After attending Millville this past weekend I was surprised to see a lot of the pros in the MX class riding Honda.
It was my assumption that the "factory" riders obviously don't have a choice, but I assume most privateers probably more or less get their choice of bike to ride.
Of course if your sponsored by Red Valley Honda and Polaris, you will probably be riding a honda.
I just went and counted, 27 of the top 40 riders last Sunday rode a CRF450R.
There were 4 people on RMZ450s and 2 riders (both factory) on a 450sx.
If there was any doubt in my mind on what 450 to buy (if and when I do purchase one) that stat pretty much just made up my mind.
I have no idea why most privateers pick Honda. Maybe Honda has better privateer support, maybe 67% of all the power sports dealerships in the U.S. sell Honda. Maybe it is simply they all like the color Red.
The one thing I do know is that this statistic tells me that Honda CRF450s don't suck. I don't give a crap if the #1 rider of all time was on a Suzuki. He is super human and riding a factory prepped bike. He has access to resources I as an average rider / racer will never have.
These privateers on the other hand resemble the racing I do much closer. They don't have factory engineers to talk to. They just have aftermarket companies.
I guess the bottom line is this; At the end of the day the factories are out there to sell their bikes. When making a bike purchase, I could care less who comes in #1 the most. I want to be riding what the majority of the pros ride. The logic being that they have a lot more knowledge than I do.
Anyone agree / disagree? Maybe have more to say on the topic?
P.S. After a casual glance at everyones contingency programs I concluded that Suzuki has the best, but everyones is really close. So it cannot be explained away with that.
It was my assumption that the "factory" riders obviously don't have a choice, but I assume most privateers probably more or less get their choice of bike to ride.
Of course if your sponsored by Red Valley Honda and Polaris, you will probably be riding a honda.
I just went and counted, 27 of the top 40 riders last Sunday rode a CRF450R.
There were 4 people on RMZ450s and 2 riders (both factory) on a 450sx.
If there was any doubt in my mind on what 450 to buy (if and when I do purchase one) that stat pretty much just made up my mind.
I have no idea why most privateers pick Honda. Maybe Honda has better privateer support, maybe 67% of all the power sports dealerships in the U.S. sell Honda. Maybe it is simply they all like the color Red.
The one thing I do know is that this statistic tells me that Honda CRF450s don't suck. I don't give a crap if the #1 rider of all time was on a Suzuki. He is super human and riding a factory prepped bike. He has access to resources I as an average rider / racer will never have.
These privateers on the other hand resemble the racing I do much closer. They don't have factory engineers to talk to. They just have aftermarket companies.
I guess the bottom line is this; At the end of the day the factories are out there to sell their bikes. When making a bike purchase, I could care less who comes in #1 the most. I want to be riding what the majority of the pros ride. The logic being that they have a lot more knowledge than I do.
Anyone agree / disagree? Maybe have more to say on the topic?
P.S. After a casual glance at everyones contingency programs I concluded that Suzuki has the best, but everyones is really close. So it cannot be explained away with that.