I know kawi has been forced to change and theyre doing everything they can right now to try to fix the bike, but its still been a disaster. How long until the 450 effort gets disbanded and given to Mitch to run? We all know how bad yamaha looked before star took over. Hell yamaha still looks like shit in GP’s and everyone knows the bike is great. The team really really matters. Japan has to be considering it, does it happen? Would that fix their problems?
I honestly think it would, Mitch knows wtf hes doing. Going all the way back to RV multiple people have said RV was the only guy that could ride that bike back then. Then you look at Eli and he had all his “weirdo rides” on the kawi and it took him forever to finally win a championship there and he left a bunch on the table. He looked like Jett Lawrence on the honda, became “weirdo rides” guy on kawi, then when he went to Yamaha immediately won and looked as good as he ever had. Now you have jorge and now sexton, its been a disaster. Meanwhile the PC bikes are the best bikes on the track even better than star and theyre crushing it.
Why? Marchbanks is doing fine on it.
The bike won two SX races this year
I don’t see Mitch wanting to take on basically double the workload at this point in his life. Dude has been there and done that 100 times. We’re lucky he’s still involved as much as he is.
This.
Agree 100%.
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It was mentioned on PulpMX that he had more settings etc he wanted Chase to try after A2 but they went in another direction. Running the team might be a step too far but I think it would be wise for the Factory team to at least consult with PC more (unless they are and we aren't aware of it)
They could bring in PC to do the engines/electronics and suspension/frame setup for example.
Yeah cause the 250 program has been on fire the last 4-5 years (yes know they have looked good so far outdoors this year).
They had both red plates not too long ago until the unfortunate east west showdown where mcadoo took out kitchen. Let’s not act like they’ve been a dumpster fire.
kawasaki doesnt need to fire anyone. They just need to allocate more budget to them. Whenever a team gets unlimited funding, thats when you see some magic happen. KMC has SO much money that theyre blowing on side by sides that dont sell. Do you know anyone who bought one of those electric side by sides? They had to lower the prices by 1/3. Who tf buys a $20,000 golf cart to drive in gated communities? They need to ask the team, What do you need to win? All the money Kawi is making from motorcycles (and its A LOT) is going into SxS R&D. Its stupid. They have like 55 models and variants of SxS
Yeah I don’t think that’s it. What could they be missing out on that more money would fix?
"Who tf buys a $20,000 golf cart to drive in gated communities?"
Elderly have to have their bling...
Have to agree, by all accounts theyre trying every part known to man right now trying to get chases bike to work for him, they dont need more money.
I disagree.
When you have an unlimited supply of someone elses money, its really easy to get totally lost.
A smart team with tight purse strings can do stuff better, because they dont waste time and money 'trying things' because they can.
I have seen it first hand, there is nothing more dangerous than a mediocre engineer with a big budget.
Outside of the weirdo rides Tomac ripped on the Kawi. 1 SX title and 3 MX titles. He racked up most of his SX race wins on the Kawi. Some of comeback rides were insane.
Only Weiner didnt perform on it. RV, Tomac, Savatgy, AC, JA all ripped on it.
Now is the current management outdated?? Possibly. But Prado and Sexton are not good gauges to make that conclusion on.
This. There were a whole lot of people here that were touting the upcoming Prado-Jett battles in motocross this summer. George couldn’t stay within 30 seconds of Jett last weekend. Hell, he couldn’t beat his teammate that was here on holiday last weekend. He got back on his bike of choice this summer, and is in a similar position in the points to last summer. Sexton? Don’t get me started. What was the last bike he raced that agreed with him?
I think the biggest issue both of them have is dealing with the reality that Jett is a superior talent.
I think the bike has a setup window that it works in, and the rider has a window there are comfortable in, and you need both to overlap for success. Maybe the window of the bike is narrow, or maybe Prado’s and Sexton’s windows are narrow, or perhaps both and they don’t overlap much or often.
Sometimes the bike might be off 2% or whatever but the rider is just 3% better than the field so it doesn’t matter, like when RV hated the frame but was still winning in outdoors. I think it’s close either way from a zoomed out perspective, but these guys are trying to optimize into tenths of a percent.
The disaster that is the Kawi 450 program is befuddling. The saying is in motorsport you are only as good as your last results. What has the factory Kawasaki 450 program under Dan Fahie delivered in outdoors for the post Tomac era? Anderson had two outdoor wins. And yes, Kawi had a SX championship with Anderson, but outdoors effort has been absolutely ineffective. For two years now the team is rudderless in both disciplines.
Kawasaki racing management needs to clean house in the 450 program. Move Dan Fahie elsewhere. Mitch Peyton isn't the answer though. His hands are full with the 250 program and there is no reason to potentially upset what is working in the 250 program right now.
Bring in a fixer from elsewhere in Kawasaki for the remainder of the season, and start the hunt for a new 450 race program lead.
Maybe the new 2027 KX450 that seems to be flying under the radar will be a better starting point for the team next year. New frame changes might the ticket.
Pit Row
Well said brother.
I think what gets lost in all this Kawi talk is they can change every part on that motorcycle except for the frame. And it seems lately they have been willing to try a lot more than they were in the past. There must be something functionally wrong with the frame for those top guys that they don't like. Whether it be geometry, rigidity, or whatever. Honda's race team with Trey testing and input from the Lawrence's (i.e. braced frames), have worked closely with Honda of Japan on the new production bikes. Trey has been working with both the race team and production to build a base production bike very tailored to the Lawrences. Kawi needs to do the same thing. Broc and the race team need to work hand in hand with the production side to address the issues they are having with the base bike.
Its one thing for people on a forum to believe chase and say its the bike . I've heard too many former successful pros saying chase needs to deal with what hes given and work with it to think its all on the team/bike.
I am surprised Kawi hasnt reached out to a handful of vitalmx members- Given all the experts we have in here..
They need to put a Red front fender on it to help Chase get the feeling he's searching for.
If Honda can do a 1/2 blue 1/2 Red, then absolutely 0 reason Kawi can't do Red front half.
cheaper to hire a quack psych doctor for pussy excuse hungry riders.
I would fire him
Maybe Kawi should hire Star to take over their 450 program 😁😂😂
there's a brand-new bike for 2027. Kawi has their course set- no point to mindless speculating like this all the time.
didn't Sexton try a teammate's complete front end and loved it for 1 race early in SX season- then changed it anyways for no reason? I'm relying on memory here so I could be misremembering 🤔
As far as I understand the Kawi 450 team are ultra risk adverse and wont do any testing that might result in a failure. (If I recall rightly a past rider or test rider might have sued them over a failure, maybe not even in the usa).
Either way the 450 team have been a bunch of cucks since around the time they decided Tomac didnt need his own suspension tech etc.
Monster would be cool with it
You're cherry picking names what about Will Hahn, Davi Millsaps, Josh Grant...
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