A look into Kawasakis GNCC effort.

Marty1028
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Lafayette, IN US

Cool video I stumbled across today. Interview with Stu Baylor and his bike setup.

13
|
11/13/2025 8:08am

When did Odi start making Flexx bars 🤔

2
Marty1028
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11/13/2025 8:17am
Trailturd wrote:

When did Odi start making Flexx bars 🤔

Damn i didnt even notice that. Its interesting his combo of the XC gear mount and the flex bars. Seems like to me with that setup it would be very hard to predict front end movements. 

AMetts
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11/13/2025 9:13am
Trailturd wrote:

When did Odi start making Flexx bars 🤔

Marty1028 wrote:
Damn i didnt even notice that. Its interesting his combo of the XC gear mount and the flex bars. Seems like to me with that setup...

Damn i didnt even notice that. Its interesting his combo of the XC gear mount and the flex bars. Seems like to me with that setup it would be very hard to predict front end movements. 

You cant tell the mako 360 is there in the slightest especially the stiff polymers the pros run. Just helps dull those huge square edged hits and vibration that add up at the end of the day. 

2
Natester551
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11/13/2025 9:43am

With Stew's wrist there's no way he could ride without them.  I'm in the same boat; they are lifesavers for people with wrist or hand/arm issues.  I have them on all of my MTBs and my streetbike...lol.  You get used to them pretty quick, and the occasional ride on something w/o them quickly reminds me why....

3

The Shop

Titan1
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11/13/2025 10:29am

I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to put on a set of rental bars in the middle of day 2 of a three day trip to get through the weekend…I honestly couldn’t tell the difference at all…so much so I stopped buying the flex bars and saved myself $200 every set of bars I bought.  Now it seems gimmicky to me….not worth the extra cost in my opinion….lots of confirmation bias in the believers of those things….and my wrists are jacked up….they hurt with flex bars and hurt just as bad without them…

1
2
3strokemx
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11/13/2025 1:04pm
Trailturd wrote:

When did Odi start making Flexx bars 🤔

as soon as the sponsorship check cleared with the bank

YZed250
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Costa Mesa, CA US
11/13/2025 1:36pm

No radiator louvers? Uses an oil cooler and a fan, though. 

Man, those conditions look gnarly and by the end of the season the bikes are haggard. 

How many bikes do you think they go through in a season (per rider)? Roughly 4-6 each? $$$!

 

2
Heavyhitter
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11/13/2025 5:20pm

Cycra stadium plate with acerbis stickers is a bold move haha 

1
NicNak
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11/13/2025 7:04pm

Cycra stadium plate with acerbis stickers is a bold move haha 

Pretty certain Acerbis bought cycra. 

2
FMB2.0
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11/13/2025 7:26pm Edited Date/Time 11/13/2025 7:35pm

Cycra stadium plate with acerbis stickers is a bold move haha 

NicNak wrote:

Pretty certain Acerbis bought cycra. 

Short answer: No — Acerbis did not buy Cycra.

Here’s the current situation :

Publicly available industry information shows that here is the clearest breakdown

Acerbis Italia has not purchased Cycra

There is no acquisition, no merger, and no ownership link between:

Acerbis Italia S.p.A. (Italy)

Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing (USA)

Acerbis

Acerbis is an independent Italian company (Acerbis Italia S.p.A.) producing plastics, handguards, and accessories for dirt bikes and ADV bikes worldwide.

Cycra

Cycra has gone through ownership and manufacturing changes over the last several years, including moving production and restructuring, but there has been no acquisition by Acerbis.


Cycra remains a separate U.S.-based brand (Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing)


No public filings, press releases, or industry confirmations show any acquisition by Acerbis.

10
Spooner
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11/14/2025 6:21am

Acerbis absolutely owns Cycra and it's been quite a few years now. 

3
C.Worthy
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CA US
11/14/2025 6:49am

Cycra stadium plate with acerbis stickers is a bold move haha 

NicNak wrote:

Pretty certain Acerbis bought cycra. 

FMB2.0 wrote:
Short answer: No — Acerbis did not buy Cycra.Here’s the current situation :Publicly available industry information shows that here is the clearest breakdownAcerbis Italia has not...

Short answer: No — Acerbis did not buy Cycra.

Here’s the current situation :

Publicly available industry information shows that here is the clearest breakdown

Acerbis Italia has not purchased Cycra

There is no acquisition, no merger, and no ownership link between:

Acerbis Italia S.p.A. (Italy)

Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing (USA)

Acerbis

Acerbis is an independent Italian company (Acerbis Italia S.p.A.) producing plastics, handguards, and accessories for dirt bikes and ADV bikes worldwide.

Cycra

Cycra has gone through ownership and manufacturing changes over the last several years, including moving production and restructuring, but there has been no acquisition by Acerbis.


Cycra remains a separate U.S.-based brand (Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing)


No public filings, press releases, or industry confirmations show any acquisition by Acerbis.

Nice AI copy and paste answer

5
3strokemx
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11/14/2025 7:19am Edited Date/Time 11/14/2025 7:49am
NicNak wrote:

Pretty certain Acerbis bought cycra. 

FMB2.0 wrote:
Short answer: No — Acerbis did not buy Cycra.Here’s the current situation :Publicly available industry information shows that here is the clearest breakdownAcerbis Italia has not...

Short answer: No — Acerbis did not buy Cycra.

Here’s the current situation :

Publicly available industry information shows that here is the clearest breakdown

Acerbis Italia has not purchased Cycra

There is no acquisition, no merger, and no ownership link between:

Acerbis Italia S.p.A. (Italy)

Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing (USA)

Acerbis

Acerbis is an independent Italian company (Acerbis Italia S.p.A.) producing plastics, handguards, and accessories for dirt bikes and ADV bikes worldwide.

Cycra

Cycra has gone through ownership and manufacturing changes over the last several years, including moving production and restructuring, but there has been no acquisition by Acerbis.


Cycra remains a separate U.S.-based brand (Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing)


No public filings, press releases, or industry confirmations show any acquisition by Acerbis.

C.Worthy wrote:

Nice AI copy and paste answer

A quick search shows that  Acerbis and Cycra both have their HQ's on Old Hargrave Rd, Lexington, NC.
Sure it took < 2 minutes to look at the companies' websites to see their addresses, but it's not nearly as cool and trendy as consulting an AI and regurgitating it as fact.

Talon Vohland was on PulpMX a few months ago and talked about how the companies are under the same ownership but they are trying to remain distinguished from each other.

 

13
NicNak
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Palm Desert, CA US
11/14/2025 8:41am

haha love this. I ordered an Acerbis plastic kit & the front number plate has Cycra stamped on the inside of it with a couple acerbis stickers on the front. If they are trying to stay separate that's not going to do it honestly. haha

4
11/14/2025 10:55am

That was an awesome bike check. Thanks for posting. Love off-road stuff.

1
Luxon MX
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Fantasy
11/14/2025 10:58am

Steward Baylor is a beast! Imagine having all these injuries, racing through them taking multiple GNCC wins and a National Enduro championship, then having them all fixed at once at the end of the season.

6
Heavyhitter
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11/14/2025 11:38am
FMB2.0 wrote:
Short answer: No — Acerbis did not buy Cycra.Here’s the current situation :Publicly available industry information shows that here is the clearest breakdownAcerbis Italia has not...

Short answer: No — Acerbis did not buy Cycra.

Here’s the current situation :

Publicly available industry information shows that here is the clearest breakdown

Acerbis Italia has not purchased Cycra

There is no acquisition, no merger, and no ownership link between:

Acerbis Italia S.p.A. (Italy)

Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing (USA)

Acerbis

Acerbis is an independent Italian company (Acerbis Italia S.p.A.) producing plastics, handguards, and accessories for dirt bikes and ADV bikes worldwide.

Cycra

Cycra has gone through ownership and manufacturing changes over the last several years, including moving production and restructuring, but there has been no acquisition by Acerbis.


Cycra remains a separate U.S.-based brand (Cycra Sports / Cycra Racing)


No public filings, press releases, or industry confirmations show any acquisition by Acerbis.

C.Worthy wrote:

Nice AI copy and paste answer

3strokemx wrote:
A quick search shows that  Acerbis and Cycra both have their HQ's on Old Hargrave Rd, Lexington, NC.Sure it took < 2 minutes to look at...

A quick search shows that  Acerbis and Cycra both have their HQ's on Old Hargrave Rd, Lexington, NC.
Sure it took < 2 minutes to look at the companies' websites to see their addresses, but it's not nearly as cool and trendy as consulting an AI and regurgitating it as fact.

Talon Vohland was on PulpMX a few months ago and talked about how the companies are under the same ownership but they are trying to remain distinguished from each other.

 

I was just pointing out the two logos being almost on top of each other. I know they are under the same umbrella I just thought the sticker placement was funny, everyone relax 😂

1
kage173
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TX US
11/14/2025 11:46am
Titan1 wrote:
I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to...

I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to put on a set of rental bars in the middle of day 2 of a three day trip to get through the weekend…I honestly couldn’t tell the difference at all…so much so I stopped buying the flex bars and saved myself $200 every set of bars I bought.  Now it seems gimmicky to me….not worth the extra cost in my opinion….lots of confirmation bias in the believers of those things….and my wrists are jacked up….they hurt with flex bars and hurt just as bad without them…

Interesting take. I only know one motocross kid that run them and he swears by them. They seem like they'd be great but I just could never justify the extra $

FMB2.0
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Divide, CO US
11/15/2025 8:12am

Can't find anything that states Acerbis purchased Cycra, but it appears Acerbis has produced product for Cycra ? 

Cycra Did a No No - Moto-Related - Motocross Forums / Message Boards - Vital MX https://share.google/CCcmp0A4eRJaSduwc

2
11/15/2025 10:38am

Interesting Change to National Enduro since Stew Bought in , Changed the Name to ANEC (American National Enduro Championship) and a bunch of different Venues Anec

4
Titan1
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Lehi, UT US
11/17/2025 7:55pm
Titan1 wrote:
I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to...

I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to put on a set of rental bars in the middle of day 2 of a three day trip to get through the weekend…I honestly couldn’t tell the difference at all…so much so I stopped buying the flex bars and saved myself $200 every set of bars I bought.  Now it seems gimmicky to me….not worth the extra cost in my opinion….lots of confirmation bias in the believers of those things….and my wrists are jacked up….they hurt with flex bars and hurt just as bad without them…

kage173 wrote:
Interesting take. I only know one motocross kid that run them and he swears by them. They seem like they'd be great but I just could...

Interesting take. I only know one motocross kid that run them and he swears by them. They seem like they'd be great but I just could never justify the extra $

I'm pretty confident that most people that run them and love them have a healthy dose of confirmation bias...if you spend that much money, that person is going to be inclined to love them no matter what...but that's just my opinion.  

3
Bearuno
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Location
AU
11/17/2025 11:56pm Edited Date/Time 11/17/2025 11:58pm

"Found a stick that had been in there how long......"

Just Bloody Classic!

I had  a scenario much like that years ago - Doc found some metal in me during a 'nearby operation', that I had No idea of how it got into me 😲. I  / he suspected that the count of the 'hardware' box after another operation, didn't add up / get made..........

Natester551
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95
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Location
St. George, UT US
11/18/2025 6:27am
Titan1 wrote:
I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to...

I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to put on a set of rental bars in the middle of day 2 of a three day trip to get through the weekend…I honestly couldn’t tell the difference at all…so much so I stopped buying the flex bars and saved myself $200 every set of bars I bought.  Now it seems gimmicky to me….not worth the extra cost in my opinion….lots of confirmation bias in the believers of those things….and my wrists are jacked up….they hurt with flex bars and hurt just as bad without them…

kage173 wrote:
Interesting take. I only know one motocross kid that run them and he swears by them. They seem like they'd be great but I just could...

Interesting take. I only know one motocross kid that run them and he swears by them. They seem like they'd be great but I just could never justify the extra $

Titan1 wrote:
I'm pretty confident that most people that run them and love them have a healthy dose of confirmation bias...if you spend that much money, that person...

I'm pretty confident that most people that run them and love them have a healthy dose of confirmation bias...if you spend that much money, that person is going to be inclined to love them no matter what...but that's just my opinion.  

It's 100% a personal choice; I've ridden two bikes back-to-back (both 300 two strokes) - one with Flexx bars and one without, and the difference was about as stark as you could get.  Not for everyone, but every time I've tried to go back on moto or MTB I quickly revert back to the Fasstco stuff.  That's why we love capitalism - it breeds innovation and market choice!

1
Natester551
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95
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Location
St. George, UT US
11/18/2025 6:29am
Titan1 wrote:
I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to...

I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to put on a set of rental bars in the middle of day 2 of a three day trip to get through the weekend…I honestly couldn’t tell the difference at all…so much so I stopped buying the flex bars and saved myself $200 every set of bars I bought.  Now it seems gimmicky to me….not worth the extra cost in my opinion….lots of confirmation bias in the believers of those things….and my wrists are jacked up….they hurt with flex bars and hurt just as bad without them…

that must've been a hellacious crash!  I've never seen a pair of the moto bars break.  I have seen people riding enduro MTB with the carbon XC bars and break them (or MTB riders with carbon Flexx bars that over-tightened controls and broke the carbon piece).  

Titan1
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Location
Lehi, UT US
11/18/2025 8:53am
Titan1 wrote:
I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to...

I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to put on a set of rental bars in the middle of day 2 of a three day trip to get through the weekend…I honestly couldn’t tell the difference at all…so much so I stopped buying the flex bars and saved myself $200 every set of bars I bought.  Now it seems gimmicky to me….not worth the extra cost in my opinion….lots of confirmation bias in the believers of those things….and my wrists are jacked up….they hurt with flex bars and hurt just as bad without them…

that must've been a hellacious crash!  I've never seen a pair of the moto bars break.  I have seen people riding enduro MTB with the carbon...

that must've been a hellacious crash!  I've never seen a pair of the moto bars break.  I have seen people riding enduro MTB with the carbon XC bars and break them (or MTB riders with carbon Flexx bars that over-tightened controls and broke the carbon piece).  

I'm all about people buying whatever they want...I saw the concept, it looked great on paper, so I tried it...ran it for years on multiple bikes.   But for me, I just didn't feel the difference, and so I didn't feel it was worth the extra money.  Awesome people over there, and an amazing company...

As for the crash, I've had worse crashes, but it wasn't great!  Fairly high speed high side crash on a fire road in Mesquite.  I came away with a minor AC joint separation...

It broke right on the pivot point on the bars: 

Screenshot 2025-11-18 094855

 

Natester551
Posts
95
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Location
St. George, UT US
11/18/2025 9:14am
Titan1 wrote:
I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to...

I don’t know about flex bars…I ran them for about 4 years, and in the middle of a ride weekend I crashed and broke them…had to put on a set of rental bars in the middle of day 2 of a three day trip to get through the weekend…I honestly couldn’t tell the difference at all…so much so I stopped buying the flex bars and saved myself $200 every set of bars I bought.  Now it seems gimmicky to me….not worth the extra cost in my opinion….lots of confirmation bias in the believers of those things….and my wrists are jacked up….they hurt with flex bars and hurt just as bad without them…

that must've been a hellacious crash!  I've never seen a pair of the moto bars break.  I have seen people riding enduro MTB with the carbon...

that must've been a hellacious crash!  I've never seen a pair of the moto bars break.  I have seen people riding enduro MTB with the carbon XC bars and break them (or MTB riders with carbon Flexx bars that over-tightened controls and broke the carbon piece).  

Titan1 wrote:
I'm all about people buying whatever they want...I saw the concept, it looked great on paper, so I tried it...ran it for years on multiple bikes...

I'm all about people buying whatever they want...I saw the concept, it looked great on paper, so I tried it...ran it for years on multiple bikes.   But for me, I just didn't feel the difference, and so I didn't feel it was worth the extra money.  Awesome people over there, and an amazing company...

As for the crash, I've had worse crashes, but it wasn't great!  Fairly high speed high side crash on a fire road in Mesquite.  I came away with a minor AC joint separation...

It broke right on the pivot point on the bars: 

Screenshot 2025-11-18 094855

 

Glad you came out of it (relatively) unscathed!!!

I always think of Thomas Sowell when it comes to bike parts and mods: "there are no solutions  ' only tradeoffs".  Weight is definitely a penalty with more complex parts, and especially so with a lot of the hard enduro guards I throw on my Sherco....

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