OR Racer46, on 21 February 2012 - 01:05 PM, said:

Stewart will finish top 3 in the points unless he gets hurt. Compare how much he gets paid to the other 2 guys in the top 3 and you will see he's not that out of line.

Just because JGR paid a lot of money for a rider that could potentially win a championship doesn't mean they are guaranteed a championship, JGR (just like every team) knows this when they sign a rider. There is only one champion, which leaves a lot of teams that paid a lot of money for riders that could potentially win, but didn't.

TECH51, on 21 February 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

I'm not sure if this is a question or a statement... I don't think that JGR is paying speed to talk about Stewart any more than they are paying everyone in this forum to talk about Stewart.

Edited by KJ790, 22 February 2012 - 06:00 AM.

The bike is not the problem... you dont go out and ride on rails to beat the competition by 20 secs one week and then come back and crash out the next on a "terrible" bike. You dont set the fast lap by over a second and come out and crash that same bike on the same track in the main on the same bike that was stable enough to push that hard before (maybe not so much this year now that the comp. has the same speed but very much so in the past) James , has the speed and lacks the desire/ discipline. He simply turns it on when he wants to, as soon as he gets pressured or feels the need to make a move he crashes himself silly, instead of just riding fast and consistant he thinks he has to win by a full lap. Keep in mind, I am coined as a JS lover by some of the haters... and even I can see this.

I think Stewart is doing everything but winning an actual championship for JGR... but they are still winning either way. I mean just look at every thread in the pro racing forum, its the same everywhere. I cant even think of one thread in the past year that he was not at least mentioned once. Look at the signs at the races... people would rather put something about James crashing on a sign, then support their favorite rider... instead they get placed in the fine print section.

I think of it like when Jordan came back to the NBA after his leave for MLB action. He was no longer dominant. He was still a great player that could lead his team on any given night but lacked the ability to win on talent alone, or pull off a win based on his performance alone. Point being... Get your head in the game JS, or you will soon be known as a has been.

Edited by BDubb106, 22 February 2012 - 06:05 AM.

Supercross is just like Nascar in that it is a one family owned traveling road-show where public appearances and marketability value are weighed heavily in the decision to sign a rider/driver. If reputation alone guaranteed a good ride? Kyle Busch wouldn't be racing a 2nd hand piece of junk in a fringe team. In Supercross only one rider transcends the sport, and unfortunately for those of us that know the current facts, it comes off as the purest of hype.

But that is his (JS7) meal-ticket...He is an african-american in a, according to most of the unintelligent media, "redneck" sport. I call BS on that because I thought California was Yankee and isn't that where most of the tracks and best riders herald?...He has partnered with Speed and CBS for his "Reality show" so they are all joined at the hip. Speed/CBS/Feld productions were going to ensure that stewie was with a good team and would ensure the "show" could go on as HYPED!

BDubb106, on 22 February 2012 - 06:02 AM, said:

i agree with you on most things in this post but the first paragraph.  running 1 or 2 hot laps is totally diff from running full 20.  the bike changes a lot during this!  heat in the shock, forks, tires, and motor all change the way it works.  while I'm not saying its 100% the bike, the bike is to blame here... don't agree?  where are the other yami's finishing?  there is a reason there are only 4 or 5 even in the main!  the bike is too drastically diff!  it will come around but the geometry is diff and causes things to not work the same as everyone knows they will!   disclaimer james crashes too!

tdoshi9, on 22 February 2012 - 07:01 AM, said:

I know this and agree... but if this is known by us, Im sure JGR and James himself know this as well. He can go out and put on an absolutely dominating performance one week, then the next look like someone stole his puppy. He has put on many performances where lap times through out the moto stay consistant, and are often some of the fastest. Which tells me that James knows how to adapt to those changes, and JGR as well as his former San Manuel team could set his bike up to make him a little more confident with the bike when it changes so his confidence level stays high. That tells me that something other than the bike changes from week to week.

The thing is I think James himself is having trouble figuring out where the issue is and he's paying for it... which in turn translates to bike issues to the public. Which may in fact have some truth behind it. James is very unique in how stiff he prefers his bike to be set up. Which would make things extremely hard to dial in for a new mechanic or new team. I have a feeling James is having trouble translating the issues to the team, which is why he hired (was it Ferry?) last year and he wanted to walk away from ALOT of money within just a few laps because the bike was so far off that he felt that the bike wasnt safe to ride.

I tried to find the article but I have no idea where I read it... anyways, we all know that James prefers his bike set up extremely stiff. In the article when he first switched to JGR in house stuff they tried softening the suspension up quite a bit to make the bike more consistant throughout the duration of the moto. James said he liked the set up but it would be extremely difficult to get used to. I obviously dont know what set up they chose to use but shortly after James was raving about how satisfied he was with the bike. Everyone keeps saying that he has to say that because he is paid to say that  the bike is perfect but we all know that James says what he wants to say. He would have no issue making it well known that he was not happy if the bike were not up ot his standards. He also reinforces this when he states every night that the bike was good, he just made a mistake or someone else made a mistake leading him to his mistake... blah, blah, blah. I have a strong feeling JGR will very quickly figure out a set up that will work well for James to make his bike a little more consistant if that is indeed an issue.

If RV was on the JGR bike he would still be kickin ass and taking names....JMO

BDubb106, on 22 February 2012 - 07:39 AM, said:

  it wasn't an article... it was an interview with pulpmx.   i get what your saying and i again agree to a extent.  new team, newer bike, new rider with way diff ideas on bike setup, and track changes!  all of this play into it.. its nothing that another team doesn't deal with and i really think he should be doing better!  we are also not talking about something else too!  luck!  things just don't go your way!  whoops in san diego..  i don't feel he was pushing harder than normal and well he goes down, as did others in the same place.... but his pants gets caught and he lays on the ground for what seemed like forever!   last week davi goes down in front of him and then he stalls the bike.. i mean don't get me wrong he could be just out of it mentally i don't know!  but it just seems like lady luck is following others more than him.  kdub was completely OFF the bike in the whoops and somehow managed to save it... (he went down later)  not due to skill it was all luck that the bike reacted a certain way and he landed back on it before the ground.  

what I'm saying is the bike and james aren't working like they have been in the past.  something is going on and I'm not picking either as being the issue.. i truly feel like its both!  he went into this season in the right place.. bike wasn't there and we know the tire issue,  its messing with his mind and neither can be shaken easily!  I can't wait for this to happen cause i want this championship to tighten back up!  and that would be amazing if he could come back from this far back!

anything could happen, look at what happened to reed, 5 laps in and one main contender out for season, RV could do a repeat  like he did in stl a few years ago. look at Tomac, Deeno thought he was done and one whoop section and now deeno is in the running. Rv could dnf, could not make a main like last year, Bubba could killhimself to many variables in sx/mx

I have been saying it since the beginning of the season, JS is a great rider but his head is not there this year. Even RC said it last saturday, look he is not in a rush to start the bike. May be he is bored with the sport or may be he needs to kick it into high gear because the rest of the field is not moving over for him.  

In regards to all the technology they have at Gibbs, sometimes when you over think simple things they become worse and you start going in the wrong direction. I have seen that in many forms of racing.

Just my honest Opinion, I think James took the deal with JGR because there wasnt anything out there any better for him, he has already stated several times in the past that he is not a fan of the new Yamas .. but maybe he felt things would be a little better with JGR's version .. I hate to say it , but theres a reason theres only a few on the starting gates.. I think Yamaha went a little overboard with the new bike a few years ago, and If my memory serves me well I havnt seen any rider really dominating on one since..?? like I said Im not dipping into the FACT barrel here just, an observation .. I truly think the bike is just not cutting it. Im sure if he was RV's teammate on that 2012 KX 450 I bet he would be putting in better results, but Im not beating up on the guys results .. he DID win a main and a few heat races, obviously he is more than fast enough, I just think his conditioning and that bike needs some help ..maybe the fact that CR is out and will bump him into 3rd in the points may light a fire under his arse?? .. I dunno Im just anxious to see what happens with JS7 the next few weeks, Im not hating on yamaha , I love there machines have owned and loved several.. just makes me wonder whats up with these newest generation models , thats all

in the observations article on racerx it says the JGR bikes are about 10 pounds heavier then the factory hondas. you cant tell me that doesnt make a difference when it comes to a full moto

AJMAG247, on 22 February 2012 - 01:25 PM, said:

Are the factory Honda's the lightest machines out there? Is it only 5lbs heavier than the Zook and KTM?

TurnKey, on 22 February 2012 - 01:43 PM, said:

EDIT: i mis read its actually 16 pounds if the 140 lbs bike holds true. " If that’s true, Stewart’s bike is a whopping 16 pounds heavier than the factory Hondas!"
from the article,
"The Factory Kawasakis and Suzuki follow at 228 to 230 pounds. After them, at 231 pounds (give or take a few pounds depending on tire selection), is the factory KTM"

"The heaviest bikes out there are the Yamaha YZ450Fs of the JGR team. Even people at Yamaha will admit that their bike is the heaviest. It sits somewhere around the 235-pound mark, although I had a person who would know tell me they thought it was around 240 pounds"

the limit in AMA is 220 LBS. shorts bike is right at that limit, and reed,brayton,canard are around 222-223 lbs

Edited by AJMAG247, 22 February 2012 - 02:02 PM.

Latest update...........

Stewart has left JGR in a "mutual" agreement.
He is testing Reeds bike as we speak and will carry the Two-Two banner for the remainder of the SX year.




Ahhh sh!t, it's not April yet.......sorry.
But would you be too surprised?

This is getting silly, but fun to read.  It's clearly not the bike.  There were 7 Yamahas out of the top 20 in the series final standings last year.  Who knows why there's not as many blue bikes on the gate this year - probably contingency $.  If I was a struggling privateer living week to week I'd go where the money was too.  In our local series the top guys are usually on the brands that pay back the best.

Crusty Cy, on 22 February 2012 - 05:13 PM, said:

even if you were one of the top three or four guys in supercross, you'd still go where the money is.   Or, you could do what Chad did and basically do it with your own wallet.    But we all see what can happen with that.

Wow, whole lot of retard in this thread. lol

rr558, on 22 February 2012 - 05:39 PM, said:

Are you REALLY that big??

rr558, on 22 February 2012 - 05:39 PM, said:

i know at least one

rr558, on 22 February 2012 - 05:39 PM, said:

  and where is that at?  i see people with diff opinions talking about something like big boys... then along comes well... never mind!

probably one of the threads that has been on topic with no radical opinions for shock value!   well for the most part!  mainly the second page