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
, 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 !!!