1 is a prime example: setup is everything. Supercross is no different.
But behind that setup are layers—engineers, mechanics, team managers, even corporate influence. Everyone’s got input, and the result often shows up in the rider's post-race quote.
Add to that a growing fanbase that expects deeper insight. With access to telemetry, podcasts, and breakdowns—we want to know. So naturally, setup becomes the focus. It’s not always rider deflection—it’s a reflection of the whole structure.
Then you see a privateer—on a stock bike, with no testing, no crew—land a top-10. That’s where the narrative flips. That’s when talent, instinct, and heart punch through the matrix.
As a lifelong rider myself, I’ve often thought: What would happen if I had a week with a full factory setup team dialing in my bike? I can only imagine what that would unlock.
Here’s where it gets interesting—real-time example:
I read the OP’s post and something activates. The architect in me starts forming a response. Drafting, adjusting—sometimes in Word, sometimes now with AI. Just like a bike setup, the first draft is rarely the final form. Maybe it goes through a few tweaks, gets reviewed by my “crew” (aka my Higher Self, AI, or coffee). Eventually, it’s ready for the gate drop: posted to the forum, and then… subject to the infamous thumbs. 😊
Setup matters. So does soul. Somewhere in the middle is the magic.
And lately, we’re seeing Eli and Jorge open up about their setups on social—bringing fans deeper into the ride. Win–win for sure!
And it’s something majority of the public wouldn’t benefit from. It’s all subjective and is equivalent to asking a tattoo artist about painful areas to tattoo.
I'd like to see riders asked where they were faster than other riders on the track and why they were faster.
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It seems like the teams spend months spinning thousands of laps fine tuning for supercross, and spend a couple of days getting ready for motocross. Throw in the varying terrain between tracks and I kinda understand it takes a while to set up a new ride or new generation bike.
Not true..mxa was asking everyone.tomac.sexton.etc.. how much does it cost to get from race to race...
Because it is the determining factor to be competitive?
I don't get why couch potatoes have an opinion that literally goes against more than the majority of top 5 capable riders in the world 😂
Jett: Fucked up shock settings last week, couldn't ride properly so took a second. Went back to heat 2, all good. He uses brand new Rental ultra tacky grips for every race.
Hunter: Even pickier than Jett! Took a year to find settings for new Honda.
Chase Sexton: Went to KYB to be competitive. Still working on setup if you listen to team interview.
Tomac: Still working on setup, 3 years into it. No further comment needed.
Prado: Well, it's known, setup/bike performance.
JCoop: They went to stock rims on the 250 to try and find comfort for him. Read that again, factory rims wasn't good. Probably the only guy I haven't heard mentioning setup on 450 other than starts and that he don't like the MX14.
AP: Messed up shock settings 3 races ago after almost winning race 1 and had a poor race 2 regretting changes.
I can tell you exactly why Tomac is working on settings. He has explained this before and it's the same reason they work on settings for next year even though he won outdoors.
If one riders elevate their setting, the rest is screwed. Again Tomac own words. This goes for next season, between races, between Motos.
At this point in their career, you ain't going to find a second or two a lap from your peak performance by trying to change how you ride. If that was the case, everyone would stop fiddling around.
Riders and teams, the world's best ones, is on it working with one approach. Yet Vital members thinks they have a better approach and riders should stop chasing setups, take accountability and just ride the bike. I would love to see any member here confront Tomac, Prado or Jett f2f with that message and see how that goes 😂
Its time to get in your heads that the elite riders of the world, actually know what they are talking about 🙄
(Edit to make point clear)
It's an interesting thing...
I'll never be near fast enough to understand it, but why is setup such a bigger deal now than ever before? McGrath, RC, RV, Dungey, etc. all won year after year on different model years without ever having long stretches of being off due to setup. Heck, Jett has talked about not being all the way there with setup but the dude still wins championships (and most of the races).
As much as I hate to say it, when the guys harping so much on setup are guys used to winning that are no longer winning, it feels like a cop out because they can't deal with someone else being better. Seems like several guys on the line think they are the best guy and if they don't win it's not their own faults. As mentioned elsewhere, I'd get it if setup caused a guy to fall off the pace a bit one week or another, but week after week of being lost and riding around 5-10th or worse for former champions...how can that be setup?
Can add one thing more instead of doing a new post, it's also very clear after listening to the interviews.
Tomac was fine with his setting, until he needed to get that extra 0.5sec a lap that he need to beat Jett. When he tried to push for that, setting give in. There isn't more to get.
Its the same reason why KTM left the 2022 chassi and went to 2023 model with different anti squat capability. Test riders and teams had concluded they where at end with how fast they could go on that chassi. Couldn't squeeze more speed from it so needed a different approach to at least be possible to reach "next gen speed".
I don’t buy that . Motorcycles hv been built in America since 1897 . But 450,s are too
Much a of a bike to be raced on the edge. To ever get everything close to great. Except for Honda crf450,s. I sat on a new crf450 recently, peg to seat is smaller than my 04 cr125 . A lot of bike to compacted in But typical Honda everything is in the rt spot levers, foot controls, etc.
Too much credit given to the privateers that occasionally put in the ride of their lives and crack the top 10 once. Those that can do it consistently become factory riders, and are then faced with this conundrum: lots of technical resources available to make the bike better… and sometimes they end up making it worse… and then a privateer beats them in a moto. The horror.
Either we want the bikes we buy to be technically advanced, or we don’t care. But at the factory level, technical setup is the name of the game. At least in the US, the production rule limits the amount of resources they have to work with.
I fully support spending time on getting a setting that you're comfortable with. Any brand new model is going to take even more time to get right.
Moto is still more about the rider though.... MC won a race on a 97 suzuki that wouldn't even open the throttle fully. RC's 02- 03 honda setup was pretty much the opposite of how a bike should be ( and it did nearly cost him the 03 title)... he willed it to win though.
Yeah it totally sounds like a cop out . Every bike has a max limit of control , Honda is the highest now probably due to a much larger budget . In the MC Yamaha days they probably had a bigger budget from his outside sponsors to pay the ot for the staff. A massive amount went into getting the 98 yz250 to turn Engine was mounted all over the place forward & up etc, etc. trying to get Honda power out of it . A 90 cr250 was a way better bike I had both. Dylan,s 450 title he was wayy out of control he pushed it way past of what the bike could do.
MC 97 RM sounded like a rm180 his mechanic was crazy in love. Forgetting the ball on thd clutch rod at Indy sold out stadium & he’s working his way into the lead then he can’t clear a double with a smoked clutch. He was Super cool with the fans outside in the cold by the rig yet. Gainsville he raced with a scrapped race cylinder mechanic forget to add oil in the gas & locked up the race cylinder. 97,98 rm250 slow you could ride them wo like a 125 which was fun.
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