I've seen in other threads about gear companies being limited to certain colors or LE stuff based on the bike. I always assumed the brands always favored the similar color (I.E. Kawi Green, KTM Orange, etc), but I didn't know there were actual restrictions in place on what they could or could not wear?
is this like a formal rule, or more an agreement figured out in contract talks like Hey if you sign here, you can never wear BLUE or RED. if i were a gear brand that would have to be frustrating to be limited to a few colorways.
I'm mainly thinking of this because FOX went all in on Prado Pink, and now he may not get to use it again because of being on KTM.
if anyone has a breakdown of how this actually works, that would be cool. Very interesting.
Different teams have different rules. The clothing manufacturers will usually bend to the OEM's requirements so they can snag that rider, as they don't have as much paycheck power, usually. Also, sought-after riders may have more pull in regard to what's in their contracts. (I'm sure there must be at least one case wherein a rider rode a different bike because he could pick his own gear color, but I would bet it's rare. I do know that Chad Reed had to negotiate with Yamaha back in the early '00s to wear something other than blue or white, though.)
In KTM's case, they may be constrained themselves by RedBull, although I don't know.
Bumping this. Does anyone know if KTM limits what their riders can wear?
Short answer, yes they do.
Have you seen the colors that Plessinger has worn over the years being on KTM? Not many besides orange. I understand the reasoning, but it gets so boring when it looks like he wears the same gear every weekend.
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Coincidentally, the ad that was showing right after reading this thread was Plessinger in blue gear… !
I personally think it looks boring and lame for the gear and bikes to be a perfect color match. It looks like the generic crap the OEMs have in their ads (which also looks terrible). A lot of people in the industry have not changed with the times.
Yes they do. They tell their riders they need to have X percentage of XYZ colors on at X number of races. They’ll give them a few rounds where they can wear whatever.
A Google search shows he's almost always orange or varying shades of blue, then he wore this purple look once or twice, hah.
Yeah, I definitely wasn’t saying that he doesn’t usually race in orange, I just found it sort of funny that exiting the thread, the first thing I saw was the picture of him in blue Thor gear with no KTM branding at all visible.
REMEMBER WHEN YAMAHA HAD CR22 WEAR BLUE 99 PERCENT OF THE TIME?
Yup, he said he was shopping around for other rides at the end of 04 to use as leverage and that’s why he was able to wear different color gear for the 05/06 seasons. All the other guys still had to wear the blue/white gear like DV/Ferry in 05 and Voss in 06.
I thought Herlings & Vialle were still on KTM with their orange gear last weekend.OR was this a snub to them for letting them go !
On a side note did anyone see Rugby yesterday France V England on the high overhead shots looked they were all in the same gear.
Herlings last week
I feel like they must, because their riders always have a lame look.
That's what I was thinking too. a lot of the brands have really cool releases, but you don't see some riders wearing it. I get trying to appear "on brand" but you'd think the gear brands would want their riders showing off their line more than what the OEM allows. Money talks I guess..
^Money talks, indeed.
The color of a brand's logo is just as important as the logo itself. It is measured with a specific Pantone number, extends across all facets of marketing, and is a big part of the brand identity.
It is telling that some brands' support programs mention their color (Blu Cru, Team Green,) or their marketing slogans call it out (Ride Red).
No wonder some big corporate entities want their riders to feature in their brand color. They want to maximize brand recognition in every way possible. I agree with everyone on this thread that contrasting colors look better, but from a marketing perspective you can't blame the OEMs for wanting you to know exactly what brand that bike and rider belong to.
The irony is that having everything matching like that becomes like a form of camouflage, where the rider and bike don't stand out at all. It seems like the opposite of what a marketing team would want, but what do I know? 🤷♂️
There's probably also the grey area when the rider is wearing the color of an opposing team. I ride KTM but I'm wearing red, so HONDA! lol. I think KTM may be the most restrictive, but I'd love to see more variation out on the track.
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Alpinestars also makes their tops guys run their basic white boot at certain rounds as well.
How come Star can run a black front fender and still get paid, but when I do I lose my contingency for the weekend 😂
Remember when I said "money talks?" 😂
Kudos for reading the fine print in your YZ Bucks contingency form. (Or is it "Blu Cru Bucks" now?)
Do they require you to wear blue and white gear as well? 😂😂😂
That's why Fox was bummed that Prado left Kawi for KTM. They had some really cool stuff and more planned for the Kawi spot, not much they can showcase on KTM. I recall hearing somewhere they tried to cut back his deal, not sure how that worked out.
Red Bull KTM does have requirements and, as a good partner, we at THOR adhere to them. That said, AP will be in kits with orange branding or accents (not an "orange kit") at 7 of 17 rounds indoors this season.
Star Racing Yamaha 250 team 10 of 17 blue kits indoors.
Funny this ad popped up today, Fox getting the most out of Prado's Kawi days . . .
It took him 3 years of winning to get them to cave. 05 was the first year he could wear another color. The red Thor gear that year was badass. He could only ride in a color other than blue for like 5 rounds. Still…. Blue on blue Yamaha and gear combo always looks good
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