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I disagree with you.
It seems like in this case, Star/Deegan was aiming too much for the image of perfection and not paying enough attention to the "stone ages." ie. teflon tape under the clamp.
Seems like BlackDieselBomber is accustomed to people accepting his ideas based on the authority of his middle management position, and gets flustered when his words/ideas are evaluated on their own merit.
Again the solutions are out there but when it comes to controls racers are always going to go with feel and accept 1 failure every 200 gate drops.
For those talking about teflon tape you guys know they make nylon sleeves that serve the same purpose but are a much more elegant solution, right? Just like the one under Deeg's front brake clamp in that picture.
Apparently the sleeves don't work as well as the tape, or we wouldn't be having this discussion.
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Since no one has posted an actual "before" picture yet...
Looking through last week's Pit Bits, I was surprised how many top guys run stock levers!
So a stock lever potentially just cost him a Lambo??!! Seems pretty wild not to be running fold away levers purely as an insurance policy at that level.
That's fine if it was the rider's choice to run the lever, then that's on him. But if you go back and read the thread you'll see that wasn't confirmed until after 3 pages of the "nothing is indestructible" and "you can engineer all you want but parts will break" and "Shit breaks sometimes no matter the design" mentality.
Where were you on pages 1-3 when there was speculation the team was requiring him to run stock parts and there was no way to avoid parts breaking no matter how much you engineer it?
It's pretty easy for you to enter the conversation after the fact that it's been confirmed it was Deegan's choice to run stock levers. Had that been confirmed early on, this thread would have gone a different direction.
And even if Deegan wants to run the stock levers, you've read here that there are still other things that can be done to help avoid this problem.
Yeah if you read the thread someone already pointed out the sleeves.
You'll have to educate some of us on this "middle management" saying. Is this some new slang term used by the youth as an anti-corporation stance or something? Fill me in
A better derogatory description for me would be Babysitter, Janitor, Chief of Paperclips, or Firefighter, because that's what we do every day.
So It will be interesting to see what lever setup Deegan is running this coming weekend...and in the future. Folding levers can prevent breakage in some crashes/impacts and not help in others - depends on the angle of impact. I'd say that folding levers increase your chances of a lever not breaking.
No no at all Bro, there was no way to prevent that from happening. Shit just breaks no matter what you do. Even to a stock lever, there's absolutely nothing that could have been done. You are reading into it too much...
/end sarcasm
Hahaha, this thread is pure gold.
I used to do that to almost all my levers back when I was racing full time. It's a trick that always worked for me too. I'd even fill the hole with RTV so I didn't feel it on my finger when racing. Then breakaway levers became a thing and I've ran them ever since.
Definitely pretty weird, but it's continuing to deliver in the entertainment department.
Yeah if you read the thread you would notice someone brought up teflon tape about 15 minutes before I posted my response.
You've never heard the term middle management? It's self explanatory. A manager that also has a manager.
I had no idea there was a limitation on when to join a thread, I haven't been on Vital since I watched the race on Sunday.
Well you should maybe read it first so you are in tune with what has already been said.
Pit Row
Teflon tape was brought up on page 1....
Of course I know what it is, but haven't heard it used as a derogatory term before for a business owner before. Are you saying all business owners are "middle management"? Yeah, I don't get it.
I did read it. My take away is you are a pompous ass, but instead of addressing that I added my .02 on the actual subject matter. Sorry if it was repetitive, I'll try harder next time.
It will be interesting if there is no corrective action taken. If as you said they understood the risk and accept this failure rate, then no reason to do anything more.
I gotta think that as a top rider you would expect some contact during the season. Prepare for it.
If they do something now, well, then they should have something earlier since collision - especially with Deegan - is likely even if not frequent.
For Immediate Release:
9/16/2025 The GOAT Farm, Tallahassee, FL
Star Racing / Deegan Inc
Working with Scientists, Engineers, and AI this week, Star Racing / Deegan Inc has a developed a prototype bike protection device as a response to the events that happened in St Louis and the scathing VitalMX comments they received.
Bobby Reagan stated, "When you bass turds said we aint profeshnal and taint lookin fur advancin no spurt, wells we tooked that as an challenge".
The new device has been developed within the emerging field of biomimicry. Biomimicry re-engineers strategies successful in nature, applying them for industrial and technological challenges to advance modern technological frontiers. In this instance, a proven defense strategy is elevating the physical appearance when presented by a physical threat.
Alpinestars has been working on their tech vest ( based on the puffer fish) and detaching visor (based on many lizards), and this new defense suit from Star racing (based on porcupine) is joining the trend of cutting edge science and technology making it's way to professional motocross.
You shouldn't put ice on a burn, it can make it worse. Run it under cool water for about 20m minutes instead.
You're welcome 😉
Some of you fuckers have had one too many dirt naps and it shows.
Probably because the dude is being weird
Your prior sarcasm aside, and while I do get where you're coming from and actually agree with some of it....you can't seriously believe that even the best engineered part CAN'T break despite the randomness of crashes?
im guessing they removed the front brake lever to shed some weight off the bike before the second moto.
😂😂😂
Yes, everything can break. But in my very unpopular opinion and approach, things should only break after you've taken every precaution to avoid it. Which means you use the best possible materials and best design available to nearly eliminate the possibility of breakage during contact or a crash. In this situation, they are far from using anything of the sort and did not take any precaution even to the stock lever. It's now been confirmed it was Deegan's choice to run it so it's on him, and it might have cost him a championship and 500K.
If he loses the title, most everyone will look at Kitchen's takeout as the cause, but clearly I'm very different and might be the only one on Vital who looks at the cheap lever system as the cause. That stock lever should have been prepped at minimum as it would have snapped in half and he would've still had a shorty to use for the moto. It was an amazing ride without a front brake BTW, I don't know how he went that fast and didn't crash or stall.
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." (Benjamin Franklin)
Thank you! I have put that in my notes for future events of burning. Right behind the stop, drop and roll notes that I still have not gotten to use since I learned about it.
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