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When do we blame the RM?
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Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Seems we are all a little late on blaming RC's new yellow ride for his recent problems? How many times in how many races does he have to fall before we start talking about the yellow curse? Didn't the aluminum framed CR take a ton of heat way sooner?

Posted by: Rotaholic---------------------

There is nothing wrong with the 05 Rm250 and ricky and his mechanics have his dialed in great. I just think he is trying to win the series and not races. But I think even if he wanted to win races I still dont think he could beat JBS. JBS has a talent that no matter how much training ricky puts in I think he will allways come up second best in supercross. Outdoors we will just have to see.

I know he has a RMZ450 but it will be interesting to see what bike he rides.

The 05 Rm250 is an amazing machine, and could easily be the best of the 05s if not right up there, I dont think we can blame the RM, its the same RM that has one 7 races and is going to win the series on (to be fair it would be different if JBS hadnt fallen and broke his arm but thats racing)

Posted by: truespode---------------------

I would bet more money on it being the switch from Dunlops to Bridgestones. He has washed out more since going back to Bridgestones than any time I can remember.

Ivan

Posted by: super rat---------------------

recent problems? I didn't think that getting 2nd to a guy who's not in the points race was a problem. I wasn't at the race last night but RC did put more points on Reed right? The wheels are coming off the RC bandwagon, everyone jump!

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Humm... so when someone other than RC falls, nearly every weekend, it's rookie mistakes, pushing too hard, not riding smart, the bike, etc. When RC does it, it's not the bike or a RC problem? RC having to ride a semi? News Flash! Somethin's up!

Granted, RC will win it all, short of a DNF, he's lucky Reed had A1. If the points were close, then maybe falling would matter?

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Quote:

Outdoors we will just have to see.

Bad thing for everyone else is, JBS is faster outside than he is in.

Right on with the brand loyalty, btw

Posted by: ellandoh---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by super rat

recent problems? I didn't think that getting 2nd to a guy who's not in the points race was a problem. I wasn't at the race last night but RC did put more points on Reed right? The wheels are coming off the RC bandwagon, everyone jump!

id like to believe hes coasting but it is convenient or it could be part of a long term master plan for the outdoors or it could be the fact hes already been riding the snot out of his 450 and the front end feels different

Posted by: KX02---------------------

I don't think he has an issue with his RM at all. I think he's getting a bit run down, and maybe starting to crack under the pressure. I mean the slide out's in the corners looks like something I would do. He has already had a tremendous run at the top. He won't stay there forever.

Posted by: super rat---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okiewan

Humm... so when someone other than RC falls, nearly every weekend, it's rookie mistakes, pushing too hard, not riding smart, the bike, etc. When RC does it, it's not the bike or a RC problem? RC having to ride a semi? News Flash! Somethin's up!

Granted, RC will win it all, short of a DNF, he's lucky Reed had A1. If the points were close, then maybe falling would matter?

That little bugger gets "lucky" a lot......

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

dang rat, now you're just taking up space, lol.

Posted by: ktmboy---------------------

I'm usually just a 'lurker' in the moto-x section, and I just jumped in here to say that I really enjoy the good-natured sparring that goes on in here between the RC-hater/Bubba lovers, the CR supporters, the actual RC fans, and the 'devils advocate' types. The arguements presented here definately change my perspective of the racing once I see it on the tube. Keep it up fellas; it makes for good reading!

Posted by: Crash 142---------------------

Anyone know if Bubba will have a 450 for the outdoors? Maybe it will be a repeat of his 125 seasons - the lone two stroke. Has it been announced Ricky will ride the RMZ?

I like the theory Ricky's having problems 'cause he's busy adapting to the 450 during the week. If that's so, maybe we'd even see him on the 450 indoors before the season's over? Or maybe he took the Honda 450 outdoors because his Honda 250 wasn't strong. What if he races the Suzuki 250 outdoors? Does anyone know what Suzuki and Ricky are planning?

As to answer the question of this thread, when to we blame the RM?... We blame it if he gets a mechanical DNF/problem. Blame the US Open on the RM/Hinson clutch, but so far he looks better on the RM than he ever did on his Honda indoors. He looks smoother in the corners and seems to jump with more finesse. Anyone else see it like this?

Weird though that he lost Daytona of all races. Maybe the RM is too supercross-specific? Maybe he will bring out that 450 for the outdoors.

Posted by: flyinzuki---------------------

If RC races the RMZ and beats Bubba, you can be assured Bubba will have an RMZ for the next race...
With green plastics of course

Posted by: rickyd---------------------

or a RIch built bored and stroked KX250f

Posted by: mx547---------------------

yep, everybody (except the honda riders) blamed the honda when he would fall or just get beat. for some reason, suzuki gets a pass on this.

Posted by: bclapham---------------------

dont worry guys, i heard that Jody is flying down to Florida to setup RCs bike!!!!

but now i think about it, i got my ass handed to me today, so obviously the RM isnt a good bike.

Posted by: yzguy15---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okiewan

RC having to ride a semi? News Flash! Somethin's up!

Wait a second mister you should have seen that, or I assume you did, guess it depends on where you were sitting. Regardless, you should check out the clip. I saw it happen right in front of me. Somebody else (lapper) went down right as RC was coming over the jump in the nast whoops/rhythm section and he landed on the guy's bike. RC didn't have problems there all day. He launched into a tuff block and was lucky not to do any damage to the bike or himself. By the time he got going he couldn't get back up to qualifying for his heat. Let's not forget, he was in a pretty fast heat group.

Proceed with the discussion, just be fair about it.

Posted by: jboomer---------------------

He got up in sixth then went down again. No lapper to blame it on the second time!

Posted by: jboomer---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okiewan

Seems we are all a little late on blaming RC's new yellow ride for his recent problems? How many times in how many races does he have to fall before we start talking about the yellow curse? Didn't the aluminum framed CR take a ton of heat way sooner?

So does that mean Chad's crashes are a result of riding a bad bike? His bike cost him another championship! Must be that Yamaha curse...

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by jboomer

He got up in sixth then went down again. No lapper to blame it on the second time!

Yup....

Posted by: XRpredator---------------------

RC sucks.

Posted by: Philip---------------------

Well I for one am not jumping off the bandwagon. I have liked him on Green, Red, & now Yellow. I think his problem is he is a human and WILL make mistakes. No doubt Bubba's speed has everyone making mistakes. Bubba is the next real deal and if anyone out there thinks differently you are just in denial. I like and respect every guy who lines up on that gate.
This is racing at its best.

Posted by: tony91---------------------

Looks to me like Ricky is on his personal ragged-edge and he's making mistakes. And don't get me wrong, I'm a huge RC fan.

I have a hard time believing that the bike set-up is bad. But, it is odd that he keeps washing the front end out. Again, I think he's just pushing, trying to win.

I'll tell you what though, it is a pleasure to see those three guys ride their guts out. I'm looking forward to see if RC and CR can step it up another notch. It may not matter though, I think Bubba has yet to show us how fast he really can be. Give him a few races and front brakes.....could get ugly!

Posted by: tony91---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRpredator

RC sucks.

Posted by: steve125---------------------

I don't think its fair to blame the Bridgestones, as Bubba and Reed use the same tires. But RC's set up does seem to be going back to the Honda days, low riding and deflecting rear shock. That was very obvious after watching Daytona, especially compared to Reeds YZ.

Posted by: xsnrg---------------------

RC's in an interesting spot. We all know he loves to win and hates to lose. If he's smart, he'd just race for 2nd/3rd place and win the championship. Going for first he dramatically increases his chances of a crash that results in a DNF. But, then he'll have to face the "it's obvious that RC wouldn't have been the champ if JBS hadn't been out all season" comments...so will he push it to try to prove he can beat Bubba, or will he play it cool and ensure his championship? In the end, few remember how many motos an individual rider won years ago, but many remember how many career championships they won.

Posted by: BEEF706---------------------

A few years ago RC raised the bar , very few stepped up (CR mostly) most just shook their heads and said c-ya! as he went by. Now Bubba has upped the speed bar again, and to RC's credit he is trying his best to match it, hanging it out until he goes down THEN thinking championship when he figures he can't match it. (That part is difficult to say for the president of the leprachaun fan club and driver of the ever lighter RC bandwagon) At lest that's how it looked to me. I also thought it was a classy move (and good PR

) to give Bubba a hug. JBS is now the crowm prince for sure, but to me RC is still

PS Suzukis suck and it's all the fault of the yellow curse

(that was for Pred)

Posted by: tony91---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by xsnrg

In the end, few remember how many motos an individual rider won years ago, but many remember how many career championships they won.

Exactly. Currently it looks unlikely RC can't match Bubba's speed. And I think RC should be smart and race to win the Championship. After the start when CR tried to plant RC, he didn't want to give CR the opportunity to do it again. He backed off when it got close with Chad and rightfully so. But, he rode hard, stayed on CR's pace, and took advantage of his mistake.

Posted by: Philip---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by BEEF706

JBS is now the crowm prince for sure, but to me RC is still

PS Suzukis suck and it's all the fault of the yellow curse

(that was for Pred)

Get em Beef, Pred is just jealous there is no 8' tall boys winning on KTM.

And besides he is just a big ole *****.....kat!

Posted by: Tiger---------------------

I'll admit the ZUKI looked nervous at Daytona. Shoulda used a stabilizer? Maybe that's why RC has lowered the back end again? It adds stability. We all know the RM turns well.

Posted by: Ryone---------------------

It's not the bike. He won 7 races in a row before these last three. How quickly everyone forgets.
RC is NOT riding as fast as he can, no matter what some think. If he was riding "his edge", he wouldn't have any trouble being faster than Reed. He let Reed by because he wasn't going to risk a crash, plain and simple. He's thinking championship, not race wins.
Bubba is the fastest, followed by RC when he rides his edge, then Reed.
However, I honestly think RC could keep pace with Bubba if they were tied in points for the championship, but it's guaranteed that one or both would go down on a regular basis.

Ryan

Posted by: tony91---------------------

I don't think he was riding his "edge" in the main. But the heat race, looked like he was pushing to me. Give Reed more credit. The guy can run RC's pace. Remember Daytona?

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Quote:

RC is NOT riding as fast as he can, no matter what some think. If he was riding "his edge", he wouldn't have any trouble being faster than Reed.

Okay, so you say it's not the bike, he's not on the edge, why all the crashes/falls?

Posted by: Ryone---------------------

He's human... human's crash. McGrath crashed a few weeks back. Reed went down on lap 19 Friday night. These are the two of the smoothest riders in the sport.

I personally think RC has went down the last few times because he has a lot more to worry about when he's in 2nd or 3rd compared to when he's out front by 10 seconds. He has a lot more on his mind.

As far as giving Reed credit... I give him all the credit in the world. I think it's awesome that he made the races interesting between him and RC before Bubba came back. He's got incredible speed and heart. Daytona was Reed's night, no doubt about it. He was faster than RC. I just think RC can be faster than Reed when their both on top of their game. Reed didn't have an answer for Carmichael for rounds 2 through 8, but now RC is in protect mode.

I just find it strange how we blame machines for crashes instead of human error. The bike didn't fail, RC has more than enough proven hours on the bike to show that he's used to it.

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Quote:

I just find it strange how we blame machines for crashes instead of human error. The bike didn't fail, RC has more than enough proven hours on the bike to show that he's used to it.

EXACTLY the reason for this post. I find it odd that Honda was to blame as soon as he switched, but now, crashing just about everytime out, no one has mentioned the bike.

Posted by: Ryone---------------------

My bad... I thought you were blaming the bike. I guess I'm not used to the sarcasm in here yet

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

And the word about Reed losing all those rounds? Couldn't get used to the new Yamaha frame.

Posted by: jumpingjoe628---------------------

I don't think that RC has been pushing the envelope at all. He seems perfectly fine to let those guys pass him and as long as he gets to finish the race he knows he will win the championship. Just wait and see what happens when they get outdoors and the slate is wiped clean, I think RC will show his true speed once againall. But Bubba is going to be the only guy that will be making aggressive passes on RC because he is a rookie and if he don't get the job done he will just say that it was a learning experience.

Posted by: jumpingjoe628---------------------

Oh, and Suzuki's are cursed forever in my book.

Posted by: john3_16---------------------

Quote:

Or maybe he took the Honda 450 outdoors because his Honda 250 wasn't strong.

Let's not forget that RC has a perfect season on a CR250...Not to mention when KW returned RC was still close to another perfect season on it..He won enough on the 2 stroke to call it domination..But it is a fact that he switched to the CRF 450 because of the extra power and his results did improved over 03'...

I'm pretty sure RC is going to be riding the RMZ outdoors as well....I've heard that Suzuki gets to use their works bike exemption this year so RC is going to be on some potent stuff.

Posted by: bclapham---------------------

what i find funny, is that all these guys that pick up MXA and then talk about the RM being twitchy and nervous handling without even riding one. People seem to forget Pichon dominated the MXGPs for two seasons on the RM (probably why it is so well developed now), and the tracks these guys race on are a lot faster and whooped out than any SX track.

Any bike can be made twitch or have crap turning with just a few adjustments. Its not the bike.

Posted by: CR Swade---------------------

I say we all blame everything on the RM. Come home late, blame the RM; being a pr*ck to the wife b/c the dog ate a plastic kids toy, got sick and stained the white carpet, blame the RM; can't make your truck/bike/etc payment on time...well you know the routine by now.

As far as RC goes and the RM, honestly I'd have to agree w/ the earlier statement about tire choice being more of a factor than anything. I know whenever I've made tire choice changes, the new tire will do some funky things that I wasn't prepared for. There are times that a different skin will do different things in the heat of battle and pushing it can cause some nasty results, plus these guys are pushing it WAAYY harder than any of the locals round' here.

I've ridden one of the newer RM's and thought it was at least as stable as my CR. Very nice bike

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

He said skin.

Posted by: CR Swade---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okiewan

He said skin.

the whole third sentence of the second paragraph is just plain disturbing...

Posted by: mx547---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclapham

what i find funny, is that all these guys that pick up MXA and then talk about the RM being twitchy and nervous handling without even riding one.

i remember reading mxa and knowing that if they hated a bike, i would love it.

Posted by: pace---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclapham

what i find funny, is that all these guys that pick up MXA and then talk about the RM being twitchy and nervous handling without even riding one.

Indeed, I'm reminded of some of the '05 CR diatribes.

Bike? Tires? I think it comes down to Chad lifting his game, and Ricky being caught off guard a little. He'll bounce back faster and more confident come the outdoors. You can't keep the little man down.

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by pace

Indeed, I'm reminded of some of the '05 CR diatribes.

Cool, but isn't this turning into a repeat of last season?

Posted by: XRpredator---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okiewan

Cool, but isn't this turning into a repeat of last season?

no, '03

Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRpredator

no, '03

Sorry.. The last season

Posted by: pace---------------------

It does seem to be, eh?

Posted by: nephron---------------------

I thought RC rode with Bridgestones on the KX, and then at Honda (Dunlop only), he had to make an agreement to put the 601/602's back on his CR for SX (under certain conditions)? ie, I don't think it's the tires.

RC steers with his ass, and IMO seems to slide into corners and bolt out of 'em. Has worked until the Dallas clay--everyone there was arc'ing the corners slowly and fully, including JBS. This of course, seems to require more management of the front end..which IMO is why he went down. I'm far from knowing anything about riding, but that's the conclusion I could draw based on what I was there to see.

He's got a hell of a lot more speed than we saw in Dallas...just not under those conditions. It's gonna get good, baby!

Posted by: Jeff Gilbert---------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRpredator

RC sucks.

Could you not hem-haw around Pred and get to the point

Posted by: mx547---------------------

i hadn't seen this:

from cycle news' dallas report:

Earlier in the week, Carmichael crashed while testing for the outdoor Nationals, taking a handlebar to the stomach that required a trip to the hospital.

looks like it's time to blame the rmz too.

Posted by: jonesy---------------------

Ha Ha guys!! See? he was just hurt that's all. I knew it wasn't the bike. Thank god! I was getting ready to sell my RM. No, seriously, wasn't his last sx season in 03? Wasn't it on the CR? Wasn't it a lot like this season? Yeah, thought so.

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