Panic Button for Chase/Kawi?

But before the last two rounds, he just looked like Chase on a new bike. He was fast but ran into the gate and tucked the front. The last two rounds, he doesn't have elite speed and he still tucked the front. It's weird to see Sexton being passed on track and holding up other guys. 

I heard from my buddy who has a buddy that is friends with Sexton’s agent Beeks. Accordingly the plan is to ride out the contract with Kawasaki than head to Europe and sign with Ducati for 3 years and than retire with 15 million in the bank and surf into the sunset and not worry about winning.

I think they designed the KX450 from input from RV who had a very different riding style than Eli or Chase. I think RV rode it well and the rest struggle and since RV was so successful, Kawy thinks the bike is OK and does want to redo it.

Which showed everyone the issue was with the bike, not the riders who couldn't win on it. It needed some people who understood its shortcomings and how to fix them.

Similarly, maybe it's not the patient who's at fault here. 🤔 Maybe he just needs better doctors who can accurately diagnose the problem and cure it with the proper treatment... because the first step in solving any problem is to correctly identify it. Failure to do so results in failure to correct it (unless dumb luck crashes the party). 

So my question right now is why's marchbanks riding kitchens bike at the test track? Looking for something like chase was. 

People forget. Anson is looking good on the Suzuki but wasn' looking this sharp that last kawi year. 

Good point, 18 pts down with 4 other guys mixing it up after round 6 is MUCH different than being 18 pts down to, let's say, Cooper Webb after round 12, with nobody between you two (essentially what transpired in 2025). Thing is, Sexton is looking absolutely lost right now. If Sexton wakes up in Arlington as the second-half 2025 version of himself, he would absolutely be in this championship hunt.

Easy fix. Steepen HA, longer swingarm and dont tell ama. 

The current bike is nothing like what RV rode nor would it suit his style. They steepened the head angle in ‘24. 

I agree... but when you look at the patterns of each year. Is this really abnormal from him? We know what Sexton CAN do.. but each year its the same conversations, the same question marks, the same crashes and the same issues. 


 

Anderson was on the box twice at this point last year I believe, easy there

I’m very interested in what Tickle has to say… But Maybe just maybe Tickle is not a great test rider… 

Roczen has Chiz and HRC has Trey — when those teams were struggling these test riders came in clutch.   Tickle not so much… 

I didnt say he was bad. But he clearly wasn't quite as sharp as hes looked at times on the zuk so far. Its just little things you can see in his riding. Also might just be being healthy.

Its like watching reed race. You could tell when he was sharp he just was snappier in and put of the corners and nose down on everything.

”marchbanks riding kitchens bike at the test track?”

What?!

I do get a kick out of all the "panic button", "Kawi career killer", "disaster so far" comments in the myriad of threads on Sexton.  While also seeing "Prado is killing it", "so impressive", "made his point", "proved it was the bike" comments on Jorge.  But he is 10th in points...  This is not to be negative on Jorge, but more to emphasize the comments on Chase are pretty absurd.

Chase, who is 5th in points, only 18 out of the lead...  and has a race win already?  These comments on Chase are for when he is 25 out with 5 races left...  Which certainly could happen, but we're not there yet.  This feels like the opposite of the Jett and 72 proclamations...  Let it play out.

I think the bigger panic button has to be for Kawi. With Prado's drastic improvement and Sexton's sudden falloff, it's easy to put the blame on the bike even if that isn't actually the case. And with Ducati and Triumph wanting to be serious contenders, that'll make it all the harder for Kawi to convince top level talent to join them in the future if they don't find a way of turning things around.

Short answer. Yes.

Is the hat on backwards? That will say more than what words can 

What? Anderson hasn’t looked sharp and has been forthcoming that he has work to do to get the bike where he wants it. He had podiums last year. 

The correct answer is simple: Kawi should switch to a new model chassis a year sooner than normal lol. 

I get what you're saying and I think Chase is probably not good at setting up a bike. Kawi probably isn't as bad as the doomers are saying and hopefully they can figure it out. At the very least, I think that bike is hard to setup and probably sensitive to conditions. 

I'm panicked on Chase though. Have you watched the last two races? He has never looked this bad on a bike. He has done stupid stuff, hit the gate, tucked the front, went down trying to get a pass he didn't need to in a triple crown, etc. He has never stayed in 7th place and "held up" guys who were charging to the podium. Never in his 450 career has he lacked speed except these two races. Backpedaling is bad. He needs to go on a run to have any shot at the title this year. Even if he wins next week, he might just run around in 7th next week and be slow. "We can work with speed" always. He hasn't had speed the last two weeks or even a flash of it. He deserves 5-10 the way he's riding. Him and Eli should be the fastest guys in the field on any given day. Chase is that good except now he's not. That's why panic.

Weimer is going off about Dan fahie on pulp right now

I predict Chase will have a bad race that will put him out of contention and then he will reel off wins.

“How much time we got?” Lol

I don’t get this wait for the next chassis narrative. Riders, like Coop this year riding a ‘25 for awhile, typically have difficulty adapting right away. I recall HRC took the Lawerence feedback when developing the ‘25, and even then there was some concern in SX. It’s not like the first gen ‘97 CR250 that was miles off. This is about tuning a musical instrument, easy to overcorrect and be worse off than you started, but only a trained expert will know. Jorge and Chase seemed to know that something is wrong, but not what’s wrong. 

I’m paraphrasing, but he made statements about a lot of what a lot of people have notated about Kawi. During Weimer’s time there, they were unwilling to let him try new parts and Weimer was very vocal about the chassis being a problem. Stated the lack of listening hindered his results which affected his career. Stated RV would’ve won more on another brand because the feedback of the bike exhausted you throughout the moto. He was not a fan of Fahie’s recent comments which prompted him to tell his truth finally. It was a good listen. Weimer has always been a straight up guy. 

This new Kawi chassis is the best theyve EVER had.  Its super balanced.  You dont even have to dab your foot when goin around ruts in turns.  

The points standings alone doesn’t tell the real story. 

You must take in to account Jorge has missed a main due to injury. 

You must take in to account Jorge is still in his very early days of SX. VERY early! Most of the 250 main event riders have more SX experience than Jorge. 

You must take in to account expectation. The expectation of Chase being a championship contender. If the expectation is 1st-2nd, then 5th is a disaster. 

If the expectation is to qualify for every main event, then 10th in points is a huge success. 

Neither Chase nor Kawi will be satisfied with their current position. 

For Chase to get back in contention, he needs FOUR riders to become inconsistent. FOUR. 
At the same time, he needs to consistently do what he’s been consistently unable to do. 

That’s two big requirements of change. 

IMO Chase is out of contention for the championship this year.

Stock triple clamps?