Are the late model crf s really that bad?

[Berm-Saw]

Why are all the AMA pros baggn on the crf??? Really curious. So far I have heard barcia and reed hate the thing. What's up? I noticed the haven't been doing as good in the shootouts too.

[Mike in OK]

Honda must not be shelling out enough cash.

[Diggla117]

Canards been running strong these past few weekends.. Now if he can only stay off of the injured list.

[FORMA MOTO]

Why are all the AMA pros baggn on the crf??? Really curious. So far I have heard barcia and reed hate the thing. What's up? I noticed the haven't been doing as good in the shootouts too.

 

I think you are confused.

[Aus450]

Where did you read this?

[Tokyo_Tiddler]

Canard is looking good on the bike. I doubt there is an issue that people at our level would ever find a problem.

[Diggla117]

weeks back there was a thread under the general discussion section. A bunch of guys were carrying on about a RUMOR of bambam going to JGR next year. I noticed the conversation was filled with a bunch of Yamaha fans. I've also noticed grants the only decent yami rider and he can't stay off the injured list for more than one weekend at a time.. Wishful thinking? I think so.

[nesc103y]

This should answer the question

 

http://motocrossactionmag.com/home-page/ken-roczen-justin-barcia-why-change-horses-midstream

[mrmoto35]

IMO Honda nailed it with the 08 but then they were compelled to go EFI for 09. They also made a big chassis change. Neither worked very well out of the box. The motor lacked power out of the box do in part to poor mapping. The chassis has flaws that can only be masked with mods And the 09-12 CRFs are pretty much the same bike. The only difference between the 09 and the 12 is stiffer fork springs, bigger footpegs and a new rising rate. All things 09-11 owners had already been doing themselves.

 

I worked for AHM from 2003 to 2012 and in 2008 Honda took a huge hit financially and over 1/2 the workforce was cut. I worked at corporate HQ in Torrance and the building I worked in looked like a ghost town by 2009. We had just completed a brand new state of the art Data Center in CO that cost 50 million to build and I recall one of the heads of Honda in Japan looking into selling one of the Cummings backup generators in that building for cash. Honda is still feeling it and they will soon be moving out of their huge Corp campus (swimming pool, tennis courts, volley ball, bad-ass hoop courts, baseball field, soccer field gym etc etc) to save money. Cars sales were down as much as 50% and watercraft, motorcycle, ATV sales seemed nonexistent. The only division that stayed even keel was Honda Power Equipment. Honda left F1 racing because of cost. Not to mention Honda had just started going full bore into HondaJet http://www.hondajet.com/#3.

 

I am not making excuses for Honda and I cannot say without a doubt that Honda's financial woe's are responsible for their recent short-comings with their bikes but I am sure it didn't help. I will say with some certainty that if something is not selling enoughof,  or at all it will not get all the attention. MX was not their main focus $$ wise and they fell behind the curve. That is how it looked to me anyway......

Edited June 16, 2014 by mrmoto35

[Diggla117]

I like watching barcia race! Def on of my favorite riders to watch do work BUT People have high expectations for him and really in supercross last season he was the only honda rider that was a real contender in the 450 class. He wasn't doing that great and blamed the bike. It's Easiest to point fingers.

With motocross back in and canard back on the scene, it's really hard to believe it's the bike when his team mate is up there standing on the podium..

[corona52]

I like watching barcia race! Def on of my favorite riders to watch do work BUT People have high expectations for him and really in supercross last season he was the only honda rider that was a real contender in the 450 class. He wasn't doing that great and blamed the bike. It's Easiest to point fingers.

With motocross back in and canard back on the scene, it's really hard to believe it's the bike when his team mate is up there standing on the podium..

TC 41 deserves it more than anybody with all of his injuries and courage to keep coming back.  I'm sure he will win some motos and he could win the "C" as he seems to get faster every race. 

[lowmass]

Honda has taken a chance with what is a radical approach to chassis design starting in 2009. In engineering terms it is on the edge of stability. This can make for a nimbal handling machine BUT when you design on the edge this way you have to get everything else right or you will tend to have problems. Sense 2009 Honda has been trying to deal with the issues that have risen from the radical weight distribution and geometry. Rise the front a bit with stiffer springs, lower the rear a bit with a longer link etc etc. It wasn't until they started concentrating more on the frame (2013,14) that things started to work better. In the end Honda wants a bike that is easyer to ride for the average rider. This means a bike that feels light and responsive. Generally geometry's that feel this way tend to be unstable or unbalanced at speed. Thus the issues pros and fast guys can have with it. Its tricky to get it balanced and calmed down enough to have a stable and planted feel.  Anyway This design is still in the development stage. Its getting better for sure but there remains the debate between stable and planted feel (kowasaki geometry)  vs  agile light feel Honda).  The interesting thing is the less agile geometry like kowasaki will turn just fine IF you are aggressive and talented enough to keep the front end loaded up into and throught a turn. Honda is trying to make a platform that is best of both worlds. IMO it remains to be seen if this is a good move for the racing crowd.

[Arctic Pride]

weeks back there was a thread under the general discussion section. A bunch of guys were carrying on about a RUMOR of bambam going to JGR next year.

 

Wouldn't blow my mind. I'm not putting Grant down but he's not a top 3 rider and a great way to sell some bikes would be to put that reverse engines at the front of the pack which a healthy Barcia could definitely do.