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So, you have to ask “why did he leave?”
Correct.
We haven’t seen KR fade from 1st to 5th once this year, let alone within the last two laps.
If that race needed winning, Kenny would’ve won it.
Kenny covers what happened in his interview. He slowed his breathing too much and got a bad cramp in his side.
Chase also talks about the bike with Lewis and says it has so much weight on the front end that he has had to change his riding style to be over the back of the bike more than on a Honda or ktm. That probably means the bike gets twitchy if he tries to ride aggressively.
If only Sexton could’ve tested the bike before he signed a three year contract. Oh wait………..
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I just now saw the Chase interview.
I've always been a Chase fan since he comes from our neck of the woods. But I was a little disappointed that he doesn't seem to give the team any credit at all for the work they're putting in to improve the bike. I thought he looked good last night in the heat and the main, and the bike looked like it was working for him. Yes, he said he was sketchy in the whoops, but most riders were in the 450 class. They looked really gnarly and beat up.
But even with the win he was having a hard time saying anything positive. Wouldn't even acknowledge they're making progress. He comes off as a bit of a diva to me. But hopefully the outdoors goes well for him and we can see the old Chase.
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Brother I watched him tuck the front in epic fashion in Nashville and in Denver. Far, far from being “solved”
I think there are fundamental chassis traits that you can’t change. Short of welding up a new chassis the team can’t fix it. It probably doesn’t turn once you lower the back enough to not make it feel twitchy. The window between push and loose is too small.
Pro riders/drivers push vehicles in a different way than normal people do. It could be the worst pro bike and the best consumer bike. Pushing to get that last 2% of speed is probably where things go off the rails. That would explain why Marchbanks (and the pc 250) are fine and Chase isn’t. That would also explain why the bike might have been fine or even pretty good when he tested it before signing. Riding a generic setup at the test track isn’t remotely close to racing. Track conditions aren’t the same. There aren’t other riders pushing 100% to beat you and there aren’t 22 guys on the track at the same time.
Tucking the front is just a common thing for Chase.
I would like to see a side-by-side comparison with March throughout the season, and just see if the bike does the same thing between the two riders.
In my opinion, Chase has too many voices speaking to him, and he listens to all of them. Like someone had mentioned earlier he had better stats on KTM and left them. We never knew why..
It's the same bike that Chase is 0.5-1 sec slower on. Of course he doesn't crash or wash the front end if you can't push it.
Marchbanks Rookie of the year and Chase in the same sentence? 😄🤦
Yea totally, a couple hour test is the same as racing a full season /s
For you or I? Yes I agree. Race conditions or not wouldn’t you push the bike hard enough to see if it has the feel you were looking for? That is assuming you know what you’re looking for which in this instance assumes a lot. Tomac tested the KTM and looked great on it. Do you think he cruised it around his track a few laps or pushed it to see if it fits his style? Sexton’s had a full season on the bike and the bike is still the problem.
Not only this, but you’d imagine the team would bring a selection of forks, shocks, clamps linkages and maps along, so the rider can get a feel for the potential scope of the bike.
This isn’t a huge undertaking within a 1-2 day test.
Bullshit! JA 21 put that bike on numerous podiums and Chase won 2 SX mains. The bike is capable, and the team is working their asses off trying to satisfy him. They're paying him a shit ton of money and he can't say one good thing about the bike or the team. Sorry, but he comes off as not mentally strong and a diva to me.
If you want to make excuses, knock yourself out. Imo, ride the bike and figure it out and stop the whining. It's a factory bike!
In two seasons on the current bike (24-25) Anderson had 2 2nds and 5 3rds in sx.
Yes, and he was near the end of his career. Not in his prime like Chase. Say all you want, it ain't the bike!
finally a substantive point made public. someone posted comparison photos of the engine placement of different platforms, and fair enough. anderson rides like a flat tracker, sexton doesnt so much. would be a cool story if the next motor is tilted back some and unlocks some comfort for him.
as an aside, i wonder how many mxgp teams move the motors around in the frame or extend the frame ahead of the mounts.
And he did this while battling a health issue.
I know that start position is a controversial topic regarding Chase for some reason, but I'd love to see either average position at the completion of lap 1 or average position across the holeshot line for each year. I think it would tell a lot...
Pit Row
Chase is a troll. I am 100% convinced he is f***ing with everyone. lol.
Hangtown where he went from last to first popped up on my Youtube feed randomly. Man when he's on he's easily one of my favorite riders to watch. Probably second only to Jett. Let's hope for a miracle that he somehow gels with the Kawi outdoors and we see the real Chase. This season has been frustrating to watch.
New frame coming.
See. He's even going for the look!
I truly think he rides around out there with an imaginary Jett ahead of him. I think getting beat by him in 2023MX made him obsess over getting to that level, because I feel like Chase was riding the best he ever had that summer, but Jett was simply too good. Any normal rider would be happy with a win, but I think Chase knows he wasn't quite at his true peak, and if Jett or maybe beastmode Tomac were out there, he feels he still wouldn't have won (and he'd probably be right).
Just one more ft/lb bro I swear
Need to grease the threads.
I thought his comments this weekend were actually pretty insightful.
Honda years he was way over the front of the bike, tucked the front a lot, but was fast as hell when it worked. More or less the same on the KTM, maybe a little more neutral position, didn't tuck the front as much but fought shock issues, fast as hell when he was on.
If you listen to what he said and watch how he's riding this bike, and how everyone rides the kawi last several years, nobody rides thing over the front. The bike obviously doesn't tolerate it. So his style, no matter how imperfect it may be, which allows chase to be his best, doesn't work with this bike. Go watch his early crashes this season, he's up over the bars on all of them.
Blame him for not knowing this before he signed I guess but if the inherent character of the bike isn't going to tolerate that style then there's not much you can do about it until there's a new bike or he completely adapts his style. Maybe being forced to change will ultimately be a good thing if the next bike meets him halfway. And he learns to start.
Tomac has lost the front many tumes this year. Hunter has also, if fact he did so on Saturday and just said he expected too much front the front when he went down.
I like Chase myself, I like all the riders.
Excuses get old. With age some of us lose speed. With each year others pick up the pace.
At the end of the day, each rider has to look in the mirror.
On a hypothetical perfect bike, Chase is not going to win every race. Eli is not going to win every race.
We are in a era that perhaps there are ten guys who could very possibly win a race barring some lucky bounces.
All these guys kick butt. You just have to stay positive, put in the work, have some luck and Hope for the best.
He likes. a soft front fork. It visibly moves more than most other factory 450s I have ever seen. Then it Dives way down in the stroke and bingo too much weight on the front end. It's surprising too cuz most of these guys they run their impossibly stiff Fork like a badge of Pride when they're the fastest. Why? At your fastest. On the biggest hits, it just gets better and better. I have a feeling he is gonna do well outdoors with a softer feeling front setup. I think he gets 2nd overall if everyone stays healthy. Hunter or Deegs go out? Sexton probably win the whole thing. Which sounds crazy but- Kawis are better outdoor bikes than indoor. Its just in the DNA.
Lookin’ like the front man of a UK punk band lol.
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