Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
I don't really understand your response. Kawasaki doesn't OWE us a competent race team either.
George did quit on the team BTW
yeah he should engrave that on all his podium trophies and title trophy he won after that. "I quit on my previous team btw"
I didn’t say they did.
he compared what Suzuki has done as “worse” than how Kawasaki are running their team.
The two teams’ stances are different, and not comparable. IMO.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
They’ve basically haven’t been doing a ‘bad’ job,
They’ve basically said “there’s our product, buy it if you want it, if you don’t..🤷♀️
Agree with this. Seems similar to implied message from kawi when a rider tests their bike before signing big contracts? Like "this is the bike you tested and then agreed to the contract". Then some of the riders complain after the fact while others don't and just ride the bike the best they can.
my point was Suzuki hasn't bent over backwards trying to constantly adapt the bike for rider's preferences and never suffered bad press for that stance. IMO, that would be "worse" for fans here telling us massive structural changes must be made within Kawasaki management top to bottom. Suzuki has done less but not suffered the fans shitting on them for not changing or defending their approach.
Lemons to Limes. Different colors but both tart flavors.
Fahie burner acc?
lol 🙃 hangover from too much Oktoberfest clouding your thinking there?
But this is flawed .
The expectation when you try something at this level, is that if it isnt to your liking, it can be made to be so , and the reality is that they either cant, or refuse to work in a way that keeps the rider happy that he should be out there giving everything , when they are not.
This is a historic issue with this team, for at least 10 years.
A rider cannot possibly gain a full understanding of the bike from a couple of hours testing it in conditions that are likely not at all representative of a race. It is very much a first impression. That impression can and will change as the rider gets used to the intricacies of the motorcycle and the teams’ way of working.
If Kawi are operating on the premise that riders had a positive first experience of the bike and therefore should always like it then that probably goes some way to explaining why they are in this position
I don't think this is necessarily true 100% of the time across the board. Depends on the individual rider. Sure, for guys like me in the 1970's riding nearly every day in home areas I could have the same bike for years and never have a feel for exactly what my bike would do in every situation. I barely progressed from Novice to Intermediate level racer and moved on to other pursuits in life when I admitted I didn't have "it" no matter how much I tweaked and practiced. Some guys in my groups were always faster than me like they were naturals.
When I came back to VMX in the early 2000s there were some retired Pros who would and could ride 3-4 different bikes in up to 8 races in a day and win every race. There were times watching 1 particular guy who had someone that would sponsor him on a ~1974 ish Ossa and also a 1982/83 built YZ100. He'd also share an open class Macio (might have been like 1979 440?) with another owner. Sometimes back-to-back races where this guy would just wait at the starting gate for the owner to cross the finish line in his race, jump off the bike and hand over to the ex-Pro, who would jump on, do a couple quick passes to adjust the brakes and take his slot. Then smoke everyone on that bike too in classes that included experts. He was just a natural and could and did jump on anything and haul ass. At today's Pro level I expect most the top riders are naturals like that too and in just a couple laps push the test bike enough to get a feel for brakes, turning, handling in whoops at least. If there were concerns, I'd expect them to say something to the team after the test ride to see if they would work with him on that if he signs.
We’re talking the absolute elite level here. I’m sure when Chase is 40 he’ll be able to turn up to any local track on any bike and still win, but right now he’s racing Supercross and he’s trying to beat elite level athletes.
A rider won’t get a true understanding and feeling for the bike until they have spent 10’s of hours on it and learned the intricacies and the way it reacts both on the limit and in different conditions. The first test prior to signing is purely a first impression to check there isn’t something that immediately jumps out to them as being a red flag
Pro Circuit isn’t winning titles either, but I still like the idea because it’s changing something anyway.
how many hours do you suppose Chase put in learning intricacies and communicating set up needs at Honda, KTM, Kawasaki? Apparently, it wasn't enough since he wasn't "comfortable". Nobody knows what he wants. That recent re-post of Decoster talking about it says HE had no clue what Chase wanted.
Yeah cause PC has been on fire…
They did win the gimmick series fwiw
Pit Row
Its real easy to see how bad it has been ran by going back and looking at the money they pretty much threw away on the 250 side trying to win ..You can start with Adam C. MILLIONS PAID TO HIM HE WON RACES AND ONLY ONE TITLE ..Even more money paid to him when he went to 450s and if someone actually thought he could win on the 450 was nuts millions more paid to him on 450 side Next up was Forkner ton of money spent on him and they got 12 or 13 wins no complete seasons and no titles Next up Jett Reynolds a couple million spent on him at 16yrs old got nothing in return he did win alot of amateur races for them .Next up was the kid that got the shaft out of all the mess Ryder D won more amatuer races than the others mentioned and he stayed on his amastuer contract as a pro ...When it came time to pay him they had first right of refusal they waited and then told him they werent signing him so he ends up on a gas gas .That is when they brought in Levi Kitchen who has did alright , I think alot of people wanted to see Ryder D win the SMX title just because of the way he got treated at Kawi Then they sign and keep Drew Adams and they havent got much to show for that .We wont even go into the signing of Ramano ... The guy in charge should have been let go along time ago
What’s your suggestion for Kawi USA? If they came to you and said “Show us how to fix our racing program.” What would be your plan?
Bro AC was fastest qualifier over and over in 450s his rookie year.
He almost won the 450 Mx title his rookie year as well. Him sexton and Osborne were the main contenders.
This is all fun and games but there reality is you'd have to do an assessment to fix the team. Where are they lacking? Telemetry acquisition and analysis feeding suspension and engine development? Chassis balance? Inertial considerations? Or do they have the data and aren't acting on it? Is the bike such a shit pile there is no fixing it? Is Japan blocking them? Is the facility inadequate? Or is the team perfect and those prima donna riders can't get it done? It's probably a combination of factors but you need to assess which ones as the first step.
What Fahie was putting out there with his comments around Chase's crash was that they have the data to make a case that the crash was caused by rider error if it somehow ended up in court.
That being said, his PR skills would be good reason for the team to make changes.
The day Sexton crashed at Thunder Valley is pretty telling - according to ML and others, Sexton’s bike was heard cutting out so bad that everyone in the pits heard it. In fact, apparently it just quit as he was on the way to the track. They got it going but it was heard popping and cutting out so bad that people made reports. Fahie ordered it mechanically sound regardless, and Sexton was forced to ride it. If he would’ve refused to ride a “mechanically sound” bike then he would’ve been in breach of contract. After the crash Fahie implied Sexton intentionally crashed it himself, and stood by his order. How do you fix that?
don't know if the 2027 is a shitpile or not yet. They have list of changes out and some seem like they could help?
This is hardly a bike problem, long term. It’s not a Chase/Jorge problem, long term. The bike may have been the problem for those two. The argument that Chase can be difficult could be something present but as an arguably competitive, top 5 guy(most of the time) shouldn’t be in a spot where he feels he can’t even ride the bike let alone race it. This coming the year after a 4 time MXGP champion had similar complaints about the bike/team and walked away from a substantial contract to ride for much less money and looks happy and fast.
Eli, SX champ and 3 time MX champ with Kawi, chose to leave the team because he wanted changes he thought would make him more competitive. Kawi refused.
RV, not happy with much at the end of his career, chose to go to MXGP for a change of scenery. It can be argued a lot of his program pushed him that way though. Weimer, decent #2 rider, given RVs setup and told to go fast on it cause RV is fast on it even though he rides front end vs RVs back end style.
Bubba, perfect season in MX, 2008, not resigned for 2009.
Everyone has quirks. I’m sure a top 10 guy has more than he cares to share in public. There will always be riders that are mental about weird things that he swears make a difference. When you look at the body of work, the Kawi 450 team sure seems to be not rider friendly. From the outside looking in, it looks more like the people in charge vs one individual rider.
If the team is perfect? We already have an answer to that with 100% certainty. Next
And that was it for AC lol his rookie year was good, but that was all she wrote for his 450 career.
Chase shouldn’t have rode the bike and let them fire him from his contract instead of endoing off the biggest jump and thunder valley lol fuck that
Post a reply to: Should Kawasaki USA restructure their team?