Ok, ok...I'm cancelling MXA

CR Swade

~SPONSOR~
Jan 18, 2001
1,764
5
This is tough for me, because I have always subscribed to MXA. I've defended them against the bashers. Argued w/ Rich over them. But after this last issue, I've got to pull off the track and get off of the MXA moto-sled.

I've seen bad tests for the past 10 years, but the new 450 test is stupid. I've ridden the thing and it does not handle like a oil tanker. THAT distinction goes to my 91 KX250. Also for the record, I enjoy riding an XR400, so don't take me wrong on this-the new CRF450 feels nothing like a 400. It revs much faster, has no engine braking and has a very racy feel to it. The test would have you believe this thing was straight out of the BSA factory.

For the umpteenth time, MXA's ad budget and personal preferences got the best of them-after 20 years, I wash my hands of them.

Oh, in addition to this-please don't think my obvious Honda bias is fueling this. I have lived w/ funky CR tests for almost 10 years. I have also written off goofy KTM tests-my Katoom was fast and a joy to ride (but not according to MXA). But this last attempt at objective journalism (which I don't feel was ever meant to be objective), was sooo transparent that it actually insulted my somewhat limited intelligence.

MXA-you've been a bad date. You have never responded to any attempts to praise you, stand up for you and now I'm dumping you. What a bunch of dorks.:mad:
 

CR Swade

~SPONSOR~
Jan 18, 2001
1,764
5
Oh, pass this on to Timmy (as Rich calls him)-I'll keep my Dirt Rider subscription. I prefer the whole glass half-full approach. The mag I'm subscribing to that I really enjoy now is Racer X. Davey pays attention-looks like he has another 20 year customer.
 

Okiewan

Admin
Dec 31, 1969
29,555
2,237
Texas
Humm. Granted, I haven't read all the reviews of the CRF, but it seems to me most mags are saying it's the best thing since sliced bread?
 

Patman

Pantless Wonder
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Dec 26, 1999
19,774
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Maybe if Honda had purchased more testing er, I mean ad space things may have been different (i.e. they may have printed the truth). I'm so sick and tired of their "We're the authority..." crap and the mountianous ad content I won't even pick one up at the grocery store to look through while waiting in line. Heck I'd rather flip through a National Enquirer! Ya' know maybe they're really the same thing!
 

JuliusPleaser

Too much of a good thing.
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 22, 2000
4,392
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Originally posted by Patman
Heck I'd rather flip through a National Enquirer! Ya' know maybe they're really the same thing!
MXA future headlines:

"Fonseca Trapped In Gear Bag - Eats Own Foot"

Waitress Claims: "I'm Having Ricky's Two-Headed Love Child!"

Shocking Mike Brown Tell-All! "I Was Sexually Abused By My Uncle Daddy."
 

XRpredator

AssClown SuperPowers
Damn Yankees
Aug 2, 2000
13,510
19
Originally posted by Julius Pleaser
MXA future headlines:

"Fonseca Trapped In Gear Bag - Eats Own Foot"

Waitress Claims: "I'm Having Ricky's Two-Headed Love Child!"

Shocking Mike Brown Tell-All! "I Was Sexually Abused By My Uncle Daddy."
Don't forget:

"Bat Boy signs with team Kawasaki! Says 'I'll eat the Leprechaun for breakfast!'"
 

nephron

Dr. Feel Good
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jun 15, 2001
2,552
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As Okie said--it's pretty obvious this bike ain't no slouch, and by the looks of most testers' opinioins, it may be the best thumper out there.

But I curse you for bringing this to light, because I have personally vowed--irregardless of the withdrawal sweats, seizures, tactile hallucinations and other things resulting from lack of "everything" dirt--personally vowed to never look at another issue of MXA again. It took me a while to catch on, but it's just old humor now. I just don't really find it a pleasant experience being repeatedly re-enlightened of their ignorance.

So why worry? Just dump it and don't pick it up again. The only thing to be slightly angry about is all the little misfed & misled children out there--whoah to them.

Oh well, at least it's just bad dirtbike info. Could be worse, I guess.:silly:
 

CR Swade

~SPONSOR~
Jan 18, 2001
1,764
5
I announced it not to produce earth-shattering results (world peace, end to children suffering). I did it because I usually argue their strong points. I'm conceding that I was wrong. Blatant forms of advertisements in the form of journalism are supposed to be represented as advertisement.

I was inviting a healthy helping of crow, served by none other than Rich himself. :confused:

Besides, giving up any habit, no matter how bad, after 20 years requires a bit of support. So when do the DT's set in :eek:?
 

mx547

Ortho doc's wet dream
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 24, 2000
4,787
102
i suppose it's possible that they just don't like anything that everyone else does.
 

CR Swade

~SPONSOR~
Jan 18, 2001
1,764
5
Well, I think it depends on how many YZ426's Yamaha has left to sell.

Maybe Honda ought to follow Suzuki's lead-drop MXA, then when the merger takes place between Kawi/Suzuki MXA would be testing the best of the Big Two-Yamaha and KTM;)
 

spanky250

Mod Ban
Dec 10, 2000
1,490
1
Originally posted by mx547
i haven't read mxa in awhile. what do they generally say about ktms?
They still call them Enduro bikes, except for the 125 SX, of which they actually admit that it is as good as a YZ:eek: :eek: .
 

Tolson

Member
May 16, 2001
10
0
Cancelling MXA

I have to say that I have ridden the CR450 quite a bit and loved most things about it. My only real problem is the bike doesn't like to turn. This could be a crappy California dirt problem, but hey that's where we live and test.

I can say this though, I raced the World Vet this weekend on the CRF450R (only Saturday, hey I'm only 27) and after putting some 20mm (24mm stock) offset triple clamps on along with stiffer fork springs and a stiffer shock spring the CRF450R now turns almost on par with the 426.

As I said before if I had to spend my own hard earned cash I'd buy the 450. A set of triple clamps, some springs, an exhaust system and you have a great four-stroke that weighs 234. It will cost a lot more than that to get the YZ426 anywhere near 234.

Sincerely,

Tim Olson
Motocross Action
 

Rich Rohrich

Moderator / BioHazard
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 27, 1999
22,838
16,902
Chicago
Originally posted by CanadianRidr
Do you care to explain what is wrong with the exhaust system?:think

It's stock :silly:
It's obvious Honda had no idea what they were doing when they designed the exhaust on the CRF, and the bike won't be complete till some hack running a dynojet in a warehouse (oops I mean Valued Advertiser) produces a new CORRECT exhaust system :silly:

Timmy - You'll have to forgive us if we don't take it as gospel when YOU tell us that adding MORE trail via a t-clamp change is the enlightened way to a superior cornering CRF.

As much as it pains me to say it MXA does deserve credit for an excellent DIRT column addressing noise issues. Well done. Articles like that may actually get you guys a readership that is old enough to drive a car. Of course the Doofus-Tech articles like that idiotic "Temperature of Gas" crap is sure to queer the deal once all is said and done. You boys really should stick to what you're good at like MX sock shootouts and sticker glue comparisons. :D
 

John Curea

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Feb 29, 2000
177
0
Tim
Nice to see you on DRN.....

One question, whatever happened to the results of the MX-TECH 01CR250 test that we did with you guys last January??

We tried countless phone calls (never any of them returned) and emails and letters, also never returned.

Sooo, I figure while we all know you are out here, I am going to call you out..

We tested with you, Ray and Harry Lietner....Harry and Ray really liked the bike. During the whole process, Harry and Ray would provide us precise feedback on what the bike was doing and we adjusted accordingly. you on the other hand would come in and try to think of something to say....it was always different from what the other riders reported.
Then after we had the bike dialed, we decided to put the stock suspension back on the bike and send the riders back out. You decided to leave before that part....but Harry and Ray stayed , they both thought the stock suspension was almost unrideable compared to the MX-TECH suspension, especially at the faster speed they were going with our stuff on. Harry actually crashed twice pretty hard after we put the stock stuff back on.

You guys always beat the "Honesty and dedication to your readers" drum, but this time you dropped the ball for them. Because you kept some good info about a good product from them.

We just figured since you get beat up around here , you decided to ditch our test, since we are DRN.

You can run what you want in your mag, but why did you even call us out there.........I can take an honest feedback about our stuff, even if it is negative. But the other two riders absolutely loved the suspension.

What flames me up the most is that you guys didnt even have the guts to return our calls, letters, and emails.

Your Turn.........:p

John Curea
MX-TECH East Coast
724-336-3293.....
 

CR Swade

~SPONSOR~
Jan 18, 2001
1,764
5
Re: Cancelling MXA

Originally posted by Tolson
I have to say that I have ridden the CR450 quite a bit and loved most things about it. My only real problem is the bike doesn't like to turn. This could be a crappy California dirt problem, but hey that's where we live and test.

I can say this though, I raced the World Vet this weekend on the CRF450R (only Saturday, hey I'm only 27) and after putting some 20mm (24mm stock) offset triple clamps on along with stiffer fork springs and a stiffer shock spring the CRF450R now turns almost on par with the 426.

As I said before if I had to spend my own hard earned cash I'd buy the 450. A set of triple clamps, some springs, an exhaust system and you have a great four-stroke that weighs 234. It will cost a lot more than that to get the YZ426 anywhere near 234.

Sincerely,

Tim Olson
Motocross Action

:mad: ???!!! Why did we get the bizarro world version of the test. I didn't see any similarities between what you just stated, and the test that Ed Scheidler (sp?) wrote for you. Come on, admit it, you guys stepped on your YZ blue dinks.

Any first year journalism student could see this one a mile away.
 
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Patman

Pantless Wonder
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Dec 26, 1999
19,774
0
The truth EXPOSED!

MXA mind set = those that advertise with us are the best, reguardless of facts at hand.

Considering the results Mr. Olson had I would like to know if a correction of some form will be presented to the last round of CRF "tests".


This could be a crappy California dirt problem, but hey that's where we live and test
Yeah I'm sure they changed the dirt out just for you guys while the other mags got the good dirt :silly:


Oh Wade, Yamaha quit making "DT's" :confused:
 

Dr.billZ

Member
May 15, 2000
194
0
Hmmmm. And you all thought I was nuts (ie crazy, touched in the head, whacko, delerious.....)when I said the current crop of magazines suck water.....................2-3 years ago.
Guys, they all have fallen into the advertising zone. Only one magazine did it(stayed out of the advertising zone) and that was the OLD Dirt Bike mag under Rick Sieman.
Trail Rider mag does a pretty good job, but still panders somewhat to KTM. BUT KTM makes great off-road bikes, so they don't lie.......they just suck up a bit.
Basically it's hard to say something bad about someone that pays the bills....... when's the last time you said something negative(IN PUBLIC) about your boss. See, it's pretty hard.
 

CanadianRidr

Sponsoring Member
Oct 22, 2001
2,021
0
For those of you who didn't catch them, here are some of the quotes from MXA'S wonderful indepth test:silly:
Here's what they say, quotes:

"Not a single MXA test rider liked the handling."

"The CRF450 has a serious handling flaw. It casters, wanders, swivels and pushes."

"The downside to the CRF450's rosy picture is that it handles like a garbage scow."

..the YZ426 engine is much racier than the CRF450...On acceleration, the Honda CRF450 is a Chrysler minivan, while the 2002 YZ426 feels like Don Garlits' Swamp Rat."

"The Honda, KTM...turn like oil tankers."

"From a pure motocross point of view, the Yamaha YZ426 is a vastly superior race bike to the Honda CRF450."

"...the Yamaha YZ426 handles better, is faster, has better brakes, is well suspended..."

These genius's also say about the CRF450:
"...it's so easy to ride that most test riders went faster on the Honda than on the KTM or YZ."

So timmy how much did each of these quotes cost Yamaha?

Maybe you guys should stick to the glue tests like Rich said, heck I can't wait for the long term test on swing arm stickers you guys are doing
:silly:

ps, Maybe no test rider liked the suspension because it is set up for a normal sized rider, not some of the "clears throat" boat anchers that you guys call yourselves
 
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Thump

Jr Admin Type
Jan 17, 2000
4,656
7
Is MXA the best mag out? no.
Do I read it? yes.
Are they slanted in their views to please their advertisers? I believe so.
Do they state false facts without proper investigation? yes.

That being said... what if MXA said the 450 was Heaven on earth? The best 4-stroke MX bike ever made? Not one problem with it?

I will tell you what would happen, there would be more people flaming them saying they were kissing up to Honda since Honda pays them big coin to advertise.

Give them a break, they put out a decent magazine that serves a good purpose in giving you some pretty pictures to look at while sitting on the toilet.

I know I will get hammered on for this but oh well, I am a graphic artist and while I am pinching one out I like to see the new stuff in the MX industry. I read it and take what is said with a grain of salt, but I love seeing the new products and stuff that I might want to add to my garage. Call me crazy.
 

CR Swade

~SPONSOR~
Jan 18, 2001
1,764
5
Wrong Thump. I would have taken a test giving an edge to Yamaha. But to compare the engine to a mini-van or BSA, when I have ridden one and know better, then to act as if this thing handles like a 23-inch hooped roach-well that is not good reporting. It is a paid advertisement meant to persuade buyers with false reporting.

I've defended them way to many times on the premise that there was some journalistic integrity. Integrity in my (the paying customer) view is totally gone. Heck, I can't even read between the lines anymore, what from the knee-deep blue poo coming from that group

If I want pretty pictures, I'll look at my oodles of catalogs. Plus Racer X has waayy better pics. I wanted substance-Olson, Jody and the rest of them forgot how to be journalists.:mad:
 

Thump

Jr Admin Type
Jan 17, 2000
4,656
7
Originally posted by Wade
Plus Racer X has waayy better pics. I wanted substance-Olson, Jody and the rest of them forgot how to be journalists.:mad:
I totally agree that Racer X is better on all fronts... it sits on my coffee table. MXA has forgotten how to be journalists (maybe they never knew how) that is why it is crapper material and has it spot in the magazine rack next to the thrown.
 
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