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I’d argue that the dude never should have left Honda, but it’s Friday arvo and I got beer to drink.
He changed from a slipper clutch to a regular clutch. Slipper clutch is not a Rekluse auto clutch.
For what it’s worth though I’m amazed they don’t run some
Type of auto clutch to prevent the stalls that has clearly cost him dozens of positions over the last couple seasons.
In my opinion the reason KTM lost Sexton is because HE was constantly bitching and moaning about his "setup" and not recognizing how hard the team was working to give him what he was asking for...if he even ever know what that was. And it seems like KTM easily let him go because (again...my opinion) they were tired of never being able to satisfy Chase. I imagine Chase is a difficult guy to please, and is so vague about what he wants a bike to do & how he wants it to feel that nobody knows what to do. The same things that probably drove KTM batshit crazy are probably the same things driving Kawasaki crazy now.
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I could be wrong, but didn’t Chase say on pulp once that they tested like 30 different seats on the KTM, and kind of alluded that they were doing it to chase the feeling of the Honda’s rider triangle?
Once I heard that, I knew it was all in his head.
You pretty much just sumed up the 23 pages 😂
It's even more funny when a guy with 2 minute slower lap times on an outdoor track try to tell people how important setup is. And that all that is missing from the guys that are 1:59 sec a lap faster is that last bit of setup comfort. How many times have we heard the guys at the top (Eli, Kenny, Jett, Hunter, etc.) just say they get the bike in a window and ride it?
And you are going to use Prado as your example of someone who isn't picky about bike setup? The guy that has missed 2 weekends and can't be changing his bike because he hadn't been riding the thing? The guy that just quit and burned his employer? The employer that has done a million times more for this sport than he himself could ever do in 10 lifetimes? The guy that can't ride respectfully or clean to save his life? My god, this place and common sense are on two completely different planets.
Chase's "bike" issues are 90% mental. Prado's "bike" issues were 90% mental. You could of painted that Kawi orange and Prado would have been 2 seconds faster. I would even say Hunter and Eli's success is 90% mental as well. Some are mentally weak. Some are mentally strong. Sometimes those that were mentally strong are no longer. Sometimes those that weren't, are. strong mentality breeds strong mentality. Weak mentality breeds weak mentality.
They ain’t.
The couch docter can fix it,i appreciate the lesson,thanks!👍😂
Dunno if its a couch doctor thing as much as it is building confidence. Need to figure out a way to make the positives mean more than the negatives. I am sure Chase is very frustrated. He hasn't had very many "wins" on his level of standards in a long time. It appears to me at least, that the negative stuff affects him much more than the positive stuff. A terrible finish has more of a chance in leading to another terrible finish than a win does leading to another win. I dunno, I like that sports psychology shit. What is kind of Ironic is how Chase idolizes Michael Jordan, who was probably one of, if not the best mental athletes of our generation.
People tend to idolize in others what they lack in themselves and they also tend to dislike in others what they dislike in themselves.
Where did I say Prado was an example of someone who isn't picky?
If you can't read we have an issue. I said, Prado isn't changing his bike, and that comes directly from KTM and Ian.
More or less the complete field, all teams are searching to optimize. And you still say "eeehhh just ride the bike".
So no current team manager, top pro rider or their team actually know what they are doing 😂
Phil said his Canada bike had no business in AMA pro race, he would struggle. That's after he retired. But hey, it's just mental.
It happens reasonably regularly because the factories may not change the frame but other components do change and not always for the better. Plenty of stories around of factory teams getting new forks, shocks, linkages etc that they find out during testing aren’t as good as what they had but the factory is committed to using them so the team is back to square one.
It’s not always as clear cut as you are making out. Lars was on one podcast or interview lately talking about Jett and Hunter, saying they are different when it comes to tolerance for setup. Jett can more easily and quickly adapt to something that isn’t quite right whereas Hunter needs things to be much closer to the ideal window. We’re taking about two guys who arguably in the top three or four riders in the world right now.
Also just “getting over” mental issues is no easier than overcoming inherent physiological constraints. If it were then mental issues wouldn’t be issues.
Entirely my own opinion but I think Chase is in a situation where, when everything aligns, he can beat the best in the world and so he holds himself to that standard but those occasions are rare enough that he can’t easily replicate them and ends up going around in circles trying to find the magic sauce.
Exactly, just as Tomac 2015 on that Honda would have beaten Jett at that time.
Some here don't feel the different of a click on the track, how can they possibly understand the impact settings and setup have.
There's only like four bridges you can burn in this industry, and Chase and his dumbass father have already burned like two-and-a half of them.
They better hope Bobby Regan has a spot open for them one day.
I completely agree with everything you said. I think my main point is that chases mental game is much further off than his setup could ever be right now. Its more when riders start spiraling on "setup" (like chase does routinely) I have always thought it was more mental than anything. It always seemed to be when one guy was just better at the time. Chad did it with James, chase does it with Jett, Eli, hunter, etc. I just dont believe the setup at that level can be so off that its the sole reason certain people arent performing to expectations. In other words, chase has much bigger problems than setup at this point.
I do think setup can have a large effect on someone's "mentality". That's why I believe there is a trend to mentally strong, confident riders being less concerned with it than the mentally weak.
Yep, you're right. My bad. I misread your post. I hadn't heard the KTM comments on Prado not changing setup and it just stuck out as a weird comment.... Oops...
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Best example of how setup matters is Jett last year (outdoors).
Said himself he had to settle for a third than to go for a win because he felt shock setting was off during race. Couldn't push as he wanted. Fixed it to race 2, and won.
That says something about how steep competition is.
There’s a huge difference between “settling for a third” and not even being in contention for a top 5-10 as a premier rider. If the setup is so bad that a winning guy is falling that far behind, it’s because they took it there with endless meddling and/or there’s a mental/effort issue with the rider.
Both of those things can lead to more of the other as well. Those aren’t mutually exclusive issues.
Chase was changing shocks on his practice bike last summer from morning to afternoon. The guy is a head case. He might need a ayhuasca retreat or something. Or just get away from his dad.
It’s different for two reasons.
1)Jett.
2)The setup being “off” is “off but close” on the HRC bike where it has been on most of the time because that’s all he has ever rode.
You don’t have to have a lap time within a minute of Prado or Sexton to observe they were/are chasing setup issues. Sexton may also have brain fades - hitting gates, running into Webb and crashing - but the setup issues are real. Otherwise Chase wouldn’t hop on Kitchens practice 450 and then adopt PC forks and linkage. Wild swings but I credit him and the Kawi team for doing what is clearly necessary.
there is no doubt Chase and Kawi are trying a bunch of stuff but it doesn’t seem to be getting them anywhere. So Chase doesn’t know what to ask for/what he’s looking for and the team doesn’t know what to change. Or in a worse case scenario. Both.
I think Weimers interview a couple weeks ago was very telling to what we are seeing at Kawi the last couple years.
If the Kawi situation was the first we had seen of this, sure. But KTM and HRC’s base settings can’t be far enough off that all of Chase’s (dad’s) meddling was necessary. He has established a clear pattern of over-analyzing the shit out of the bike to the point that he is completely lost, the team is completely lost, parts don’t work as designed, and then he hits the bridge with the flame thrower. Rinse and repeat.
I’m not saying that HRC may not have had some handling issues. Or that KTM may not have had shock issues. Or that Kawi isn’t/hasn’t been a dumpster fire. But the common denominator here is Chase, and it sounds like, his dad.
On instagram it looks like Chase’s hip and back are good enough to go golf?
Nearly every one of the greats have said setup is never perfect with constant track changes and conditions. Get the bike close and run it. Everyone is different though and I hope Chase can get through it.
And let’s remember Dazzy commenting how bad the Honda was set up when Jett got on the 450. The bike that was set up by Chase and Kenny. They were always searching on that Honda and Jett comes in sets it up and immediately goes 22-0.
Probably good enough to race too but there’s no race this weekend so…
The point is still, a few clicks off and that can be the difference between winning or a third today.
AP almost won last year, same thing. Going between 6th or 7th and podium/win at same track. Said they went wrong direction on shock adjustment, couldn't hold on to bike.
3 clicks can make a shock and bike go from balanced to very unbalanced, specially rebound. Same with sag, 1-2mm can make bike not turn or oversteer. That's a quarter to half a turn preload on spring. Window is never as big as some seem to think.
There were rumors of a concussion also but wtf do I know?
Still don't understand why people are so hush hush about injuries.
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