Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
Test track at 5, that's the end of Broc's day and the test day. But there's more work after it for the team.
2 hours a day wasted in traffic, that adds up over a season, seems the cali tems would have their shop next to or closer to the track. They have only been doing this for 50 years.
Makes Star look pretty smart.
When Tickle said that the Kawasaki's handling and adjustability range was broad I was a little surprised. However he followed it up how it was really narrow at the needs of someone pushing the limits like Chase, and how he (and Marchbanks) get on the throttle hard and that isn't Tickle's riding style. 18 different triple clamp combo's tested, and bike can go from planted to vague with a single change. For himself, he said in 3 days he could dial in a bike, but chasing someone else's feeling is challenging.
Idk what broc gets paid but whatever it is it’s not enough
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Free shipping: VITALMX
Did you even listen to the interview? Tickle said the new bike is better than any other kx frame and he said it has a wider window of comfort than the old one. Have any of you ridden the bike? Its so good. Just ride one. Its so easy to go fast on. The cornering is on a dime and it doesnt wash out at all. Tickle said that Sexton is so good at cornering that he pushes the bike super hard around corners. Sexton was KNOWN for having odd crashes in corners even on the precious Honda. And Tomacs KTM. It unloaded Sexton really hard a few times.
I raced for factory Kawasaki in Europe. On the first day I got to ride the factory 500 the first thing I and my mechanic went to do was adjust the rear sag. However, we were told by the senior team mechanic not to touch it as the “sag has already been set”. He went on to explain that it had been ‘set’ when the shock was built on the basis of winding in ‘X’ mm of spring preload.
So, does this mean like the bike has too much anti squat for the hamfisted and they can't change the swingarm pivot height enough or what? Also wonder what effect this has on the instant center or antidive level or whatever when the bike pitches forward during decel. I.e. are they locked in with the rear end geometry in such a way that it's not throwing enough weight to the front of the bike without compromising and running excessive amounts of front low speed compression and possibly not enough rear low speed rebound damping.
But you are dealing with a situation of ' we are doing everything we can to sort the problem' not ' we are doing everything that is possible to sort the problem'.
They are not the same thing.
Weimer said he couldnt even get basic parts to try, which is just unbelievable. As i said in another post, we had 6 set of clamps on our SM bike in a 6 month period, and we worked out of the corner of a barn.
Steve Dixon who runs his own team in MX2 GP's can make his own clamps. But the factory team seem unable to .
When Paul Malin got into 500GP's and set the world alight, he was a genuine contender until they 'fixed' the bike.
I still shake my head in disbelief at that.
I tried to find a podcast where he talked about it , i know i heard it, but cant think when or who it was with.
What stands out to me is the long days and Brocs comments about the lack of time to test to other OEM's. If you compare that to how Canard answered the same question (Gypsy Tales), it just reiterates that the bike is so far off, they're focusing all of their time on changing things, rather than establishing what works, at least as a base setting. As Lewis says, surely riding the other bikes is fundamental in terms of comparing all the bikes and at the very establishing some basic pro's/ cons.
I said it in the other thread, but I just think this is a management issue and poor direction for so long that they now no longer have a good standard to go back to and make subtle rider changes from.
Which again is something Trey has said in interviews - specifically last year with the new CRF when the Lawrences were struggling - they pulled out the previous bike to work out what where they were going wrong.. Yes, Honda have the same riders and therefore some consistency, but that aside, how far back does Kawi have to go to find a bike that their riders were at least somewhat happy with?
I'm sure a few of you will know the Toyota Production System methodology: "Without standards, there can be no improvement" - whack that quote into google and tell me that every point is exactly what we're seeing here. Just with the added complexity of them being unwilling to change certain things - least historically.
Which is why Honda may be out at the track til 5, but they're chasing perfection. Not installing a complete new front end set up to try and race on for the 3rd time this year to see if it works..
Arguably a rider should also find a good "base setting" in their technique and riding style.
Amazing work, Lewis! You're definitely the top moto journalist at the moment. It was great to hear how complex each part change can be. I don't envy being a test rider for someone as particular as Chase. I wonder if they could placebo effect Chase by swapping out parts with identical parts and just get him riding his A2 bike for a while 😂
Chase can't set a bike up plain and simple.
There is an interview with Darren Lawrence and he says when they jumped on the 450 it was miles off, they basically had to start from scratch.
That was an excellent interview. It was nice to hear Broc be so honest and not just toe the company line. Even when he was asked about a new 450 in 27, he confirmed it without hesitation.
I was a bit surprised that he has ridden the proto ‘27. I would have thought Kawi would have asked for his feedback during development.
Many a team has done exactly that to a rider if they think he's full of it.
I am hopeful that Chase will get there, even if it takes a little longer (just like at Honda and KTM). He and Jorge may have similar issues in setting up a bike with a good window to work in (of course, the difference is that Chase doesn't just abandon ship immediately).
Jorge always had Cairoli to establish a really good base setting throughout his career in Europe. And he stepped back into a team with a good platform and window to work in - ironically, at least partially because of the work Chase did there, along with AP and the team...Eli raved about how good it was from virtually day one.
Maybe broc spending too much time testing the new 2 stroke?….
Pit Row
You are correct. 7 supercross wins that year, finishing the series in 2nd and followed that up with a strong outdoor season with multiple podiums and 3rd overall.
People are quick to forget success, but obsess over (perceived) failures or shortcomings.
It reminds me if what I read about the JGR team. Instead of riding a bike, determining shortcomings, and addressing them they had a bunch of component specialists bolting fixes to nonexistent problems on to the bike.
sounds like a shit lifestyle for shit pay trying to appease a rider that has hated every bike he's ever raced.
I’ve not read each comment so maybe someone has already asked but :- who is the guy telling Tickle which settings etc he can try and who’s the guy telling him to essentially “ keep your ideas to yourself and just try what I tell you to” ?
It strikes me their testing system seems destined to fail.
Said he was too busy with Prado to test the '27 but was asked - Taka went over apparently and tested it.
There were days, when Jason was there, that Rango went to the practice track the morning after getting home from a race…right to it…testing something new and then back to the shop to make more changes. I can’t imagine how late he stayed at the shop. Then, after a week of that, off to the next race a day early to make the changes to the race bike that’s still out on the road in the rig on the other side of the country.
Oh, by the way, he’s a young married dude with a family that he sees a helluva lot less than the average Joe.
This year…with Chase…I can see it’s more of the same…well, at least it was when Chase was in Cali 🤣 and I can’t imagine what’s goin’ on while he’s in FL.
About Broc’s time…he sometimes trains with the riders…off the bike. He’s good like that. Also, he and Ivan are both pretty intellectually involved in this stuff. They think A LOT about the bike and the different set-ups and they bring a helluva lot to the table. Riders that I’ve talked to are stoked to work with them.
As Broc was saying in the podcast…this is the new norm.
Thats what happens when car people try and do bikes, too many people , time and equipment sitting round looking for stuff to do.
They try and reinvent the wheel , without understanding how it goes round in the first place.
I worked for a Rally team that thought they could build dampers better than Ohlins, they pissed £1.5m up the wall on a shock that didnt even have separate rebound and compression adjusters. You move the clicker and it did both. In a team of just over 100 people, only 3 thought it would work. they were wrong. But they were in charge.
Always appreciate when guys like you and ML who are in and around the action chime in on what's going on and how things work.
Great interview.
Provides a lot of insight to the Kawasaki saga. Shocking how much of a disconnect there is between the racer feedback to test rider/technicians/engineers. Seeing how well and fast Tomac adapted, and how great his bike looks also says a lot.
Get us this same type of interview with Chase.👀
KTM has records of everything since at least roger and Ian got there.
Mitch Evans had a hell of time too in Kawasaki Mxgp, not allowed to test at all. It’s across the board it seems. Must be a Kawi top down decision…and i can see why Kawi US have had to fight to do stuff for Chase.
Kawi dont do much international or national racing in street bikes. Definitely racing isnt in their pedigree now unlike Yamaha for eg.
That was the 2022 bike. New bike in 2023 and while he got some podiums on it the level of success was not the same.
Post a reply to: Broc Tickle podcast on Kawasaki's situation