Does Chase ride out the 3 years?

ben5020
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4/25/2026 8:22am
Zoom wrote:

He will win a  championship for Kawasaki before the end of his contract 

Head case chase will not win a championship ever again, it’s a shame but it’s his reality 🤷🏻‍♂️

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davistld01
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4/25/2026 8:44am Edited Date/Time 4/25/2026 9:19am
ohh_454 wrote:
I believe James signed with JGR thinking that they were going to switch brands to Suzuki and then that never happened. That’s what I remember hearing...

I believe James signed with JGR thinking that they were going to switch brands to Suzuki and then that never happened. That’s what I remember hearing at that time, but I could be wrong. James should’ve left Yamaha after his 2010 season, but maybe he was locked into L&M on a 3 year deal from ‘09-‘11?

Flatliner wrote:

Sure was.

Could it be that Kawasaki not only threw money at Sexton to score an “elite” rider lead the team, but led him to believe a new bike was on the way that would be be the greatest thing ever to hook him into a 3-year commitment?

Just thinking…

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aees
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4/25/2026 9:00am
aees wrote:
Chase has KYB on the KTM, that was it. And we should remember that was with failing wp shocks. If they would have had this years...

Chase has KYB on the KTM, that was it. And we should remember that was with failing wp shocks. If they would have had this years new suspension for Chase last year I'm not sure he would have switched.

Even if they did test other stuff with KTM, it was never as bad as it is now. 

So it's not fair to say Chase is all over it because it's him. Chase is the second rider now, that says more or less the bike can't be fixed no matter what they do to it. 

RDnutz wrote:

wasn't the shock fail issue later determined caused by Chase insisting on running it past adjustment levels it was designed for looking for his elusive "feel"?

Wasn't just Chase. But it was a WP/KTM USA thing.

Jaybird67k
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4/25/2026 10:18am
Zoom wrote:

He will win a  championship for Kawasaki before the end of his contract 

Larry you know something we don't?

The Shop

Flatliner
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4/25/2026 1:47pm
ohh_454 wrote:
I believe James signed with JGR thinking that they were going to switch brands to Suzuki and then that never happened. That’s what I remember hearing...

I believe James signed with JGR thinking that they were going to switch brands to Suzuki and then that never happened. That’s what I remember hearing at that time, but I could be wrong. James should’ve left Yamaha after his 2010 season, but maybe he was locked into L&M on a 3 year deal from ‘09-‘11?

Flatliner wrote:

Sure was.

davistld01 wrote:
Could it be that Kawasaki not only threw money at Sexton to score an “elite” rider lead the team, but led him to believe a new...

Could it be that Kawasaki not only threw money at Sexton to score an “elite” rider lead the team, but led him to believe a new bike was on the way that would be be the greatest thing ever to hook him into a 3-year commitment?

Just thinking…

Isn't this true though?  The 27' is all new?

 

If kawi said it via the contract and didn't deliver I'm sure there would be ramifications.

aees
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4/25/2026 2:24pm
Flatliner wrote:

Sure was.

davistld01 wrote:
Could it be that Kawasaki not only threw money at Sexton to score an “elite” rider lead the team, but led him to believe a new...

Could it be that Kawasaki not only threw money at Sexton to score an “elite” rider lead the team, but led him to believe a new bike was on the way that would be be the greatest thing ever to hook him into a 3-year commitment?

Just thinking…

Flatliner wrote:

Isn't this true though?  The 27' is all new?

 

If kawi said it via the contract and didn't deliver I'm sure there would be ramifications.

What would they have said that made an impact on Chase? "The shitty bike you are about to ride you will just have to suffer through first year on. Then the 2027 comes and it fixes all the issues you don't know about yet". 

Something like that?

That bike has been in development for several years before Chase even touched the 2026 kawi. They aren't changing shit this late that they team can't change themselves.

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Juck
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4/28/2026 12:08pm
FroDiddy wrote:
It's 100% the bike.  I'm strictly talking about performance.When have you ever seen Chase this bad?  This is easily the worst he's ever looked in his...

It's 100% the bike.  I'm strictly talking about performance.

When have you ever seen Chase this bad?  This is easily the worst he's ever looked in his career.  

Tyler D wrote:
Odds are he can't articulate what the bike is doing wrong, therefore it's likely in his head. once you believe it's the bike...then it's the bike...

Odds are he can't articulate what the bike is doing wrong, therefore it's likely in his head. once you believe it's the bike...then it's the bike. If he tried to ride Jerry robins 85 CR and came back to the kx, he'd have a different perspective and appreciation for the bike. Point is, it's a self fulfilling prophecy once the attitude gets crooked. 

 

Zach Osborne is right, he has the tools to do what he needs to do. 

aees wrote:
They couldn't make the bike work for Seewer in MXGP either.Prado is not a picky rider it seems. He is probably the fastest riders to not...

They couldn't make the bike work for Seewer in MXGP either.

Prado is not a picky rider it seems. He is probably the fastest riders to not have changed anything on the KTM, until a few races in when they updated suspension setting. Doesn't change a click during racing Ian H said.

They had 70 settings at Kawi. 1 at KTM, the one he jumped on from day 1. Can't put that on the rider. Not when there is two in a row plus MXGP riders with same experience.

Management team for sure, but I think the bike is built for rear steering. RV, Febvre, even Anderson ride like that.

Not only Seewer, Ben Watson and Mitch Evans were terrible on that bike compared to their previous seasons. Jonass also hasn't been looking great on it, albeit nowhere near as bad as those aforementioned

soggy
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4/28/2026 12:16pm
aeffertz wrote:
Funny how nobody wants to admit the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” mantra holds any weight but suddenly the Kawasaki is the worse bike of...

Funny how nobody wants to admit the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” mantra holds any weight but suddenly the Kawasaki is the worse bike of all time and the nearly decade old bike would be a better fit. 

Chase is a head case, none of these bikes are bad. Not the Honda, not the KTM and not the Kawasaki. He’d be a fool to leave another factory team again so shortly searching for something “better”.

I don’t think that mantra holds water for most buyers, do you? 


No one is racing a ktm 350 but it’s an extremely popular bike. 

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Juck
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4/28/2026 12:48pm

What if he goes to Beta? That would be funny. I know they don't have the money but it would be funny. Chase Sexton on a Beta. Lol. They should do that because it would be funny.

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RDnutz
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4/28/2026 2:37pm

why do people think Beta doesn't have $? They didn't make a huge splash with massive budget when they came to USA but have been steadily increasing model offerings here and got the team started in a planned approach. Established the race team here before Triumph or Ducati. They're actually a large company and started with bicycles back in 1914 I believe and been growing ever since. They're not going away.

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soggy
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4/28/2026 3:16pm
RDnutz wrote:
why do people think Beta doesn't have $? They didn't make a huge splash with massive budget when they came to USA but have been steadily...

why do people think Beta doesn't have $? They didn't make a huge splash with massive budget when they came to USA but have been steadily increasing model offerings here and got the team started in a planned approach. Established the race team here before Triumph or Ducati. They're actually a large company and started with bicycles back in 1914 I believe and been growing ever since. They're not going away.

I think the USA race team is entirely separate from Beta the manufacturer. 

-MAVERICK-
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4/28/2026 3:30pm
RDnutz wrote:
why do people think Beta doesn't have $? They didn't make a huge splash with massive budget when they came to USA but have been steadily...

why do people think Beta doesn't have $? They didn't make a huge splash with massive budget when they came to USA but have been steadily increasing model offerings here and got the team started in a planned approach. Established the race team here before Triumph or Ducati. They're actually a large company and started with bicycles back in 1914 I believe and been growing ever since. They're not going away.

soggy wrote:

I think the USA race team is entirely separate from Beta the manufacturer. 

Unless things have changed recently, the US team is ran by the importer. 

Juck
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4/28/2026 5:33pm Edited Date/Time 4/28/2026 5:35pm
RDnutz wrote:
why do people think Beta doesn't have $? They didn't make a huge splash with massive budget when they came to USA but have been steadily...

why do people think Beta doesn't have $? They didn't make a huge splash with massive budget when they came to USA but have been steadily increasing model offerings here and got the team started in a planned approach. Established the race team here before Triumph or Ducati. They're actually a large company and started with bicycles back in 1914 I believe and been growing ever since. They're not going away.

We know the salaries are low at least in MXGP, and they don't have any big name, traditional factory riders. You could combine the salaries and expenses of all the riders they pay across every motocross series worldwide and I would guess it would be roughly ¼-⅓ of what Sexton makes/costs

Edit immediately after posting: I think it's probably even less than that. More like ⅕

RDnutz
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4/28/2026 6:16pm

right. they aren't in it to make a huge splash by throwing wads of money around then flaming out into oblivion as fast as they came in. That is no guarantee of success and a lousy business plan. They are making and selling extremely good products and expanding cautiously while learning the business and gaining actual race team experience with lesser known/talented riders. Time will tell if they have a winning strategy.

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