ThumperTalk Posted January 4 FOOTHILL RANCH, CA – January 4, 2021 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Kawasaki Team Green™ is pleased to announce its professional off-road racing efforts for the 2021 season with the return of the Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy®/Kawasaki Team Green™ race team in East coast competition and the Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Kawasaki Team Green™ race team in West coast championships. Kawasaki Team Green’s long-standing partnership with Babbitt’s Online will continue their off-road racing effort as the Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/ Kawasaki Team Green race team welcomes back the Australian-duo of Josh Strang to the XC1 class and Lyndon Snodgrass in the XC2 class. Team Babbitt’s Online have proven to be off-road championship contenders in the first two years of competing in the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series and captured two wins in 2020. Both riders are set to compete in the 2021 GNCC series with Snodgrass on the new Kawasaki KX™250X and Strang piloting the new KX™450X. Quote “I’m thrilled to be back with such a supportive and dedicated group of people,” said Josh Strang. “Having support from an influential manufacturer, like Kawasaki, who cares about the sport and the advancement of the bikes, it’s easy to stay motivated throughout the off-season and testing. I’ve ridden the new KX450X for some time now, and the bike is incredible. I can’t wait to get this season started!” Additionally, Kawasaki Team Green is continuing its relationship with the Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Kawasaki Team Green off-road race team, as they field three riders to compete in both the 2021 World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) and National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) series. With this effort, Kawasaki Team Green looks to continue its winning racing relationship with Precision Concepts, where they captured 11 professional off-road championships since its inception in 2009. Returning to the team for 2021 are title contenders Zach Bell, Clayton Hengeveld and J.P. Alvarez. Bell will pilot the new 2021 Kawasaki KX450X in the Pro Class, while both Hengeveld and Alvarez will contest the Pro 250 and Pro 2 Class aboard their 2021 KX250X machines. Quote “I’m happy to be back with the Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Kawasaki Team Green race team for 2021,” said Zach Bell. “2020 was a difficult year for everyone, but we finished out the season on a strong note. We have a really good base going into 2021 with the new Kawasaki KX450X which will be important as we have an extremely short off-season.” Quote “I am really proud of what Team Green and our teams have been able to accomplish as we have re-established Kawasaki presence in the off-road racing segment, but we are not done yet,” said Kawasaki Team Green Manager Ryan Holliday. “The expectations are high for Kawasaki to have championship contenders in each series on both the KX450X and KX250X machines.” Also competing in the 2021 GNCC series are Grant Davis and Joseph “Jo Jo” Cunningham. Both Davis and Cunningham were 2020 GNCC champions in their respective classes and were amongst the first few to compete aboard the new 2021 KX250X motorcycle at the end of the 2020 racing season, both have already captured race wins aboard their new machines and will look to carry that momentum into the new racing season. The Chapparal Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Kawasaki Team Green race team, along with Team Green Trackside Support for all riders, kick off the race season at the NGPC opener in Delano, California, on January 15, 2021. Team Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green will open their season on the wide-open course at the Big Buck GNCC season opener in Union, South Carolina, on February 20, 2021. Source: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johnny Whitey Posted January 5 Glad to see Kaw stepping up, been a long long time since a lot of green was seen in the woods... 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOAB Posted January 5 I was a Kawasaki guy until the early 80s. Glad to see them making a comeback in offroad. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTMRider4Life Posted January 5 31 minutes ago, BOAB said: I was a Kawasaki guy until the early 80s. Glad to see them making a comeback in offroad. There’s green all over the woods here, gotta be careful you don’t get shot over it. 1 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johnny Whitey Posted January 5 True enduro bikes would be nice. Lights, SA, big tank, quiet exhaust... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOAB Posted January 5 2 minutes ago, Johnny Whitey said: True enduro bikes would be nice. Lights, SA, big tank, quiet exhaust... Looks like they're doing what Honda did with the RXs. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dcg141 Posted January 5 (edited) Here is the deal with the Japanese and off road...they are not dedicated to off road. Oh the market is down..we quit. Now the market is up, thx to other companies that stay the course, lets get back in. It's never for the love of the sport it's always numbers. Make no mistake at some point they will lose interest and quit again. Edited January 5 by dcg141 2 1 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1BigPig Posted January 6 (edited) 9 hours ago, dcg141 said: Here is the deal with the Japanese and off road...they are not dedicated to off road. Oh the market is down..we quit. Now the market is up, thx to other companies that stay the course, lets get back in. It's never for the love of the sport it's always numbers. Make no mistake at some point they will lose interest and quit again. I’m sorry, but I think you’re being unfair here. The purpose of a corporation is to earn a profit for its shareholders, not to protect, support or further cultural aspects of society. The motorcycle mfg. community did not invent motocross, enduros, flat track or roadracing. It was the customers who did that. Customer base shrinks, no need for the product. Customer base grows, product development and competition are the result. Yay Kawasaki. Win on Sunday sell on Monday. Hey Honda! I sure do wish my e-start XR650R would appear on the showroom floor... Respectfully and Sincerely, Every Scott Summers Wannabe in the World. Edited January 6 by 1BigPig 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mxaniac My Rides (8) Posted January 6 13 hours ago, 1BigPig said: I’m sorry, but I think you’re being unfair here. The purpose of a corporation is to earn a profit for its shareholders, not to protect, support or further cultural aspects of society. The motorcycle mfg. community did not invent motocross, enduros, flat track or roadracing. It was the customers who did that. Customer base shrinks, no need for the product. Customer base grows, product development and competition are the result. Yay Kawasaki. Win on Sunday sell on Monday. Hey Honda! I sure do wish my e-start XR650R would appear on the showroom floor... Respectfully and Sincerely, Every Scott Summers Wannabe in the World. I've seen some really shitty things done by companies when they think the customer is stuck with them. Everything you said is correct, but I don't like it. When companies only care about maximizing shareholder value the customer pays the price. It's usually short sided thinking though. As an example let's say you spend millions of dollars on some software that saves the data in a proprietary format. It can't be imported into competitors products and it would be expensive to retain your employees and replace the application. What is the software manufacturer going to do? Treat you like shit, you're not going to switch to something else. Let's say you need something that has to go through rigorous qualification testing. Once you've spent all the time and money qualifying someones component you're not going to switch to another one and go through all that again. So the component supplier can jack up their prices, and even if they had contractual prices they can violate them because you aren't doing to start all over in the process with someone else. Until next time they need a component of course. Add passion and you get Ferrari, you get Honda of the 80s, you get KTM right now. When Paul Allen bought the Seahawks from the Nordstrom family it was an immediate change because he had passion. So a company running everything based on the bottom line without passion is going to eventually lose the customer base. People will stop going to your games, buying your software, your components, or your heavy overpriced red bikes. 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1BigPig Posted January 7 (edited) 14 hours ago, mxaniac said: So a company running everything based on the bottom line without passion is going to eventually lose the customer base. People will stop going to your games, buying your software, your components, or your heavy overpriced red bikes. Agreed. That’s the beauty of competition. I’ve been riding red since the debate raged over whether the SL100 really could outrun the SL125. (It could.) But I’m not bound by brand loyalty anymore. My ‘83 XR200R gave me more grins and giggles than anything else. Today’s CRF230? At that price? No thanks. I’ll put the kids on the green one. Better bike, cheaper buy in. My e-start red 650? Got it, but it says Husqvarna te610 on the side. I always wanted a Peterbilt but what did I end up owning? A Freightliner. Don’t even get me started on dishwashers. If a mfg. doesn’t get along with me by serving my wants or needs at a price I can afford, then I’ll find one that does. Failing that, I’ll employ some hillbilly innovation to get the job done. There’s always a solution. Forward mounted shocks, anyone? Edited January 7 by 1BigPig Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dcg141 Posted January 7 (edited) On 1/5/2021 at 11:31 AM, dcg141 said: Here is the deal with the Japanese and off road...they are not dedicated to off road. Oh the market is down..we quit. Now the market is up, thx to other companies that stay the course, lets get back in. It's never for the love of the sport it's always numbers. Make no mistake at some point they will lose interest and quit again. I’m just being honest and calling it like I see it. Companies make their decisions based on many factors and bottom lines are just one factor. Some companies stay the course because they have a passion and try to grow the sport. Others jump on band wagons. Edited January 7 by dcg141 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
George @ Precision Racing Posted January 7 Precision Racing Products is proud to be the steering stabilizer choice of Kawasaki off-road. Good luck Team Green! 3 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Piney Woods Posted January 7 On 1/5/2021 at 11:31 AM, dcg141 said: Here is the deal with the Japanese and off road...they are not dedicated to off road. Oh the market is down..we quit. Now the market is up, thx to other companies that stay the course, lets get back in. It's never for the love of the sport it's always numbers. Make no mistake at some point they will lose interest and quit again. Why my next bike purchase will be back to a Euro brand. Looking red/white at this point. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antigravity Batteries Posted January 8 And we at Antigravity Batteries are stoked to say we are the Lithium Batteries that all of Kawasaki's Race Teams are using. The fact is that we have been the Batteries in the SX/MX and MXGP Monster Energy Kawis as well as Precision Kawi for a few years... but now with Babbits in the GNCC we are in all the bikes. Oh yeah.... we are also in the Pro-Circuit 250s now also since Kawi put the Electric Start in the 250s for this year... So we'll be cheering for them BIG TIME!!! But then again we are in all the Am Pro Yamahas and other a few other top teams in the GNCC Racing series... so huh, I guess we cheer for them too... Oh yeah we are also in the Yamaha's Star Racing SX team in the 250 for the last 4 year and now 450s.... so can't forget to cheer for them also... Anyway we are super stoked these teams and you weekend warrior have chosen us for your bikes... even if you haven't chosen us yet. 3 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
