I like how bubba mentions that "this ole carb bike is still getting it done." I keep thinking, dude, you could ride a 125 and get it done. but then I got thinking seriously.......how old of a bike do you think bubba could realistically ride and still win with?

Think he could pull it off with a 98 400F?

Yes.

He would have to work even harder and he might not dominate every round.

But with factory prep, yes, he could still win on a 10 year old bike. Especially on an extremely technical track that rewards rider skill.

Some kind of handicap would make the racing closer, but it also kind of fun to watch JBS at his best, just like it was fun to watch McGrath or Carmichael. If the AMA wants to make the racing closer, they should make the tracks easier.

Considering the grief setup issues caused him this year...I wouldn't bet on him winning much on a bike that was substantially less than what he has.

He looked a little shaky at the start of the year, but he is dialed in now.

It seems he is spanking Chad and the rest of the field with little effort. IMO if he really put the hammer down for 20 laps, he could be winning by 30+ seconds instead of his usual 10 seconds.

Is a factory prepped '98 bike 1.5 seconds slower per lap than his current bike? Assuming Bubba has had tons of time to practice on the machine, I think he could still win some rounds.

the '98 "400" was also a little larger, if I recall correctly. Remember, the 4-strokes were allowed to be up to 540cc at the time, and I think Doug Henry was running around on a 500cc bike.

so there's that.

Its something that can't be proven of course but I remember him crashing a whole bunch putting the hammer down trying to race RC on comparable equipment and I remember him blaming a whole lot on his equipment disadvantage with the KX250 that one year he ran it against the 450s. So history would seem to indicate that "hammer down" Bubba or inferior equipment Bubba is not a great bet.

No, RC knew JS's weakness, that's what happened. Just wait until Reed decides to act upon this weakness.

I was just wondering at what point the technology is so noticably inferior that it would pose a significant disadvantage to him. I'm thinking anything within 10 years is doable, but much older than that and you'll probably notice some big differences. Ero's and geometry probably being the biggest.

That 98 400 was also HEAVY if I remember right. Weren't they like 250+lbs?

Good point. I'm happy to agree that RC always had Bubba's number.

However, '09 Bubba seems more mature, and RC is not on the track.