250 riders who should go 450 early

Chef. 

Every rider mentioned above has been in the 250 class for many years. None of them weigh 200lbs. If they were ready for success on a 450 they would already have multiple titles and be up there.

Drew Adams 

Early?

Shimoda, and thrasher will be 24 at A1, Mosiman will be 27. 

59 Chances to win a title between them and only Shimoda has a clown SMX title to show for it. 

At this point, only Shimoda is worth a ride, at least he is a consistent front runner. 

Shimoda will be on a 450 at Paris next month 

All of your picks would not classify for moving them up early, I think that ship sailed for them about 5 years ago. 

There's too many guys here who are happy to be career 250 riders . I'm hoping Hymas and Kitchen move up soon . 

Follow the $$$$ 

If the boss says stay on a 250 you stay on the 250 till a 450 ride is available.

Dylan Ferrandis - 25 when he got his first 250SX Championships.

27 when he moved to 450s, and got the 450 Outdoors Title.

Zac Osborne - 27 / 28 the year he got his first 250 SX and Outdoors titles.

 He moved to 450 Outdoors after winning 250 SX  East, at the age of 29 in 2018.  Aged 31  in 2020 when he got his 450 Outdoors title.

You transition when You are ready, and, when a Team is willing to pay you to move up. 

As I've written so many times, when people are criticizing riders for being in the 250s / demanding they go 'up',  at least the US system allows a rider to change classes, when they are ready / can, and Not get f**ked over by Luongo's " 23 and You Are Out " BS. Though, it does push riders to the USA, to keep and further their careers. Or, back to various other National series / International races, and, World Enduro Champs / the ISDE / Beach Racing careers. 

Jo and Levi, obviously. 

Hell, even Cole.

That guy's going to be a contender in the open class. 

Some of the others have missed their chance, and are forever mired in that class.

Cole obviously, certainly agree. I don't know about anyone else, they seem stuck at a certain speed, breaking themselves consistently pace.

Ferrandis went to the US after aging out of MX2

Osborne has been tossed aside as a 250 rider, and came to Europe to make a career

Neither are career 250 guys..... 

It is kind of funny how many people here don't understand that you can't just decide you want to move up AND get paid to do it. Seems like such an easy decision when its not your bank account though.

Drew Adams possibly, even though he’s still pretty young. 

Back yourself. 

Technically, Ferrandis could have done one more year in MX2 World Championship in 2017.

But he didnt want to. His mind was already in USA for several years...

I thought that after i posted, but wasnt sure. 

Chicken or the egg... Who should be leaving the 450 class to make room for these guys?

None. If you're not consistently winning at the 250 level moving to the 450 isn't doing you any favors. That's how you end up with more field fillers.

Kevin Sherman from Florida is ready!

Not everyone is a meant to be a 450 rider. Futures should be the feeder to the 2 different pro classes running a full schedule. 250 and 450. 

Flame away!

Jo, Seth, and Levi are prob. better than Smith, RJ, Marchbanks, and Savatgy and even Barcia and Anderson (due to their old age), but they don't want to ride for those teams.

The issue is that "elite" 450 factory riders are limited and decreasing. 

IMO, there's only 8-12 "elite" rides since there are really only 4 established factory teams: Yamaha, Kawi, KTM, and Honda, (i.e., Husqvarna folded, Triumph/Ducati/Beta are new bikes with smaller budgets, HEP Suzuki are not factory and outdated bike).

The problem is that those 8-12 rides (besides Kawi) are filled by generational talents, who are still EARLY in their career:

KTM: Prado + Lucas Coenen
Honda: Hunter + Jett Lawrence
Yamaha: Deegan + Davies 

All likely are going to be there for the next 5+ years and all are better than someone like Jo Shimoda or Levi Kitchen, so no room there.

At the same time, Jo or Levi probably wouldn't be willing to settle for those lower factory teams, even if they deserve a ride/could move up right now.

For example:
Triumph: Jordon Smith , Aaron Plessinger
Ducati: RJ Hampshire, Joey Savatgy
Beta: Benny Bloss, Shane McElrath
Suzuki: Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson
Yamaha: Justin Cooper

At this stage of everyone's career, Jo, Seth, and Levi are likely better than every rider listed above (yes, Barcia/Anderson better in the past but look at them now).

IMO, this leaves the best spot for Jo, Seth, or Levi (in some combo) to be teammates at Kawi. 

I don't know where Chase Sexton will be, but Marchbanks is definitely worse than both Jo and Levi and Malcolm is old and definitely worse than both Jo and Levi in MX at least (only advantage is Malcolm in SX).

So maybe, we see come 2028. (1) Levi takes Garret's ride at Kawi. (2) Jo/Seth take's Malcolm's ride (but unlikely given 2 yr. contract)

The only other option is for them to maybe get a 3rd spot (i.e., at Honda, Yamaha, or Kawi) or step down to lower equipment.

The rest of the 250 class are still years away, but the only one that for now that clearly has shown the potential to a factory 450 ride is

1. Julien Beaumer -- winning races in only year 2 + great comeback from a back injury, has the potential

Ryder D, Hymas, Thrasher, McAdoo, are just not there in terms of race-winning ability on a consistent basis, and the rest have shown speed but are way too young (Minear, Gordon, Drew Adams, etc.)






 

I know all of that.

But, they were able to stay in the 250 class, by getting the hell away from Luongos BS rules, going to America, and, spent a few extra years, racing 250s, and achieving a lot in that class,  past 23 years of age.

Then, they went to 450s, and achieved Championships.

It's a pretty simple read, Phil.

He’s a pretty big kid, so I think he’d do as well as, if not better than, Marchbanks. 

I just ran the data on their head-to-heads (where matchups represents the number of individual motos or main events each rider has raced against Justin Cooper, RJ, Marchbanks, and Smith).

The results are quite revealing + remember Justin Cooper and RJ are quite a bit older when they raced Jo and Levi.

I also ran it for Jo vs. Levi, what's interesting is Jo has a pretty good win rate against Levi (even thought most consider Levi the better rider).

No open spots on factory teams for them to go to. I don’t blame them for staying on factory 250s.

They should go when they’re ready PERIOD!

Some guys are better 250 riders and should be able to stay in the 250 class, no pointing out crap. While we’re at it

250 class should be any 250cc 2 or 4 stroke any fuel

Then 450 class should be 350 any stroke 2 or 4  any fuel 450cc max

Most of them

Sasha Cole jo Cameroon Seth drew 

Put them all on 450s

You think Sasha coenen should be on a 450.   Watched him ride much?

Exactly….💯