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Haha thanks for improving that! 🤙🏻
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1040843055444065
It’s funny how quickly he’s being forgotten about. He’s just a sideshow now.
Had a bike problem today at the race, got a loaner bike off the guy across from me in the pits, 22 KTM 450. Rode it to the gate and raced it, came back after Moto1 and said to the wife ' it doesnt turn' and she asked me if i was going to raise the rear or drop the front....
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chase infected MEK
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18U5rgRWNb/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Good bike and good setup are a different thing…
Bogle recently said that the Suzuki is much better now than when he rode… by your logic that’s impossible because the bike hasn’t changed…
The setup, understanding, openness, components, testing, blah blah blah all contribute to the bike… so yeah I’m sure the Kawi was on par but if the team was open to setting up a great bike FOR the rider, then it’s kinda irrelevant how ‘good’ the bike is…
The bike that had Noleen suspension? Lol HEP has stepped up in ALL areas since Bogle left. Can’t really compare HEP with factory Kawi, and HEP was only a few years into existence when Bogle rode for them. I don’t think Jake would’ve done any better on a factory Suzuki, a JGR Yamaha, a factory Honda, or KTM at the time.
Yes they have stepped it up but the base bike is the same… so the stepping it up and setting it up is what makes the bike better… we agree
Every person complaint at Kawi isn’t that the base bike is bad, it’s that the team doesn’t allow it to actually be set up properly… so the race bike is bad… yet for some reason we disagree here… weird.
I can’t make assumptions on whether he would have had a better race bike on those other teams… or whether he would have done better… but setup matter so much for these rides… like more than us mortals seem to really understand.
Good setup, confidence in the team, and consistency can breed improvement… see Hunter Lawrence.
To me the question that needs to be asked is, did Weimer reach his full potential at Kawi. IMO no absolutely not. Was he given the tools, confidence in the team and openness in setup to consistently improve? No, I would say absolutely not.
Would he have done better on the other teams, over time? Would he have reached a higher ceiling with a team that evolved the bike with him? Absolutely. Would have those teams you mentioned done that? Maybe, I dono. 2012 onwards KTM and RF evolved the bike with DUNGEY, they likely would have done the same with Weimer (in this hypothetical) in which case I would say KTM would have allowed him the reach a higher ceiling that Kawi did
I get what you’re saying with everyone’s complaint with Kawi, and I agree that they should be more open to changes, but I don’t think those changes would have dramatically affected Jake’s results. Like I said before, Jake had a lot more personal drama going on that probably hindered his results a lot.
Jake’s went to team Tedder who has a ton of money (and probably had PC build him a 450) and his results were worse. If he was mentally done and that’s why his results weren’t as good, then he was mentally done after only 4 years in the 450 class. I think he would’ve reached a higher ceiling if he had had more confidence in himself.
There’s tons of stories about DeCoster not talking to his riders if they got 5ths and 7ths and crap so I don’t really think he would’ve done better under Roger. And shoot, Mitch was making everyone on his team runs twin walls forever, and his riders thought they knew better and wanted fat bars, and still no titles lol
Interesting to hear on the RacerX/Matthes review of Birmingham that Marchbanks has changed his entire setup five times so far in the SX season.
That’s crazy, I wonder how long he rode on each setup before moving onto another one.
So about half as much as Chase has…..
There’s obviously been a lot of talk about Chase making a bunch of radical changes which is one data point. Now to hear that both factory Kawis have junked their entire setup multiple times in only half a season really lends credence to the theory that there’s a bike and/or team problem.
It’s what I’ve been saying all along…they are lost and have been for quite some time and that falls directly on Dan Fahie and Bruce Stjernstrom...just go back to when they allowed Chase to run the PC setup but had him change to their parts the next week that were supposedly the same as PC’s…they obviously weren’t…their philosophy is very similar to McCarty at Yamaha…Make the bike look as production as possible even if it’s detrimental to the team…and we all now know what happened when Yamaha replaced Keith with Star…
Any actual news on this? Is Chase riding outdoors? Team split? This is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen in this sport.
He is riding SX on the Kawi. He has posted twice now about it since coming back.
Idk man, the Prado thing was more bizarre..
Honestly do you think so at this point?
Every week he was available, outspoken, and communicated. Chase has literally vanished with radio silence basically.
It’s close but I give the nod to Chase at this point
Pit Row
Chase comes back; the rest of the field
What Sexton needs to do is come back and qualify at P1, then holeshot and lead every lap of his heat and the main. And then all will be forgiven…
You're not wrong
Chase explaining to Kawi what he likes to “feel” from his bike…
I dunno. In retrospect, Chase has been all over the board with his results the last few years, and has a reputation for chasing settings/being a headcase if it's not perfect.
Prado came in off 2 MX2 championships and 2 MXGP championships. Decided the bike was trash, and wasn't going to put up with it, nor stay quiet about its shortcomings.
The point being Prado had laurels to rest on that Chase does not. I'm guessing Prado felt he could speak the truth about the bike beacuse of that. If Chase shits on the bike or the team, his career will likely be over. Prado not so much.
How are people still questioning ALL of these pros? Even back to the Weimer and RV days.
The bike sucks. End of story.
I hope Im wrong but Kawasaki hiring Chase may be like dating that good looking gal that fools around on every guy she dates and you know it, you just hope that you are indeed different and she will change.
Yikes.
I do like Chase but he has to take some accountability here.
Imagine Chase having to ride an actual pos bike like the 2010 yamaha or 2009 Honda. He’d retire
This is what i think:
The problem is the BIG HEAVY head of the engine Kawi 450s has, how many deegres it is rotated to physically fit into the frame, and how the frame reacts to how the engine and it’s inertia+rotating masses.
To me that just it.
For most of the users it’s not even noticeable because we’re sleepers, when this guys are ripping bikes at their limits, kawi reaching it before other brands.
I’m a big 250 kawi fan, had many of them (11/15/19/21/23), but the big head 450 engine doesn’t work on the same chassis as it works on the 250. In fact the 250 has way less problems (let alone the Mitch/PC curse lol).
There’s a reason if Yamaha flipped a whole engine which is running the other way around, also look at the degrees of the engine and how it’s placed.
There’s one more reason if Honda and Ktm use Unicams…
HONDA
KTM
YAMAHA!!!!!!!! This bike/frame has literally NO LOAD TRANSFER!!!!!!!!
And this is the 2025 pig Prado and Chase have been dealing with. Big head placed in the only way possible... Sorry but Kawasaki engineers need to get some things sorted... Since the Villopoto days in 11/12/13/14... Same problem. Other brands have advanced, kawasaki is standing still.
Sorry for my bad english, not many will understand but that's what it is...
Chase has rode 3 out of the 4 bikes pictured and it’s been the same song and dance.
Post a reply to: Panic Button for Chase/Kawi?