We have lost a great racer!
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    mxracer76
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    We have lost a great racer!

    by mxracer76 » Sun Dec 22, 2013 9:49 pm

    Well at least us Honda fans will think so! Looks like Chad Reed has turned green.

    Oh well, he is still one of the all time greats and I hope he does well anyway.
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    JimDirt
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    by JimDirt » Tue Dec 24, 2013 11:23 am

    This news has been out for a while , it has been known for quite a while that he was not happy with the newest CRF's suspension , and to be supported by Honda he was forced to run it or get no support , so he chose to shop around , he was testing for months before he chose Green

    Also , you might want to rename this topic , it sounds like someone died...kinda misleading
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    crfsonly
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    by crfsonly » Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:26 pm

    JimDirt wrote:This news has been out for a while , it has been known for quite a while that he was not happy with the newest CRF's suspension , and to be supported by Honda he was forced to run it or get no support , so he chose to shop around , he was testing for months before he chose Green

    Also , you might want to rename this topic , it sounds like someone died...kinda misleading


    well, at least that's the story being put out there by 22 motorsports. some insiders say based on his results last year in SX and MX honda made the decision not to provide factory bike support. it was pretty obvious from this spectators point of view that chad was not in the best physical condition and many of his tweets confirmed this. physical conditioning is one of the few things, barring an injury, that a rider has control over and usually an excellent barometer of their desire to be at their best.

    even still, i would have liked to see him racing red again this year. it will be interesting to see how he does on green.
    Last edited by crfsonly on Tue Dec 24, 2013 2:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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    by mxracer76 » Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:50 pm

    JimDirt, as this is true that this info has been around for a while, it is not true that he was "forced" to use the air fork suspension. He did state that he tried to find a setup with it that would work but was not able to, so he went back to his old setup. One of the biggest reasons that Reed started TwoTwo, besides the fact that he couldn't get a ride, was because he refused to be "forced" to using products that he didn't like. That is why he left Kawasaki. He wasn't happy with the bike setup and felt that he had very little say on what he wanted changed.

    If Honda was "forcing" him to use suspension, why would they not "force" him to use the same exhaust? Muscle Milk Honda and Geico Honda use Yoshimura, TwoTwo used Prociruit.

    And stop being so negative, lol, just because we lost someone doesn't always mean death:)
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    by JimDirt » Tue Dec 24, 2013 7:53 pm

    Was not being negative , remember we just lost Caselli , so that was the first thought that ran thru my head , was Oh No ! , not another one !

    As far as being forced , actually he kind of was , all the Honda riders had to run the Factory Suspension for that year bike , he wanted to go back to the "old setup" but Honda said NO suspension , no support! , the factories come out with this new stuff and how bad does it look for them when their own riders do not want to run their stuff , not a good selling point at the dealers (remember when Chad was fast in 11 , the bike had different suspension , he did not gel with the new stuff , because he is a "sensitive to setup" rider , anyone that knows anything about Reed knows this about him , he is also very good at relaying what he "feels" to his team , he is a excellent tester when it comes to feedback , he constantly said he had no front end feel with the new forks especially when pushed hard , but in order to continue to get "Factory Support" , he was forced to run it (this is one of the reasons that MCR runs Black bikes with NO factory name on them *Alessi runs Ohlins because he does not like the new forks*) , they can change whatever they like without repercussions from the "Factory"

    So by the end of the season , after constant setup changes , he said he was done with them ,and i am sure Honda knew it and was ready to let him go (Honda has always been know to drop top riders , RC being one of them at the peak of Honda's reign *they have not won a big bike championship since RC was let go) so Reed chose to sit out the final 2 races as his contract ended at the end of MX season , in the mean time he was out (shown many times on video and pics) "testing" other brands , where he ended back at Kawasaki (the bike he hated a few years earlier because of the handling characteristics (as well as some conflicts within the team *the same conflicts Stewart had with the same member of the team when he was riding for them* , (initials MF) , but the "new" bike was completely different than the old one (the same bike that Kawasaki changed to mid season with RV and his results went from OK to almost unstoppable)

    His physical condition though not the best , was good enough for him to get good results , but his confidence in his bike definitely changed his results making him barely in the top 15 some races ...confidence in your equipment , is very important at that level (or at any level for that matter) , confidence is the same thing that kept Stewart at the back of the pack(in the mains) most of the year till they finally got his suspension dialed in better , then his results showed it, and by the end of the year (MEC) his confidence in the bike showed (he has stated this himself) , Reed never got that confidence in his bike back , so he opted out , though this is not the first time Reed has had conflicts with brands and the people in charge of them

    How he does on green is strictly in where his confidence lies on it , remember when he went to Honda , he tried every brand , and said the Honda felt the best to him (when he started his team) , now the Honda has the new fork which a lot of riders did not like (they all said it has no front end feel), and struggled with , to keep off the ground , all the Honda riders had this issue , and for someone who rides by "feel" this just did not work for Reed , his health issues have plagued him thru out his carrier , but never kept him in the back of the pack as far as he was this last year , that was purely confidence , hearsay or not , you could see it in his riding , he was struggling , and looked afraid to push the bike at all ,, people that he had no problem walking away from before , were riding by him like he was in the C class , which showed in his results

    Sorry for the long post , i guess i coulda just wrote a book :mrgreen: , and this is just MY opinion and observations , though i am not really a Reed fan (i am a Stewart(both),Short,Alessi,Roczen,Millsaps,fan) , cant stand RV, RD , JG and was really never a Reed fan because of the issues he had with Stewart

    Anyway , enjoy your Holidays ! and dont take everything so seriously , the only one who really knows 100% what is going on with Reed , is Reed !!!!! ;)

    And i agree Ken , when he was dialed in on the Honda in 11 , he really was in contention and looked good (and i dont even like him *fan wise*), then 1 mistake and it was all over


    Holy CRAP ! , i WAS writing a book !!! :shock:
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    by mxracer76 » Tue Dec 24, 2013 8:58 pm

    Love all the info, or opinion depending how you look at it lol.

    You mentioned how Honda has not won a championship since RC was let go, which is absolutely true. And since Honda is known to drop top riders, maybe this could be the reason that they haven't won in so long?

    What I don't get is that back in 1996 when McGrath won the championship, he let the cat out of the bag and let everyone know that the bike he was racing for the past 3 years was actually a 1993 with different plastics. He said that he hated the newer bikes and refused to race them so Honda let him race the older bike as long as he didn't tell anyone.

    So if Honda wants to start making a charge for a championship, maybe they should try the same approach as the did with MC back in the 90's and listen to the racers instead of the "race what we give you" approach.
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    mxracer76
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    by mxracer76 » Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:11 pm

    Oh, and its also known that because McGrath let the cat out of the bag about what bike he was really racing, it caused a lot of issues between himself and Honda and that is why they couldn't come to terms with a contract in 1997.
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    by JimDirt » Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:18 pm

    Yea , that pretty much sums it up !

    But i know their main thing is they want the "fans" to see the riders using the same parts they get when they go to the dealer (visible things) , like suspension stickers . etc , to me it would have been in their best interest to give Reed the internals that he wanted (11 internals that he liked and excelled on) , Reed would have been happy , and Honda would have their stickers on to push their "new" suspension in the showrooms , its a win win.........


    But we all know that the corporate world does not think that way
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