Fonseca's Got a Rubber Leg

DualSportr · May 9, 2001

Okay, so how many of you watched the Las Vegas SX 125 race?

Ernie fell over and stalled the bike near the final lap, and spent the rest of the race kicking the poor 250F like a two stroke. Needless to say, he went from first to 8th.

Why can't anyone teach this guy the hot start procedure? I mean, I know it's the heat of battle and everything, and it's hard to take an extra tenth of a second to do it right, but jeeze, after having this happen time after time this year, you think he'd figure it out!

If you were the team manager, would you put him back on a two stroke, and get someone else to run the 250F in the outdoor races? I'd at least make him hot-start the bike 20 times a day in practice. Make him realize how much faster it is if you do it right.

Whaddaya think?

yz426thump · May 9, 2001

yup yup

joeblack · May 9, 2001

Ernesto should've never "choked":D in the first place. He had Pastrana beat! He did take a pretty mean fall and on any bike he would've never made it back to top three. I agree, though, that he took a while to start up again. I was there and had a bet with a Pastrana fan (whoever came ahead of the other).

vern#19 · May 10, 2001

Erny Choked

He choked when he saw Ramsey big time . but WHOOOO cares he won the east two times can we ??;)

PTCruiser · May 10, 2001

I don't know-this seems to be a flaw in the Yamaha's if you ask me. My buddy's got the 250f and he knows the whole drill for hot-starting it, yet when he was at REM for the Saturday race and tipped it over, he tried everything to start that thing for about 10 minutes before finally giving up! I've ridden it too and it just doesn't seem consistant as far as what you should do. Sometimes you need to use the hot-start and other times you don't :scream: Not having a automatic decompression lever is a big mistake by Yamaha.....

yz250f · May 10, 2001

I never have a problem

I was one of those people who couldn't start my 250F when I first got it but now I have NO Problem starting it. Hot, Cold, after stalling or dropping it... no problem. I've never cased it really hard or had a "terrible" crash with it but I've certainly dropped it and stalled it, crashed it into trees and stalled it, bogged it down in mud and water, and have never had a problem re-starting it.

To be honest, I rarely use the Compression Release after it warms up. I weigh 200 lbs and am 5'11"... maybe that helps but really my bike is a joy to start.

I just count my blessings.

BrentBlain · May 10, 2001

i don't think his bike is the same as a normal 250F, Being a works bike and a super engine the thing is probably alot harder to start than a stock 250F. When you crank major horse power out of engines they become unpredictable. Maybe they should make him ride a stock one like they did in japan, hehe. Either that or teach him to keep it right side up.

-Brent

cp380sx · May 10, 2001

Yep, plus Ernie is a midget. That doesn't make it any easier for him.

Cameron

Bob Brooks · May 11, 2001

Yamaha four-strokes are simply not hard to start. You just can't get in a big hurry and you have to follow the procedure, which isn't that precise. The problem is guys hurrying and stabbing at them like 125cc two-strokes. If you do that, they'll never run. But if you take your time and kick it properly, it's a one-kick procedure. I grew up riding thumpers and I don't have trouble starting any of them. As far as Ernie being too small to start the 250F, that's nonsense. Any woman or young kid can start a 250F if they do it right. It's like swinging a golf club, it's not a matter of size or brute strength, it's all about technique and procedure.

I agree with the previous post that suggested that Ernie return to a two-stroke. When I was a kid, we used to have a little rule for riding...if you can't start the motorcycle, you can't ride it. He obviously can't start the 250F and is too bullheaded to learn how in a race situation, so he doesn't belong on that motorcycle. I realize his machine no doubt has higher compression and less flywheel inertia than a stocker, but it shouldn't be that difficult to start. It does make for good entertainment and giggles though to watch a rider of his talent and caliber kicking his guts out and not getting anywhere. Nothing against Fonseca, I think he's a super talented rider and he does things on a motorcycle that most of us can only dream of, but I can't help but giggle when I watch him trying to start his thumper.

*william* · May 11, 2001

Another thing I noticed about Ernie and that YZF at Anaheim 3 was that he was constantly banging off the rev limiter and THEN he would shift. I was watching him ride, listening to the bike, and mumbling "Shift Ernie, Shift!" But, heat of the battle and all that. I guess he must of gotten the hang of it later on... huh?

DualSportr · May 11, 2001

Originally posted by cp380sx
Yep, plus Ernie is a midget. That doesn't make it any easier for him.

Cameron

Hey, wait, he's about 3 or 4 inches taller than me??? Boy, do I feel short!

But I can start a YZF & WR on the second kick! ;)

I didn't know whether to feel sorry for the guy or go throw dirt on him. That has to be frustrating for his mechanic!

BTW, the more mods we've done to the YZF, the easier it is to start - cam changes, lighter flywheel, ignition timing, etc.

Of course, I'm not trying to start the thing with 6 laps to go in a stadium filled with 30,000 fans, with more watching on pay-per-view....I guess it's hard to say what's going through his mind (except, "start you !@#$!!!! bike!).

cp380sx · May 14, 2001

DualSportr, My dad lives in Bend. I love that area. Do you ride out at the dunes very often?

Cameron

DualSportr · May 15, 2001

<<DualSportr, My dad lives in Bend. I love that area. Do you ride out at the dunes very often? >>

Yes, we ride the dunes all the time. It's simply the best! We also hit Glamis & Dumont once a year -- I still can't decide which I like best.

Does your dad live in Bend, or North Bend? North Bend is on the coast by the dunes, and is actually about 6 hours from Bend, which is in Central Oregon. Leave it to the ornery grumps who settled this area to name places 300 miles apart the same thing!

cp380sx · May 15, 2001

My dad is near you in Bend. I fly in to Redmond when I visit him. He is pretty close to the road to Mt. Bachelor, up in the hills.

Cameron

Johnrock · May 15, 2001

Maybe he meant the dunes in Christmas Valley.....:)

Those are awesome, ridden there once already this year.

cp380sx · May 16, 2001

Yea, Christmas Valley are the dunes I was referring to. My dad took me down there in his 4x4 a couple of years ago and the place looked fantastic. I wishing I had my bike with me.

Cameron

DualSportr · May 16, 2001

Oh man, if you like the Christmas Valley dunes, wait till you see the Oregon Dunes. Yeeeeehaw!!

Hey, if you fly into the Redmond airport, you know you're only about 1/2 mile away from the Powroll headquarters? They're the ones who build all the crazy four stroke stuff.

cp380sx · May 17, 2001

It's strange that companies like Powroll and Muzzy etc. are in that area. I had a Powroll 85cc piston and HP cam in my '73 XR75. That bike would smoke everything around here back then.

Cameron

TWright43 · May 18, 2001

with all the stuff they can do i am surprised that yamaha cant come up with a superlight and trick 1 or 2 time use starter for that poor guy.

DualSportr · May 22, 2001

Truespode, I agree, with the race fuel we can get in the "real" world, the higher octane in a relatively low compression engine makes ignition difficult sometimes. Especially at higher elevations.

The thing is, the racers get some interesting fuels. The stuff is very volitile, and quite different than the high octane fuels we get. In fact, the ELF fuels okayed by the AMA (formulated by Nutec) are really interesting things. I just learned a year or so ago that octane and leading aren't everything. There is so much cool stuff out there that we'll never know about!

I think TWright has the....er....(w)right idea! Since Ernie doesn't want to mess with the four stroke starting procedure, Yamaha should be able to hook up a starter. Of course, the AMA would probably make them produce it for all the YZF's then. Stupid production rules!

andym · May 31, 2001

I heard a response from Fonseca's mechanic about this subjest. He basically said that Fonseca is too dumb to remember to use the hot start button.

DualSportr · Jun 1, 2001

He basically said that Fonseca is too dumb to remember to use the hot start button.

:p lmao! Man, that's gotta hurt!

Fonseca's Got a Rubber Leg

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