Factory bikes - how much of a bike is brand new every weekend?

Engine, suspension, plastics, graphics, seat, bars, grips, wheels + tires, chain... basically everything except the frame, subframe, and swingarm is replaced every week for the race bikes. 
 

Edit: Sorry I mispoke, Engine and suspension would be rebuilt not replaced unless catastrophic failure.

What happens to the parts that can't be rebuilt or reused?  Do they go on test bikes or lower teams or privateers? Or do they make a bike and sell it on Mecum as "Race Used by........."? lol

Parts that can't be rebuilt are tossed into the garbage (after inspection, if they are logging wear time on that part)

Practice bikes.

PS: I have zero direct insider info into my answers. That's just how it appears from listening to mechanics' interviews over the years.

They are not rebuilding engines every round, maybe 2-3 rounds but not every round. Some rounds yes like Daytona for Tomac no way that engine is used again. 

There's also a point where you are multiplying chances of freak failure with replacing parts too often.

I was at a National a few years ago watching a mechanic put together a bike that was going to be raced that day, and he wasn't even greasing the linkage or the swing arm  

Same question a few days ago…

https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/moto-related/sx-week-week-factory-bike-m…

I believe it was Bobby Regan on Gypsy  or Maybe Duff on pulp that said at Star they try to recycle as much product as possible because they have so many bikes to support. They said parts will come off race bikes and be used the rest of their useful life on practice bikes.

250 or 450 ?

There is a Big difference on motor rebuild times between the two. 

Teams have a very large stockpile of motors that get swapped regularly. Race budget includes Fix it before it breaks causing a costly DNF. After being used X amount of hours they get complete tear down and replace anything shows any signs of wear or damage.

Factory’s have a motor $$$$ lease program where the complete motor is returned and they get a replacement with a fresh motor.

Lots of the B teams also have lots of motors that they do in house. 

Even privateers have at least 1 spare motor that can be swapped.

I was told all of the details when I took a tour of KTM a couple of years back. The thing is, I can’t remember what they said! I was pretty amazed though.

i find it VERY hard to believe bars, and wheels are replaced every round. As a matter of fact ill call straight BS on wheels. Engines are not rebuilt every round, and even plastic i have a hard time believing replaced at every round unless theres damage. Backyard designs graphics pull off without leaving a single spec of glue, and im sure theyre not the only graphic company that can make that happen. the factory teams could easily go 2-3 rounds on a set of plastic barring any damage

Wheels definitely get several rounds.

We literally asked that question on our most recent episode of Winners Take Y’all when we had Jade Dungey on.  Click the link below 

Jade Dungey joins Winners Take Y’all 

Usually a lot of the parts used during a race build on the road are pre-prepped. They will have already greased items, bled brakes, installed graphics, etc. and are just assembling the prepped parts.

They fly with a bunch of parts and also have some extras in rotation on the truck. You may see them doing prep work on parts on a Friday if they have spare time. 

I can't speak to other parts, but I can speak to our triple clamps. 

A team's race bikes run the same clamps all season, then those clamps are "demoted" to practice bikes for next season and we supply the team with new race bike clamps. This holds true for all our sponsored teams/riders in SMX, GNCC, Hard Enduro, whatever. 

Unless someone has a really bad crash or the clamps are ruined from roost or something, the clamps will last two seasons or more like this. By the end of two seasons, they're usually pretty well used up and thrown out. 

I used to run the Quality Dept of a WRC Team and it was my job to make sure all the parts for the car were correct to Spec, both dimensionally, and made out of the right stuff. 

We had 3 CMM's to measure all of the suspension parts, engine parts and all the other bits that needed checking, everything was serialised and mileaged,  and all the results stored, the cars would get built , taken on event, and when the rally was done, they would come back, be stripped to a shell, all the suspension stripped, cleaned , crack tested , and remeasured , and if it was the same as it was when it was new, it would go again, if it was a bit out , it would go as a truck/test spare, and if it could be refurbished , we would do that. Nothing was off the shelf and there was no road car to pull bits off.  We recycled everything until it aged out , for engine parts , or was too bad to use again. 

Engines were used for one event, and refreshed, same as gearboxes, when they were done like that , it was literally changing bearings and seals , and odds and ends, then the FIA decided to make us run everything for 2 consecutive events, which meant instead of getting everything to do maybe 4 events , on a roll round, and then going to test , they were fucked beyond salvage after, cranks worn , rods too bad to reuse and block distortion that you couldnt risk, We spent £350,000 more in the first 4 events when they did that , and it never got better. 

If you dont have the ability to measure what you are building , all you can do is use it till it breaks, or toss it after a set amount of builds. 

If you cant build a Factory bike that will last 3 races without being stripped, you are doing it wrong, that doesnt mean you wash it and leave it, but no bike should be that fragile.  

And with somethings, the cost of refurb isnt worth the effort,  

I would think plastic is changed every round, if it’s not a privateer. 

Usually there are a few spare engines in the truck, it’s very unlikely the same engine gets used for more than one weekend usually a fresh one goes in, the old one goes back to the shop, head off, checked and clutch replaced and then back in rotation. In the 04/05 era PC engines were getting changed between races as the KX250F had a problem with weak crankcases and would crack so couldn’t do more than one race.

Wheels last a while, pipes are fresh every round because of noise, suspension lasts a while some riders prefer the same set all year, plastics, seat covers, grips, chains, sprockets get replaced every round and migrated to practice bikes. Bars and other bits like engine covers, carbon parts, it’s as and when, they have to look fresh for sponsors and also things just wear out. The throttle side of a bar for instance the anodising wears off.

The parts allowance for some of these teams especially for aftermarket brands would make your eyes water, especially factory teams it’s insane

Curious what wears out on the clamps? Is it strictly looks or does the material wear out?

Aluminum does not have an infinite fatigue life, so the longer they're run, the more likely they will be to fail. That said, I don't know of any of our team clamps failing from fatigue. 

They're usually tossed after two seasons due to looks as that much roost and the general abuse of being on a pro bike really beats them up and they get ugly. Tossing them at that point certainly helps the fatigue issue as they're not on long enough to really worry about it. 

Was the mechanic from Japan? That’s likely how he saw it done on the factory floor. 😁

I just like how they are Taylor made for the riders. Imagine how comfy you could get and how predictable the bike would be

Very good interview! Thanks for the content, this is my favorite podcast by far. Keeps me laughing the whole show! I assume this is John?

I agree with most of this, but it varies across numerous teams.  Your last statement is way off.  "Privateers" (unless you are calling Club MX level teams privateers) rarely have spare motors or really spare almost anything.  I have personally witnessed privateer teams with empty trailers and riders racing (and making mains) with stripped spokes, chain guides worn to the housing, and completely stock motors other than a pipe.  Don't under estimate how some of these guys manage to make it out safely due to equipment.  

My trash cans are always empty if those teams need a place to throw them away. I’ll even pay for the shipping cost to my hose so I can dispose of them properly. 

The stuff we used on the cars that was similar material to clamps , Suspension top plates, and also some mounts on the front and rear suspension, would get crack tested every event, and re-used.  We tried hard anodising to improve how they looked, but we found 7075 T6  was prone to microcracking so went back to decorative only. 

On the SM bikes , we broke a set of ICE Parts clamps, that we had done at 1° steeper without any other changes, and they were a bit thin in one place , and cracked badly , but they reinstated the proper thickness on the production versions.  

I have seen a few sets of clamps that have played a bit fast and loose with corner radii, and look way too sharp. 

We 3D printed some top clamps and Fork bottoms , back in 2015 but they never made it as far as a bike, nobody would test them at that point , including me. 

I would doubt any of the MX teams have the ability to measure anything properly, with anything other than hand tools,  and the cost of parts doesnt justify dropping $100k on a proper bit of kit, visual checks on most things would be enough, and i guess they may jig check frames, or just life them for so many races. 

Agreed There are definitely different levels of privateers. If there are in a rig chances are they have a budget of at least 1 spare motor. Privateers often have a practice bike that they can rob parts from.

I saw on a MXLocker promotion where Rock River was selling lots of things like complete motors.

On my team sponsorship program they typically get 1 hose kit for each riders race bike and 1 spare so if something happens its replaceable.

Due to some inventory complications ( OK I screwed up and sold out of inventory) both PRMX and ISRT are running that 1 spare kit from year.