Bubba and his carb....

[Micahdawg]

I like how bubba mentions that "this ole carb bike is still getting it done." I keep thinking, dude, you could ride a 125 and get it done. but then I got thinking seriously.......how old of a bike do you think bubba could realistically ride and still win with?

Think he could pull it off with a 98 400F?

 

[Vic]

Yes.

 

[dirt bike dave]

He would have to work even harder and he might not dominate every round.

But with factory prep, yes, he could still win on a 10 year old bike. Especially on an extremely technical track that rewards rider skill.

Some kind of handicap would make the racing closer, but it also kind of fun to watch JBS at his best, just like it was fun to watch McGrath or Carmichael. If the AMA wants to make the racing closer, they should make the tracks easier.

 

[James]

Considering the grief setup issues caused him this year...I wouldn't bet on him winning much on a bike that was substantially less than what he has.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Considering the grief setup issues caused him this year...I wouldn't bet on him winning much on a bike that was substantially less than what he has.

He looked a little shaky at the start of the year, but he is dialed in now.

It seems he is spanking Chad and the rest of the field with little effort. IMO if he really put the hammer down for 20 laps, he could be winning by 30+ seconds instead of his usual 10 seconds.

Is a factory prepped '98 bike 1.5 seconds slower per lap than his current bike? Assuming Bubba has had tons of time to practice on the machine, I think he could still win some rounds.

 

[XRpredator]

the '98 "400" was also a little larger, if I recall correctly. Remember, the 4-strokes were allowed to be up to 540cc at the time, and I think Doug Henry was running around on a 500cc bike.

so there's that.

 

[James]

He looked a little shaky at the start of the year, but he is dialed in now.

It seems he is spanking Chad and the rest of the field with little effort. IMO if he really put the hammer down for 20 laps, he could be winning by 30+ seconds instead of his usual 10 seconds.

Is a factory prepped '98 bike 1.5 seconds slower per lap than his current bike? Assuming Bubba has had tons of time to practice on the machine, I think he could still win some rounds.

Its something that can't be proven of course but I remember him crashing a whole bunch putting the hammer down trying to race RC on comparable equipment and I remember him blaming a whole lot on his equipment disadvantage with the KX250 that one year he ran it against the 450s. So history would seem to indicate that "hammer down" Bubba or inferior equipment Bubba is not a great bet.

 

[Someone]

Its something that can't be proven of course but I remember him crashing a whole bunch putting the hammer down trying to race RC on comparable equipment and I remember him blaming a whole lot on his equipment disadvantage with the KX250 that one year he ran it against the 450s. So history would seem to indicate that "hammer down" Bubba or inferior equipment Bubba is not a great bet.

No, RC knew JS's weakness, that's what happened. Just wait until Reed decides to act upon this weakness. :blah:

 

[Micahdawg]

I was just wondering at what point the technology is so noticably inferior that it would pose a significant disadvantage to him. I'm thinking anything within 10 years is doable, but much older than that and you'll probably notice some big differences. Ero's and geometry probably being the biggest.

That 98 400 was also HEAVY if I remember right. Weren't they like 250+lbs?

 

[dirt bike dave]

So history would seem to indicate that "hammer down" Bubba or inferior equipment Bubba is not a great bet.

Good point. I'm happy to agree that RC always had Bubba's number.

However, '09 Bubba seems more mature, and RC is not on the track.

 

[_JOE_]

I think once he has the season in the bag he should bust out the 'ol 99 kx250 and see if he can hang with Chad & them.

I bet it would be go good.

 

[SpDyKen]

I think the guys that sign his paychecks would much prefer him to switch to a YZ250 instead. Same outcome. :cool: :boss:

 

[FruDaddy]

I think that Mr. Stewart could live with a lesser engine, but he needs the best suspension that he can get to compensate for his mistakes. The lesser powerplant would increase the error tally, and therefore create a greater necessity for that factory suspension.

True RC knew his weakness, and so does Reed. James Stewart cannot ride under pressure. It blurs his vision and reduces him ability to ride within his limits. The promoters have been reminding us all year that he wins every supercross race that he doesn't wreck in. Ricky kept the pressure on and indirectly caused the wrecks. Chad now realizes that he only needs to apply the pressure (does anybody remember a recent round 1 missed shift) and he will witness as crash and probably experience a win.

This only applies to supercross, since RC absolutely owned Stewart in warm weather. Also, since Reed has already left the outdoors and Stewart has made his departure from the realm just in time to avoid the Northwestern leprechaun that could turn the same lap times on half the bike, we will never verify this out there. We will only know that when the only pressure being applied was that of accepting the gift of a championship, given by RC running half of the season, Stewart blew out a knee and wasted 2 seasons (one out and one in).

 

[_JOE_]

I think the guys that sign his paychecks would much prefer him to switch to a YZ250 instead. Same outcome. :cool: :boss:

He looked better on the green machine.

 

[Micahdawg]

I think that Mr. Stewart could live with a lesser engine, but he needs the best suspension that he can get to compensate for his mistakes. The lesser powerplant would increase the error tally, and therefore create a greater necessity for that factory suspension.

True RC knew his weakness, and so does Reed. James Stewart cannot ride under pressure. It blurs his vision and reduces him ability to ride within his limits. The promoters have been reminding us all year that he wins every supercross race that he doesn't wreck in. Ricky kept the pressure on and indirectly caused the wrecks. Chad now realizes that he only needs to apply the pressure (does anybody remember a recent round 1 missed shift) and he will witness as crash and probably experience a win.

This only applies to supercross, since RC absolutely owned Stewart in warm weather. Also, since Reed has already left the outdoors and Stewart has made his departure from the realm just in time to avoid the Northwestern leprechaun that could turn the same lap times on half the bike, we will never verify this out there. We will only know that when the only pressure being applied was that of accepting the gift of a championship, given by RC running half of the season, Stewart blew out a knee and wasted 2 seasons (one out and one in).

Only problem, I've never seen Chad be able to really ride at Bubba's pace and hold it together. There have been times over the past couple years where for several laps Reed showed enough speed to stay right with him, but it always ended with him bobbling or wadding it up (because he was riding past his comfort zone).

 

[YamaB]

I'd like to see him have a go at it on a new yz250 smoker.

I so miss going to supercross a few years ago, and hearing the sweet sound of angry 2-strokes buzzing, and the oh so sweet smell of pre-mix smoke in the air!

 

[Kawi4life]

I was at two pro nationals (Unadilla and Broome Tioga) where James got the holeshot twice on his 250 2-stroke and led at least half the race. For a short time in the beginning it seemed like he was pulling away then Ricky would just start slowly reeling him in then the crashing sensation of James going one way and his KX going the other, lol.

Just the way he started a couple of those motos it seemed like he was going to pull away but as soon as Ricky was near, James found a way to crash.

 

[Micahdawg]

He actually set the fastest lap time in one of the moto's on that 250 smoker against all the boys with the 450's.

 

[GarbatyA4]

I would love to see James race everyone on a 250 smoker. I think it would be real close. But, I think it would also tire him out?

 

[James]

Anybody see Indy?

 

[dirt bike dave]

Anybody see Indy?

Yep. Great race! One of the best main events of the year.

Much more fun to watch than the typical Bubba run away.

Props to Chad for doing what he had to do in Indy. The rest of the season just got more interesting, but I still got to put Bubba as the big favorite for the title.

 

[Kawi4life]

What is it with pro riders these days calling it quits on the outdoors so soon? Is two motos in one day too hard? Doesn't pay as much? etc.? I think if you want to race SX professionally you should be required to race the MX series too. I live up northeast and there's no SX races around here, but there's plenty of nationals in comfortable driving distance. I hate that I won't be able to go watch James live plus I like the outdoor tracks better than indoor. It would just suck to go watch the outdoors knowing that only the 2nd tier riders are there (no Reed vs James for example.)

Oh well, I get to save money by not going to the nationals...lol. :blah:

 

[ericz103]

Most other sports have an off season, and if you are a top athlete that can make it happen why not? I will agree that it is dissapointing for the fans.

 

[XRpredator]

Most other sports have an off season . . .

so does SX/MX. Pretty sure there's no AMA races from mid-September to January. Or something like that.

There's what, 17 SX races, and 12 MX races? That's 29 weeks. There's 52 in a year. So they have 23 weekends off, and they're getting paid to do what a million mouth-breathers would kill to do for a living.

 

[ericz103]

i stand corrected