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MXGP allows two bikes to go through tech- you keep the spare at the line ready to go. AMA allows one race bike with a special numbered sticker, and they check it every time your rider enters the track

Worn big end and probably low on oil. I imagined the 'bandaid' was extra oil. They are listed at about $450.

I could see it puffing blue smoke plenty in moto one while I was shooting, I figured there was no chance in hell that thing would make it through moto two if they left it in.

I’d bet a fair amount of money that the engine wasn’t fresh going into the weekend. More like built a bit (you don’t get starts like that on stock engines) with a decent number of hours on it. Privateer life ain’t easy.

I was flagging at Budds Creek for the '99 US GP years ago and a local pro seized the engine in his RM 250 during qualifying. I swapped it with his practice bike engine in about 15 minutes, he got out there and seized that one too. I found another engine for him and swapped that in with about 20 minutes remaining. He qualified! I was a teenager at the time, great with a wrench, but not a pro and had never touched a Suzuki prior to that.

I get your sentiment, nobody wanted Ty to go out like that. I'm curious what you reasonably expect Kawi to have done to prevent this, though ? Not arguing , just wondering 👍 I don't think Kawi or them themselves would have expected a 450 engine to go out so soon. Vohland, Jett and Anstie had motors let go this last year or two (I appreciate two were 250's), I'm sure theirs were well prepped and 'serviced' for want of a better word. MotoGP and F1 have had the occasional engine failure. World class engineers are constantly up in those...

Ama should allow 2nd bikes. It's so much cheaper overall. And almost every1 that races near that level has multiple bike. A race bike and a practice bike. If something major goes wrong you just switch to the practice bike. I'm even happy for factory teams to only be allowed 1 bike and privateers have 2.

I've never understood why manufacturers don't have support van or something for privateers. Keep your factory team as is but have something separate where you have plenty of parts available at cost or to loan and a mechanic or two to at least offer guidance and sometimes help with something like this when needed. I bet you could even find a dealership in the area of each track to sponsor it and bring some bodies. I'd think it would get a lot of guys on your bike if they knew they had this support available. More $$$ than it's worth...

If my son is getting top 10s he’s getting a new crank every week. Imagine one letting go on these jumps….

The more video-game it becomes, the less I'll care. A real-mans outdoor track with two 30+min or more is where you'll find the best athlete in the world. Guess what's coming? AI machines, that do tricks and eat holy shit. Cool, and not. The future is tomorrow. 😒

This has to be a light hearted "hey Bubba was the man" thread. He's so far removed from racing. It's disrespectful to the current field to suggest he could come near a podium even with prep.

Maybe Mitch has some room under the PC tent. * on a 450

Watched Jett’s mechanic swap an engine between motos at Unadilla last year. They did a lot of work on hunters as well. Was pretty cool to watch. They also have the tv on in the background with the race on so I was still watching the race

Probably on the booboo

It's simple.... How long does it take to swap? Joe Blow changed one X years ago in X minutes... Do they have a spare?.... Why not?... Betcha that free one they got ain't stock.... ENOUGH. First off, who gives a fuck???? The look of that kid's posture after it let go said enough for me. He, with his family, are EMBARASSING some high paid talent on what is a dealership stock bike. They get some help for sure, but it's floor scrapings compared to what others are getting..... and they are beating the "glory boys" with true grit, and determination...

After Ty's great results in the last four races, I hope that the Kawasaki brain trust has the good sense to give this family some assistance (out the back door or whatever), as he is making their stock motorcycle look pretty good. I told Jerry that Ty should race the 450 back in May when they were at Glen Helen tearing down their 250s in the dirt parking lot, glad they finally listened