James seems honest.   Here are things in his words.

http://espn.go.com/a...acing-motocross  

surely the haters will jump on to say something crazy.  

Then the childish bickering and name calling will start.   Lets hope there's at least several good posts before it all goes down hill...

I like that he finally set realistic goals for himself.  His head seems to be in a better position than it ever has. Can't wait to see if he still has it or not. I do think 2012 he has a better shot than 2013 though.  He will likely face stiffer comp next year than this year. Rv, reed, barcia etc.

I found that to be as great read.

I also think he is hungry for wins now, he could
shock a lot of people.

He set realistic goals for himself and IMO is taking a whole new look at his racing career......Which I like



I always liked Bubba but I thought James was a dick. Like I said a few days ago I'll wait a few weeks to decide if he really has a new outlook towards racing dirt bikes

I'm not a Stewart hater or a hater of any rider but these words from James sound the most mature yet that i've heard. I've always just felt that James let the fame get to him and I knew once he did a reality show he was going to be messed up and I've also felt that he needs to get out of his daddy's shadow and be a grown up all on his own.  But what the heck do I know I just love watching people ride dirt bikes, they are all very talented people, best of luck to all of them and lets hope for less injuries.

ossidog, on 17 May 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

yep.. good read.   Although... nobody would be shocked if he won.

Most of the stuff he said is the kind of stuff he always says.  He's always been very confident about his goals.  He says he hasn't done this in 4 years.   Its good that he's getting his love for racing back.

The positives:  JS seems to have his head on straighter.  Unlike SM Yamaha at Unadilla...Suzuki will have plenty of outdoor set up data to get the bike close to start.  Finally, JS is just plan FAST.

The question marks:  The real question is FITNESS.  You can not train to get fully MX fit....you can only ride.  MX involves a ton of involuntary muscle reflex cycles, much more so in outdoor due to the random and brutal roughness of natural terrain tracks, vs. artificial point and squirt SX tracks.  There is simply no way to get prepared other than to ride outdoor 30's and 30+2's.  If JS is serious about doing his best...he needs to have been riding like that at least 4 or 5 days a week...on outdoor MX tracks...for the last month.  Not his home track.  Real tracks....  That's what RV would have been doing in the same situation.

JS used to work as hard as anyone....harder perhaps.   I think that regaining that desire to put in the work is the last piece of the puzzle...  It is going to be interesting, either way.  He does looks a lot more comfortable on the Yellow than he ever did on the Blue....  We will know in 4 more days...

I just skimmed through it and it looked too me like he took no blame. It was all the Yamaha.

ColoradoKXer, on 17 May 2012 - 03:59 PM, said:

Thats because the questions where about the Yamaha directly... he is not the first top guy to dislike the yz450. You forget what Reed said?

FiremanKay, on 17 May 2012 - 04:14 PM, said:

He mad reference to crashing 11 out of 17 times or something and he blamed it ALL on the bike.

ColoradoKXer, on 17 May 2012 - 03:59 PM, said:

He didn't trash the yamaha.  He said this...  "I'm not saying the bike doesn't work. I'm saying the bike doesn't work for me"

Don't you believe him?

What are the exact words you think he should say?

Edited by mauricedorris, 17 May 2012 - 05:56 PM.

ColoradoKXer, on 17 May 2012 - 04:57 PM, said:

If you skimmed the article, you need a refund on your speed reading class.  JS liked the old 450F, does not like the backwards 450F.
From the article:
In 2009, I won 11 of 17 races so it wasn't the brand, it's just how they built this new motorcycle that did not gel with me.

I'll be curious how he does with the bike.  What I got from the article, this summer MX season is really a long testing session for the 2013 SX season.  Enjoy racing and see what happens.  Given that almost all of the old champions were injured during the 2012 SX season, just surviving might win the MX championship.

Edited by Kev_XR, 17 May 2012 - 05:55 PM.

My bad!!!!!!!!!!! Whoops.

ColoradoKXer, on 17 May 2012 - 04:57 PM, said:

well, not really... he mentioned winning 11 out of 17 times in 2009. He was trying to make it less personal towards Yamaha, and more about the current 450 in particular.

edit: I need to refresh before I post!

Edited by CodyJ, 17 May 2012 - 06:04 PM.

CodyJ, on 17 May 2012 - 06:03 PM, said:

Yeah. I made reference to screwing up.

ColoradoKXer, on 17 May 2012 - 06:04 PM, said:

Yeah, and just as I did, you didn't refresh to see my edit...

CodyJ, on 17 May 2012 - 06:06 PM, said:

It's all good!!!!!!!! I don't hate Stewart I guess I'm just a little bitter that I'm a die hard Yamaha fan and it sucks that it has to be the Yamaha that he wasn't good at riding and everybody hates it.

ColoradoKXer, on 17 May 2012 - 06:12 PM, said:

Agreed! I'm a Yamaha fan as well, and it always sucks to hear someone bash your brand or bike. (whichever it may be)  I'm generally in the 2 stroke forum, but now I'm off to the 450 forum to see what the general consensus is on the bike. Do most people really dislike it that much?

I was so over James, and thought he was over, but this interview makes me think he has a chance of coming back. He seems to have settled back down to earth....
Either that or he has some really good PR guys writing for him

tribalbc, on 17 May 2012 - 06:56 PM, said:

Tell you the truth, I think JGR had him so excited about what they "could do to the bike" he really did feel like he was going to be back on top. Pull you have a coach pumping you up, plus the team. I'm sure he really thought he could have grabbed that # one plate ... we know how that went. Now I think he sees that its not all about money. Reed walked from Kawi, it was just not a good fit for him. I think he will do well. I'm more excited to see the orange 450 out there though!
Got a feeling we will be seeing a new YZ for 2014 for sure