Jorge Prado "It was a very tough season to say the least. Cruising around every single race..."

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280driver
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8/28/2025 6:39am
280driver wrote:

Great insight from Kawi’s main test rider on Prado’s setup and what was being done to help him.

https://youtu.be/_vkjt4pb_QU

The biggest takeaway for me was the fact that Febvre is on a production frame and swingarm.  This means that there is no reason Prado couldn’t...

The biggest takeaway for me was the fact that Febvre is on a production frame and swingarm.  This means that there is no reason Prado couldn’t get his bike setup identically to what is currently leading the world championship.  It is hard to believe that the best he can do on the world championship leading bike is somewhere outside the top 10.  Either A) Prado isn’t trying at all, or B ) the level of racing is really that much higher in the AMA.  

aees wrote:

He also said Febvre has been there forever. The whole bike is built around Febvre.

It's like asking Jett to ride Tomacs setup and expect a podium.

No, he said setting the bike up and developing new parts for Febvre is easy because they know what he likes at this point.  He said it takes more time to do that for new riders as they have to learn their likes/dislikes.  They start with a neutral setup (not Febvre’s) and adjust from there.

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TAUTOG
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8/28/2025 6:57am
280driver wrote:
Not accurate.  He said he came over from Japan with new parts that they installed and immediately found made a big improvement.  Not sure why people...

Not accurate.  He said he came over from Japan with new parts that they installed and immediately found made a big improvement.  Not sure why people want to make it look like the US Kawi team is inept.  In this case they just didnt have access to new factory parts until the factory test rider brought them here.

KurtJ99 wrote:
“they just didnt have access to new factory parts until the factory test rider brought them here”This tells me Kawi USA wasn’t doing all they...

“they just didnt have access to new factory parts until the factory test rider brought them here”
This tells me Kawi USA wasn’t doing all they could as soon as they could. Taka brought them here on request, why not sooner given the urgency?

Hindsight is 20/20, perhaps Kawi USA thought they were almost there on setup perpetually, and then finally raised the alarm for Taka’s help late. But it does beg the question given Kawi USA’s reputation (from Tomac days) as being hard to work with. 

Even after Taka's help he still shit the bed. 

And we aren't asking him to crash his brains out. But don't pull over and let dudes by.

Everyone likes to talk about the Tomac/Kawi relationship but he was still winning races and championships. 

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8/28/2025 6:58am

I think the big mistake that Jorge made, is thinking that being one of the best in Europe, he has the capacities to be one of the best in Outdoor because the level is pretty similar. There is some smilarities between the 2 championships but there is a lot of differences as well.

We can imagine that MXGP and AMA Pro Motocross are two parallel ladders, a meter apart from each other, that goes to the same height. If you climb one ladder to the top step, it was hard and you want to challenge yourself (good for you) and try to climb the other ladder. Then what do you do ? Do you jump from the top of a ladder straight to the other one ? Nope, you can't do that, you've to go down and climb the second ladder from the bottom.

I think it is tough to admit, but it like starting from the very beginning again, and you also (very important in the process) have to prepare to put the ego aside, because you come from the very top with a lot of knowledge and confidence and then you have to consider being a beginner all over again...

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Zycki11
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8/28/2025 7:02am
280driver wrote:

Great insight from Kawi’s main test rider on Prado’s setup and what was being done to help him.

https://youtu.be/_vkjt4pb_QU

aees wrote:
Great interview.Kawi USA spend 8 races and Taka comes over and immediately find things that they throw in the bike next weekend that improves it drastically. I...

Great interview.
Kawi USA spend 8 races and Taka comes over and immediately find things that they throw in the bike next weekend that improves it drastically. 

I think Prado wont find what he need on Showa spring forks. Its well know that its difficult to run suspension that holds up well but is plush/soft at same time on springs. That's why pretty much everyone is on air on Austrian bikes and they use air or hybrid on Yamaha i guess.

40-50k for a factory frame, jesus? 😄

CPR wrote:
Taka also said in an interview on Gypsy Takes that he tested the factory Showa suspension and was questioning whether it was actually any good, then...

Taka also said in an interview on Gypsy Takes that he tested the factory Showa suspension and was questioning whether it was actually any good, then rode stock suspension and it was better. 
I can’t imagine Kawi was happy with him putting that out there but Taka’s a straight up dude.

That is all between the suspesion tech at Showa, the team, and the riders communication.  

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The Shop

GPrider
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8/28/2025 7:23am Edited Date/Time 8/28/2025 7:23am

It's a trip to come to work every morning, open up Vital and see this thread at the top still. I mean, five six days later, who gives a shit really.

 

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Markopolo400
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8/28/2025 7:32am
aees wrote:
Great interview.Kawi USA spend 8 races and Taka comes over and immediately find things that they throw in the bike next weekend that improves it drastically. I...

Great interview.
Kawi USA spend 8 races and Taka comes over and immediately find things that they throw in the bike next weekend that improves it drastically. 

I think Prado wont find what he need on Showa spring forks. Its well know that its difficult to run suspension that holds up well but is plush/soft at same time on springs. That's why pretty much everyone is on air on Austrian bikes and they use air or hybrid on Yamaha i guess.

40-50k for a factory frame, jesus? 😄

$50k for presumably engineering work, custom tooling, weld fixtures, welders salary etc is really nothing at the end of the day.

aees
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8/28/2025 7:58am
The biggest takeaway for me was the fact that Febvre is on a production frame and swingarm.  This means that there is no reason Prado couldn’t...

The biggest takeaway for me was the fact that Febvre is on a production frame and swingarm.  This means that there is no reason Prado couldn’t get his bike setup identically to what is currently leading the world championship.  It is hard to believe that the best he can do on the world championship leading bike is somewhere outside the top 10.  Either A) Prado isn’t trying at all, or B ) the level of racing is really that much higher in the AMA.  

aees wrote:

He also said Febvre has been there forever. The whole bike is built around Febvre.

It's like asking Jett to ride Tomacs setup and expect a podium.

280driver wrote:
No, he said setting the bike up and developing new parts for Febvre is easy because they know what he likes at this point.  He said...

No, he said setting the bike up and developing new parts for Febvre is easy because they know what he likes at this point.  He said it takes more time to do that for new riders as they have to learn their likes/dislikes.  They start with a neutral setup (not Febvre’s) and adjust from there.

Sorry, was wheeler who said it's built around Febvre.

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8/28/2025 8:02am
aees wrote:

Sorry, was wheeler who said it's built around Febvre.

That's not correct.

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aees
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8/28/2025 8:04am
aees wrote:

Sorry, was wheeler who said it's built around Febvre.

That's not correct.

That should be correct.

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8/28/2025 8:08am Edited Date/Time 8/28/2025 8:16am
Zycki11 wrote:

That is all between the suspesion tech at Showa, the team, and the riders communication.  

Plus Taka probably was the dude who set up the stock suspension. 

Stands to reason he would like it.

Screenshot 2025-08-28 at 8.15.09%E2%80%AFAM
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MX369
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8/28/2025 10:14am

Produd show give his pay back!

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soggy
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8/28/2025 10:30am
-MAVERICK- wrote:
Ouch...

Ouch...

This is the most damning stat. How many races if any did he have a positive number next to positions gained/loss

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Kenny Banyan
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8/28/2025 11:09am

Well , it certainly seems like his confidence in his abilities haven’t eroded. It’s going to be interesting to see how it works out for him in the future. I personally think he’s delusional. 

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alphado
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8/28/2025 11:12am

Jorge just posted a post on Instagram "clearing" things up!

alphado
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8/28/2025 11:13am Edited Date/Time 8/28/2025 11:14am

 

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SEEMEFIRST
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8/28/2025 11:15am
alphado wrote:

Jorge just posted a post on Instagram "clearing" things up!

Did you buy it?

I haven't seen it yet, just asking what you thought.

alphado
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8/28/2025 11:16am

Damage control.

 

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-MAVERICK-
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8/28/2025 11:28am
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JDub067
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8/28/2025 11:33am

Translation “I’m having trouble getting out of the personal deal I’ve done with Monster and I don’t think I can get away with leaving Kawi before SMX. This is a feeble attempt to try and smooth things over with the team so I can make it somewhat tenable for SMX all whilst taking no personal accountability”

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GrapeApe
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8/28/2025 11:40am

Someone got a letter from the legal department lol

Disappointing he didn't give aees a shoutout

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8/28/2025 11:53am
GrapeApe wrote:

Someone got a letter from the legal department lol

Disappointing he didn't give aees a shoutout

It’s almost cringy at this point how much aees is boot licking Prado. 

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aees
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8/28/2025 12:20pm
GrapeApe wrote:

Someone got a letter from the legal department lol

Disappointing he didn't give aees a shoutout

It’s almost cringy at this point how much aees is boot licking Prado. 

What's cringy is how adults can be so offended and upset by riders giving their perspective. Typical jealousy shining through.

 

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tek14
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8/28/2025 12:25pm

Starts to sound more and more like Jorge Martin with Aprilia in MotoGP. 

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TAUTOG
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8/28/2025 12:25pm

"Never felt comfortable on the bike, not even a bit!"

How is the team taking this the wrong way? It seams pretty clear what you are saying in your original post.

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TAUTOG
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8/28/2025 12:26pm

Stolen from twitter

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soggy
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8/28/2025 12:26pm
aees wrote:

What's cringy is how adults can be so offended and upset by riders giving their perspective. Typical jealousy shining through.

 

The word offended gets thrown around way too much these days it almost has no meaning.  This is a moto forum. Jorge made a stupid post and posters are just cutting through the bullshit. He comes off as an arrogant and unwilling to admit his part in his lackluster season which isn’t something people are going to respond positively too. 

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8/28/2025 12:29pm
GrapeApe wrote:

Someone got a letter from the legal department lol

Disappointing he didn't give aees a shoutout

It’s almost cringy at this point how much aees is boot licking Prado. 

aees wrote:

What's cringy is how adults can be so offended and upset by riders giving their perspective. Typical jealousy shining through.

 

Are you on drugs? Something is just not right if you think people are offended or jealous. 

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KurtJ99
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8/28/2025 12:31pm
280driver wrote:
The team had already developed a number of different parts they could use to get the bike working for each riders specific wants.   They ran...

The team had already developed a number of different parts they could use to get the bike working for each riders specific wants.   They ran through all the previously developed parts and found they needed something new/different for Prado.  Those new parts were developed, tested, manufactured and flown from Japan and then installed and tested again here.  None of this happens overnight.  

What I heard on the Swap podcast was Taka say was he was asked to help urgently. Race season is no time to develop, mfg, and test. Yes that takes time but Prado’s situation was break/fix urgency, not develop mfg test which is better but of course takes time. If you are mid-season desperate, you don’t start a development cycle, you call in anyone that can help. Like KYB inserts in Webbs KTM you do what you gotta do. Taka got the hardware to Prado before Taka even got to the US to help him with it. If you have other sources then OK. 

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Zycki11
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8/28/2025 12:36pm
Zycki11 wrote:
you are still trying to compare the two and they simply aren’t the same. That is the entire point, and after myself and others stated the...

you are still trying to compare the two and they simply aren’t the same. That is the entire point, and after myself and others stated the reasons why it is different, this is what you came up with. Bravo mate. Bravo 

kage173 wrote:
I don't know what you mean by that. Both riders won championships the year before. Both riders signed with Kawi. Both riders missed a lot of...

I don't know what you mean by that. Both riders won championships the year before. Both riders signed with Kawi. Both riders missed a lot of races. Both riders under performed. Both riders left at the end of the year (well Prado hasn't yet). I'm sure your feel your guy had good reasons and Prado fans feel the same. But, the fact is that they both had a verry similar experience on Kawi. 

 

You can't be serious... Honestly I have nothing else to say lol.  

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RG437
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8/28/2025 12:39pm

Prado hasn’t handled himself in the best way, and certainly hasn’t earned himself any new fans, but I actually don’t have an issue with the statement after Budds. The entire world can see he isn’t comfortable and is just cruising around, so why is it a massive deal to say so?

What I find extraordinary is that Prado took a big risk to go to America, arrived desperate to prove himself, with basically a 4 year multi-million dollar deal, and he was prepared to throw that all in the bin after less than 10 races, that to me says that situation within the team has to be pretty problematic, and this is not a team with a great recent track record. It would be different if his teammate was killing it, but he’s not turning up to race at all. 

The fact that nobody in a leadership position at that team is fielding questions or saying anything when both their riders have essentially quit is absolutely insane to me 

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