Latest / B 4EVA Kool "Race A Motorcycle" Podcast / Break down of what to expect in the upcoming World Superbike season in S6 Ep 09

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Break down of what to expect in the upcoming World Superbike season in S6 Ep 09 · B 4EVA Kool "Race A Motorcycle" Podcast

1:33
want when change is night and night?
1:39
What? Are you do listen to the Be
1:45
Forever Cool podcast? My name is Rex 45 and welcome to
1:49
the show. The motorcycle seasoning season
1:54
and seasoning depending on if you kitchen chefing it up is
1:59
about to kick off. I'm excited this round.
2:02
The first round for royal super bike is in Phillip Island.
2:06
I know the gang is ready so you know before no further ado.
2:10
Let's get this thing going, CJ Man, welcome to the show with
2:14
good man What's? Going on actually how you doing?
2:18
Man, I'm good, man, I'm good. I'm I'm taking it one day at a
2:22
time. I'm in the now.
2:25
Man, I'm just so ready for this winter to be over.
2:30
Living up northeast, the snow is not melting.
2:34
I feel like I'm just, you know, we're almost there.
2:38
Just reaching for that time to get on the bike.
2:40
It's going to be finally our time.
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You know, you guys are fortunate down South to still start to
2:46
bike and hit the streets and or or whatever, but you know, it's
2:51
I just can't wait. And now that we got reason upon
2:54
us, I'm excited so. Yeah, I'll say I'm not hitting
2:57
the streets, streets as much as I'd like, which is the downside
3:03
because of just being busy. And you know, it's, it's what it
3:06
is though. I'm not going to complain.
3:07
I am definitely more fortunate than when I was up north for
3:09
sure, being able to ride the bike.
3:12
And I did put some carbon wheels on the Panigale and took a for a
3:16
ride this past weekend. And listen, man, I wish all my
3:19
bikes had carbon wheels. That's all.
3:21
I know. They shouldn't make bikes
3:23
without carbon wheels. They are the business.
3:26
But let's talk about the business of motorcycle racing
3:29
and we'll keep this going. Freeze, man, welcome to the
3:33
show, man. How you doing, man?
3:34
What's good, man, What's good? Man.
3:36
You guys you guys run carbon wheels in in motor America?
3:40
No, I can't use no carbon. Craig, we're.
3:45
Replacing them after every session.
3:48
That'll be a costly thing, man. No, I wish.
3:53
I wish, man. Not really.
3:56
I mean, it's a little. Don't use carbon fiber wheels,
3:58
though. No need.
4:00
I mean, we bend up enough wheels, we bend up some rooms
4:02
now. You you you fine performance in
4:05
other places besides the wheels. Yeah.
4:08
But I think there I only know the rules will allow us to
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actually use carbon fiber. Yeah, look.
4:13
Yeah, yeah, I'm not sure. I think I think wheels got to
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stay stock. Well, no stock wheels has got to
4:20
be on the stock form when they used to be on the stock 1000
4:22
class. I know we use the lightweight
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wheels and we use Ozzy wheels. OK, yeah, nice, nice, nice man.
4:31
So how you doing, man? What's good, man?
4:33
Hi, man, it's good to be home for a little bit and, you know,
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enjoy the nice 70° weather. I'm not like TJ up there
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freezing, you know, in the snow. Yeah, man, it, it is definitely
4:44
nice to be down here. Is it, is it weird coming off
4:47
the road after I've been on the road for a while or you just
4:50
been doing it long enough that you know once you get out of the
4:52
rig, you know, you flip a switch in, you put your glasses on and
4:56
you're not caught catching. I mean, kind of, I mean, it
5:00
feels like coming home is like being on vacation almost like
5:03
you'd be like, man, what's new around here?
5:04
Let me go check out, you know, you're like Jesus Christ, you
5:08
know, you talk to your wife, you talk to your kids and you're
5:10
like, man, what? Where am I missing?
5:12
Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's a different
5:15
animal. I don't think most people can
5:17
appreciate that the the racing lifestyle is not the same as us
5:21
going to work every day, nine to five and and and coming home.
5:25
It's a different kind of commitment.
5:27
It is. I wish I could be home every day
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man. Trust me, I enjoy it.
5:30
It's nice to be in your own bed and own shower.
5:33
That's the beauty part. Yeah, yeah.
5:35
I, I mean, I know that from the racetrack going racing for sure.
5:39
It's definitely nice to get back home and stop living out your
5:42
suitcase, right? It's just the the little thing,
5:45
man, when you ain't got to wear shower shoes to go take a shower
5:48
sometimes in the truck stops. See, I, I don't even know about
5:52
that. You know, that's a whole
5:55
different level. We're going to have to talk to
5:58
the the Attack Yamaha boys and have them build your shower
6:01
inside that trailer, man. I wish man, trust me, I wish.
6:04
Boy, it'd be nice to have a shower some days inside the
6:07
truck. Listen, man, that, that's the
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one thing for me having a shower inside my trailer is like, you
6:13
know, some of these tracks. So you go to is, yeah, you, you,
6:15
you walking in there with, I guess with your slides on in my
6:17
case and, and shower. And so it's definitely nice to
6:20
have that. Well, let's keep it moving,
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Lewis, man, what's good, man? I, I, I, I know you built the
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trailer. So you got that.
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You got that indoor outdoor shower going.
6:30
No, I don't have an indoor outdoor shower going.
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Still using the old, you know, whatever track is providing
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shower shower. Just make sure you bring your
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slippers because those floors are extra funky in some of those
6:44
places and you don't want to come home with some new growth
6:47
on your feet that wasn't there when you left.
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And as long as it's not raining out.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. So no, I usually will use
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showers in most of the tracks. Most of the tracks actually have
7:00
pretty decent showers, to be honest with you.
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There's a couple that have the little sketchy showers but
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they've gotten better over the years.
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I think my next move if I end up getting either a toy hauler or
7:11
like a legit camper home then then I'll then I'll be set.
7:17
Then I'll be set. There you go.
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Listen, man, that's the next step.
7:21
Baby steps, baby steps. Speaking of guys, I mean it,
7:26
it's it's race week. I mean, you guys excited, it's
7:30
world super bike, it's in Phillip Island.
7:32
There's already a couple of riders that are injured from pre
7:35
training or or testing. You know, we'll go around the
7:40
horn real quick and and and talk about, you know, how you feel
7:43
about the season starting. I think TJ touched on a little
7:45
bit. I mean, you're taking time off
7:48
to watch practice and qualifying, TJ.
7:52
I'm I'm going to fit that in my schedule sometime.
7:55
So if I have to take a break, I'm going to try to soak it all
7:59
in until, you know, you know, we get a lot more recent going.
8:03
But yeah, I'm just excited to see you the, the, you know, the
8:07
former Moto GP rider, Miguel, to see what he can do on the BMW
8:11
after what Top Rock did and see what Ecolona can do out there.
8:16
And obviously, you know, I always root for Garrett Gerlach
8:19
and and stuff like that. So yeah, I'm just excited.
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I'm just excited to see what these manufacturers can do this
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year. OK, OK, That's what's up.
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That's what's up, man. I will go around the horn.
8:31
Reese, man, what are your thoughts, man?
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I mean, I know you're you're in it yourself on the American
8:36
side, but you know, are are you as locked in watching, you know,
8:41
world super market Moto GP? Oh yeah, I mean, you're always
8:44
locked in. You always feel with the how
8:47
their bikes stacked up to see what the, you know, to see what
8:49
the specs are, to see how everything's running and like,
8:52
you know, of course, you know, I'm always rooting for my boy
8:54
over there, Garrett. You know, it's funny because I
8:57
started with him when I started with Yamaha, that was my first
9:00
initial rider. So I mean, we go far back and
9:04
then so, you know, I'm always rooting for him.
9:07
So, you know, I'm definitely interested in see what's going
9:09
on and see what happens. Nice, nice Lewis, man.
9:16
What are your thoughts, man? I mean, you know, it's, it's,
9:19
it's a business, it's, it's the beginning of the season.
9:22
And I know you're going to be looking at the numbers to see
9:25
if, if it's going to start off with the with the crowd growing
9:29
and, and all that fun stuff. We're going to talk about, you
9:31
know, the Harley's in in Moto GP down the road, but what are you
9:35
looking to see this first round in the worst of the bike?
9:38
I mean, first attendance would be the first thing because I
9:42
think you saw the news that it looks like this will probably be
9:46
or next year will be the last year that Moto GP will be going
9:49
to Phillip Island. And if it's the last year the
9:51
Moto GP is going to Phillip Island, I don't know if the days
9:55
are long for World Super Bike to be going to Phillip Island.
9:59
Maybe they maybe they do because you know, they're owned by the
10:02
same entity. So the entity maybe only wants
10:04
to have one event at Phillip Island, make it World Super Bike
10:06
and then bring Moto GP somewhere else.
10:09
So it'd be interesting to see what the turn out's going to be,
10:11
what the weather's going to, because Phillip Island is one of
10:13
the most unpredictable tracks when it comes to weather,
10:15
unfortunately, because where it's located.
10:19
And then it's then the big question is going to be like,
10:22
how big a ass whooping is Bulaga going to give everybody?
10:25
Because without top rack there like is is this guy going to
10:28
walk away with the championship? Is anybody bringing anything to
10:31
the table? You know, everybody's saying
10:33
that Oliveira's looking good, but on the opposite side of the
10:36
paddock and the same bikes. Petrucci is not saying the
10:39
greatest things in the world about being on the BMW and him
10:44
not on the BMW is a big thing. And on Ducati, you know, is the
10:47
guy in the box next to Buluga going to actually bring some
10:50
competition to Buluga or is he just going to be somebody else
10:54
that's just running interference for Buluga to just walk away
10:56
with the championship? Because realistically, looking
10:58
at last year, we were talking about it, last year was the top
11:01
rack Buluga show and now one of those two guys isn't there.
11:04
So now it's really the Buluga show.
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If he really wants to lay down the law, I mean he could, he
11:09
could probably wipe the field pretty quickly.
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And if he's smart, he won't because then Dorno will step in
11:15
or World Super Bike will step in and reduce his RPMS or something
11:19
to penalize him for being so good.
11:21
So maybe he'll throw one race here and there just to not get
11:25
penalized. I mean it sucks, but that's how
11:27
you play the game. I mean, I, I, I think you
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covered the whole season in in the 1st.
11:34
In the first 3 seconds. Come on man, we got to give them
11:36
a reason to come back and watch. You can't tell them don't watch.
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Just go celebrate my champagne. He's going to take it When we
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throw this out to Reese and and to TJ, We start with TJ.
11:48
You heard Lewis mentioned Phillip Island Motor GP is going
11:52
to lose that. And I mean, you know, we look at
11:57
Asin and Asins been around from the beginning of of the GP
12:00
racing era from 1949. I don't, I don't know exactly
12:04
how long Phillip Island's been there, but Phillip Island is a
12:07
is a iconic track. We have plenty of memories of
12:10
the of that, you know, is this a good look for Moto GP or the OR
12:15
the folks that are operating Moto GP today to remove that
12:18
track from from the calendar start with TJ.
12:23
I mean, that is an iconic track. I mean, just the way the riders
12:27
ride that the the lines on that track is fast flowing, exciting,
12:32
hard to pass, but you still can make passes.
12:35
I mean, I mean, I guess it comes down to like, you know,
12:38
ownership and keeping up with the, you know, you know, the
12:43
bills and stuff like that. But I think they should find a
12:46
way to still keep that on the calendar if they do take it
12:50
away. I don't like the idea of the
12:52
street race that it sounds a little weird.
12:56
Definitely going to have to see a layout on that.
12:58
So I don't think that's a good substitute.
13:01
Think they should find another track.
13:02
Like I know there's a couple tracks that they discontinue
13:07
like Argentina Termos. They've gone and stopped racing
13:12
then and going back. But yeah, I just don't think
13:15
it's it's a good, good idea. I think they should somehow
13:19
still continue to be at Phillip Island.
13:22
OK. OK, reach what your thoughts
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man. I mean, I, I I haven't even had
13:26
the chance to go to Phillip Island.
13:27
It's on my bucket list. I mean I guess I might be
13:30
watching in world super bike but your thoughts man?
13:34
I mean, I, I, I feel the same way as TJI.
13:36
Don't think they should actually stop racing there.
13:38
That's one of your iconic tracks.
13:40
I mean, it's, it's, as Lewis said, though, it does the, the
13:44
weather's unpredictable, you know, you never know what the
13:46
weather's going to bring there. But it's one of the iconic
13:49
tracks that, you know, the way the layout is and then the way
13:51
they're coming across the, the front straightaway, it looks
13:54
like you're just going completely down into the water.
13:56
But it's, it's an iconic track. You know, it's like taking like
14:01
one of the heart and souls away from the actual GP series.
14:04
So, and, you know, I don't think they should do it.
14:07
I think they should have to keep that going and not take it away.
14:10
You know it's going to feel weird without the Phillip
14:13
Island. Yeah, I, I, I agree as well.
14:17
It's, it's one of the tracks that's, you know, that's
14:20
synonymous with a lot of a lot of the riders.
14:23
A great, a lot of great things happened for a lot of riders
14:25
there. And it's Australia who doesn't
14:27
like Australia, the guys. That have to fly 87 hours to get
14:32
there. Don't like Australia?
14:33
Or races that fly in the What's the the seagulls, Yeah.
14:38
I mean, you got to remember the track has also had its fair
14:43
share of issues, not just weather related, but it's been
14:46
the track that's had shortened races because it destroys tires.
14:50
It's had, you know, shortened races because of other tire
14:54
related issues, heat issues, weather issues.
14:57
I mean, it's it's a great looking track.
14:59
It does make for really close racing.
15:02
But overall it's it's a problematic track on the
15:05
schedule. It's it's probably one of the
15:07
most expensive tracks for Moto GP to actually set up in because
15:11
of the transport to Australia. Even if they do it as part of
15:14
the flyaways and while they're in Asia, it's still, it's not
15:18
like a three hour trip from Japan to Australia.
15:20
It's it's far, dude. Like it's far.
15:24
And then transporting to Victoria Island is not easy
15:27
because again, now we're on an island.
15:29
So we have to fly into this area then transport everything there.
15:33
So logistically it's, it's not an easy track to have a race in.
15:37
And you know, Dorna did give Australia the opportunity to
15:42
move it somewhere else and they, you know, the government kind of
15:45
just balked on it. So at that point you know what
15:47
then? No GP for you.
15:49
That's unfortunate. That's definitely unfortunate.
15:53
All right, guys, let's jump into world super bike.
15:55
I mean, you heard Lewis say it Tji mean, you know, we do we
16:02
have a reason to continue to watch the to continue to start
16:05
watching world super bike or is is this what it sounds like?
16:09
Unless you know Bulaga takes out Bulaga, it's going to be a
16:14
Bulaga of. Course it, of course.
16:17
I mean, he's going to have to prove himself, you know what I
16:19
mean? Like when it comes to racing,
16:22
it's not handed to you. I mean top rock gave him that
16:26
fuel. I think to to keep his passion
16:29
to Charlie, get that number one spot.
16:31
Now he's kind of just left out there like all right, now I have
16:34
to do it. So like he's going to have to
16:38
you know, a lot of races you see again injured.
16:41
You know, he's going to have to stay injured free.
16:43
You're going to have to race smart.
16:44
You know there's going to be sharks behind him.
16:46
So he's going to have to it's going to be exciting.
16:49
Like I, I just I, I, I we can all predict that he's probably
16:52
going to just take it away because, you know, three races
16:55
in the weekend, if he just gets on the podium all the time, you
16:59
know, it's just that's what's going to happen.
17:01
But yeah, just want to see some other riders challenging maybe
17:06
like Sam Lowe's up there, Stefano Manzi and Cato Petucci,
17:13
you know, the eco lack of owner out there fighting.
17:16
And hopefully, you know, we see, like I said, Miguel out there
17:22
and couple other guys fighting to the front.
17:24
So hopefully it hopefully it doesn't come come easy.
17:28
That's what I'm saying. Reese Man Reese, the other
17:31
professional in in on on this show.
17:33
One of them is, does does DJ have a case with Bullet with
17:38
Ikaluko, Ono, Manzi, Oliveira? Is there a case there for these
17:44
guys to be the dark horse because they are the unknown
17:47
since they they are on new new bikes or new 2 back end Moto GP.
17:52
If you look look at well, Manzi's new 2 and the Moto GP
17:56
world Super white. Manzi's new I'm thinking of
17:59
Baltazari as well coming in. I mean, is TJ got a point?
18:07
I don't know if anybody's been watching the freaking testing,
18:09
but I'm going to call a spade a spade.
18:11
And no, TJ doesn't have a point. Like Bulliga was gone.
18:16
Like Bulliga was gone. And according to testing and
18:19
according to lap time, it's going to be a Bulliga show.
18:22
It should be a Bulliga show. And from what I've heard with
18:27
even club racers, the new V4, more fuel and a lot more stable
18:33
in the corners with the double sided swingers.
18:38
Yeah, so that's a beautiful bike.
18:40
Hence the problem. OK, All right, all right, man, I
18:46
don't know. I, I, I guess I kind of disagree
18:48
a little bit because you know, we see in Moto GP with testing
18:53
how some of these guys, the senior guys, as we talked about
18:56
last week, are not necessarily looking for the lap times.
19:00
I mean, I guess, you know, it's nice for blue to go to go out
19:02
there, but it's testing. I mean, these guys are new on
19:05
the bike. I think it's more important to
19:06
be more comfortable on the bike than it is to set the fast lap
19:09
times in in testing. I mean, isn't it a little bit of
19:13
case there? Some of these guys could be
19:15
holding out man's. I mean, he's on the Yami, you
19:18
know? So are you saying practice is
19:20
important practice isn't important practice?
19:24
It's important for different purposes.
19:27
You know, for Bulaga, I think in for for Ducati, I think they
19:30
have a good baseline already. They also got the, you know, the
19:35
the Moto GP guys testing on that bike.
19:37
So I'm pretty sure they're getting a lot of data from that
19:39
as well. So you know what I mean?
19:42
I think it's easier for Bulaga to do that than I than to say a
19:45
Manzi, than to say the Petrucci or obviously Oliveira.
19:50
And he's got, you know, at least those three guys and Ikaluko,
19:52
Ono Ikaluko and I think will finish like 6 or something like
19:55
that. So he always he always gets
19:57
faster in races. I mean, it is easier, but still,
20:01
you know, we're looking at like, he's like Lewis, practice isn't
20:04
important. It's always going to be
20:06
important. I mean, looking at Marquez,
20:08
who's always faster than practice in GP, Marcus, who's
20:11
faster in race, Marcus. A little bit like, you know,
20:16
you're testing parts, right? I mean, you know, you know.
20:22
I mean, you're testing parts, but you know, we're kind of
20:25
still on the same bike, you know, kind of still on the same
20:28
platform. Everything is kind of the same,
20:31
just a new swinger, kind of a little bit of a new chest, but
20:34
still the same swinger. And when you're and when you're
20:38
testing, you still need to test at speed because you don't know
20:41
what how the bike's going to react unless you're trying to
20:43
push it to the speed you want it to go.
20:46
So it's not like you're going to go 3 seconds a lap slower in
20:49
testing. You want to see if you can go 3
20:51
seconds a lap faster. So who was the second guy in in
20:55
testing compared to? Do we know what the time is?
20:59
Louis, can you look that up because I think it was it was on
21:02
on the web. I'm trying to check myself.
21:05
I have my 6. I don't have my laptop with me
21:12
so. So Nicola Buliga dominated
21:17
Phillip Islands, running laps into 128 to 120 nines and he
21:22
swept the two day event. Yeah.
21:26
This was testing. This was testing.
21:29
Yeah. All right.
21:29
Yeah, OK. That's what I remember.
21:31
So he's not taking it easy. No, I think, I think he like he
21:34
did, he did over 20 laps in the in, in, in, in, in, in that.
21:39
Let me see who the second guy came in.
21:42
Because Garrett was fourth. I know Garrett was 4th.
21:45
All right, so now low. Yeah, Lowe's actually.
21:48
So here's the the end of 2026 testing.
21:53
So Nicola Buliga was 1/28, 6:00. Sam Lowe's was next classes guy.
21:58
He was 6/10 of a second slower. Valdezari was another 7/10 of a
22:04
second slower, but he was almost 9/10 of a second slower.
22:09
Yeah, but 6/10, six tenths, 20 laps.
22:12
That puts you 18 seconds behind the leader, man.
22:15
Yeah, so the leader can start Wheeling.
22:18
The last lap. He could do a stoppy, the
22:23
wheelie, another stop, another wheelie, and you still finishing
22:28
five seconds behind him. Yeah, he could actually stop,
22:31
pull that wedgie out of his butt, wave to the crowd and then
22:34
go back. I, I, I do think it's going to
22:38
be a little bit closer than than than you guys are predicting.
22:41
I mean, I think, I think that, you know, bulla, bulla go, I
22:45
think people, but I think these guys are going to be pretty
22:48
hungry. How many?
22:51
Of you are, how many of you are buying the World Trooper bike
22:55
video package? I already bought it to watch it
22:58
live. I already bought it.
23:00
I got it. I'm buying day by day because if
23:04
it starts getting running away, I'm buying it event by event
23:08
like every event, like I buy one this one because if it starts
23:11
getting over the hand, I'm like, I ain't even buying no more.
23:13
It's over. You're.
23:14
Buying the last season pass. No, I, I don't, I don't think
23:22
it's going to be that bad. We'll see.
23:23
We'll see. I think Manzi has something to
23:25
prove. I think that I, I mean, I, I
23:28
want, I can't even say Albert Batista because we'll see,
23:31
right? But I think Manzi has something
23:33
to prove. I think the BMW guys, I think
23:35
they're going to override, not necessarily override, but I
23:38
think they're going to be close what BMW did last year and, and
23:43
stuff like that. But let's talk about these other
23:46
guys. I mean, you know, Albert is on a
23:48
new team. I mean, is he is he top, top
23:52
eight? We talking here guys because we
23:54
start with TJ. Is he top 8?
24:02
I mean, yeah, I think so. I think so.
24:05
I mean he got to fight in them. I mean, obviously the weight
24:09
issue, but I mean he does not a ride.
24:13
He's getting a little older but I think top 8 is solid.
24:16
I mean. I think Petrucci finished like
24:21
4th last year on that on on with that team.
24:24
Yeah, I mean, like if he got a lot of experience and I mean, I
24:29
think he still has a lot to prove as well.
24:31
I mean, a lot of people are saying he got a lot of excuses
24:34
behind him and stuff like that. So yeah, I think he has a lot to
24:38
prove. But yeah, top eight I think is
24:40
very solid for being on a new team.
24:43
I mean, I just want to see who's going to be fighting behind
24:47
Bulgar. Obviously we predicted him to
24:49
win, so I want to see like who's the the top three, but I don't
24:53
see Alvar out there. All right.
24:55
All right, man, Reese, man, I mean, you either got to stop
24:58
recording or talk about Alvar and some of these other guys,
25:00
you know what I mean? And you know, just figure out,
25:03
you know, where we're going to meet up at at Motor America.
25:06
You know, I mean, I said top 8 for Alvaro, but I mean, he
25:09
should finish top five on that bike.
25:11
That bike finished out full last year.
25:13
So I mean obviously this new bike but still same team.
25:18
Same team, but different rider. Everybody, every rider you know
25:20
has a different set up, different field, rides a
25:22
different way, pushes a different way.
25:25
It's not all the same. Plus it's not the factory bite
25:28
that has all the factory specs, all the factory goodies.
25:31
So I mean, I would give him top eight.
25:34
He can finish top five here and there, but I would, I would
25:37
definitely give him a top 8. I'd definitely give him that.
25:42
I mean, Lewis, I mean, what are you saying?
25:43
And he shipped them to America. I mean, what are you saying?
25:46
No, no, I mean, I'm looking at the teams right now and I think
25:50
Ika Lagawona is going to be up there towards the front on a, on
25:54
a Ducati, being Nicola Lugo's teammate.
25:56
I think he's going to move up. You know, he's he did really
25:58
well last year on a bike that everybody knows is not the
26:02
greatest bike, but it's getting better.
26:04
I think if he stays healthy, he's top three.
26:06
Yeah, I think the other one that's going to be interesting
26:09
is who's going to pick up the slack at BMWII.
26:12
Think Miguel Oliveira probably is going to outperform Danielo
26:15
Petrucci. Just I think he's I think he's
26:19
coming. I think if I had to choose
26:21
between the two of those, if I if I had one choice today, I get
26:24
to pick one of those two riders to be my number one rider.
26:26
I'm picking Oliveira all day as long as he doesn't get crashed
26:30
into 50 times every weekend because that's his Achilles
26:33
heel. Petrucci didn't finish 4th.
26:36
On a different bike. And yeah, I know.
26:39
But so he has, he can. He has the pace.
26:42
I'm not saying he doesn't, but remember a tool makes a big
26:46
difference in how good you go. And now he's on a BMW.
26:49
That top rack could go really fast in it, but I don't remember
26:53
seeing a lot of other BMWs finishing on a regular basis in
26:56
the top 8. Gotcha.
26:58
So I think between those two, Oliveira, I think the Yamaha
27:02
team is going to be looking at the back a lot of tail sections
27:05
all year. It has nothing to do with the
27:08
riders because Chavez and Andrea are both great riders, but I
27:12
think that Yamaha one just hasn't progressed and everybody
27:16
else kind of has. In the Sparks team, I would put
27:21
Bautista. So that would put them in the
27:23
top 8 definitely all. Right.
27:26
On the Bimoda team, I think Alex Lowe's is still going to be
27:29
there, but I think Bassini is going to surprise some people
27:31
because this is a kid that's got a, you know, he's got the bit
27:34
between his teeth and he definitely has a lot to prove.
27:36
He's young, you know, he, he just wants an opportunity.
27:41
So I see a lot of I see a lot of different faces in the top 8,
27:44
not just the usual suspects. Got you, got you.
27:47
Well, let's let's talk a little bit, you know, with with the
27:50
rest of the gang, it'll be Yamaha.
27:51
You you mentioned there's a there's what do we got full
27:54
Yamaha writers out there this year?
27:57
You know, I think Manzi might be the favorite, but you got
27:59
Lacatelli. He has something to prove.
28:02
I'm trying to see who. Hey, and Remy Gardner.
28:06
And Remy, right, I mean, Remy has a lot to prove.
28:08
I mean, he's he's a whole veteran now in in the Super bike
28:12
paddock. So, and I mean, if you look at
28:14
all these guys that come and came over for Moto 2 or Moto GPI
28:18
think he's had the biggest struggle.
28:22
It kind of makes you wonder if you know, Tech 3 and KTM guys,
28:25
you were kind of right because he's he's he's the one of the
28:27
few riders that struggled in the world super bike.
28:30
But you got these four guys. I mean, is it the bike for these
28:34
guys for for 2026? Do they have a weapon that they
28:38
they can be top 4? You start with TJ.
28:44
I mean, I mean, they just need to figure out like when they
28:48
when they have to come down the straightaways, that top end
28:50
speed, you know, I mean, that's probably going to still be the
28:53
Achilles heel. So if that can be fixed, I think
28:57
the alcohol probably do a better job than we think.
29:00
But I'm for sure Manzi's probably the favorite.
29:05
Locatelli definitely had a good year last year as well, a couple
29:09
of races, but I would say Manzi for me.
29:13
But yeah, I think even if Manzi's doing great, they still
29:19
would need that, that topic speed just to keep up.
29:23
I feel like the Ducatis and the BMW's got that.
29:26
Right, if the if the Yamaha is a six shooter, I definitely want
29:29
Manzi holding that kind. What are you?
29:35
What are you what are you saying Reese for Yamaha?
29:38
I mean, is it is it Mandy or some of these other guys like
29:42
like a telly Gardner? They they got they got to do
29:46
something. Choppy's not a new guy on the
29:48
bike. So he, I mean, he may get a
29:49
pass, but you know, they, they got to do something.
29:52
They got it. They got to be top five, right?
29:58
Yes and no, I mean listen, I'm blue all the way, but you know,
30:04
I mean we we I mean we do lack on top speed.
30:07
I mean you could see that in the tracks and that does hurt.
30:11
But there's a lot of times where as world super bike, we, you
30:16
know, it kind of does favor some like some of the tracks will
30:19
favor the Yamaha, you know, we'll you know, where we can
30:23
progress. And I definitely will give it to
30:26
Manzi. You know, Manzi is one of the
30:27
top guys that is looking to actually produce the bike.
30:31
I mean, I think Manzi can actually help get the bike to
30:35
where it need to be, could help, you know, get it up there a
30:39
little bit, try to figure out something.
30:41
I mean, you had top rack that was there, but then top rack
30:44
left. But I think with Manzi, I think
30:46
he's going to be doing something else.
30:48
I think he can actually progress a little bit more than the
30:50
Lockatelli, then a gardener, then Chavi.
30:55
I think he can actually progress that bike further.
30:58
Yeah, I agree. I agree.
30:59
I mean, I, I think, you know, Manzi's the closest thing to a
31:02
Bulaga. He's just, he, he's just on a,
31:06
on a Yamaha. I think if Manzi was on a on a
31:08
Ducati, I, I don't know if it would, it would be a foregone
31:11
conclusion that Bulaga would run away with it.
31:14
No, because I know they do bounce.
31:16
I know we, we here on our end over here, they bounce a lot of
31:19
ideas from us and we bounce back and forth and ideas.
31:24
Yeah, yeah. Pretty, pretty wild.
31:27
So let's let's talk about the the Honda boys.
31:30
Jake Dixon. He's hurt.
31:33
Sam Cat hurt. I think there's some other
31:37
Hondas in the on that grid, isn't there?
31:40
When it when it Jake Dixon not hurt and Sam Cat needs to just
31:43
go home. Actually I think that's that's
31:46
it for Honda bro. That's the whole team.
31:49
The whole team is hurt. They might as just go home.
31:53
Take your ball to go home. I get up for the season is over.
31:57
There's any omen, right? That's the whole.
32:00
Team. Honda don't change riders, don't
32:03
change the Moto GP riders. Honda, you got 2 good riders for
32:06
for this, for this year and next year.
32:08
Don't mess around. We're not talking about Moto GP
32:11
yet. I'm just let's just let that
32:13
marinate a little bit. But me and and and Luca is a
32:17
good rider. They decided to stand there,
32:21
then they did the Honda decided to go over 2 new riders and they
32:25
got some fat and Jake and now, now look, they're out to a
32:29
terrible start that's. That's what I'm saying.
32:33
And and what do you what do you, you know, Lewis Reese, I mean,
32:37
you know, you guys been been on the other side.
32:40
What do you do in the situation of the team?
32:42
I mean, do you, you know, call up people from BSB or the
32:46
Australians BSB or SBK or what do you do?
32:50
And if you're a Honda? Pray and bring out the Brinks
32:55
truck. I mean, it's a mix of a couple
32:59
of different things. I mean, yes, is there some
33:01
prayer? You know, who could we find at
33:03
this point of the year that is a quality rider that's not just
33:06
going to go out there and finish in the, you know, bottom half of
33:10
the pack because. My guy Takanakagami.
33:15
Oh my God. Well, that's that.
33:19
Honestly, that's the first place you look is who are your test
33:21
riders? Can I bring a test rider in?
33:23
Because at least then I can do some testing on the bike and I
33:27
can, you know, do some development on the bike.
33:29
So that's the first one is do I have a quality test rider that
33:32
can bring in? Honestly, man, if I was, if I
33:34
had the opportunity, if I was Honda, I would go to Alice
33:40
Asparagus and be like, hey, you're our test rider.
33:46
Do you want to spend a couple of weekends on our on our super
33:49
bike? We're.
33:50
Already paying you? Yeah, we'll give you a type R.
33:53
Yeah, we'll give you a Type R and you come, you know, do a
33:59
couple of weekends and try to help develop this other Honda as
34:01
well. So that's where I would start.
34:04
And then after that I would look to see, you know, who's
34:06
available in the paddock that didn't get a ride.
34:08
That's a quality rider that's looking for, you know, doing a
34:11
wild card and trying to come back in.
34:14
And this is where relationships come into play.
34:16
If you're a well known rider in the paddock and you're known for
34:19
as somebody that doesn't crash and comes in and has a great
34:22
attitude, these are the guys that are go right to the top of
34:26
the list. We forgot about Ray because
34:28
Ray's a test rider for Honda now.
34:29
So is it Ray going? To be starting to.
34:31
Phillips, I don't think his wife's going to be like, I think
34:34
he, I think he promised his wife.
34:36
I'm kind of, yeah, I don't know, man.
34:39
He might, but his wife is probably going to be like,
34:42
remember that thing when you were supposed to ride, but now
34:44
you're going to ride. That's the best sign and try to
34:47
get out this fall and. Then he's like, well, you know,
34:51
here's the check they're going to give me.
34:52
And she's like, oh, you better go ride.
34:55
As soon as you see that check. Oh, OK, I'll ride now.
34:59
What do you mean call? You can.
35:00
Be fine you go do your little bike thing.
35:03
You can call. You can call up the maniac.
35:06
Nah dude, the maniac is. On a bagger.
35:10
Is is on a bagger and and he doesn't, you know, he's not the
35:14
most well liked by all teams. No, he's not so.
35:18
Right. So I was going to say, so do we
35:19
do we do they go for if you know, say, all right, Ray's
35:23
unavailable, Elise, you know, wants the new 911.
35:27
That's just way too much money. Do we go for retired guys?
35:30
Do we go for the Super sport, you know?
35:35
You got you got to find somebody that doesn't have a contract
35:38
because if somebody already has a contract, you know that that
35:41
other team's not going to want to give them up.
35:43
So you have to find somebody that doesn't have a ride that's
35:45
either a retired, a test rider or you know, a really quality
35:50
rider that just doesn't have a ride this year because that
35:52
happens every year. You know, there's guys racing
35:53
around right now in the CEV and the Italian championship that
35:57
are super stock, super bike champions in these series.
36:01
They just don't have a ride with super bike.
36:04
Best thing to do with like Lewis said, just look at your test
36:06
riders because you're already paying them.
36:08
They're already your test riders.
36:10
Hey, we need you to ride because I guarantee in their contractor
36:14
tell them they got to do so. If if come down to it, they may
36:18
need you to call up. Oh.
36:21
Man plus they would have a suit matches the bike.
36:25
There you go, you already got the suit for sure.
36:28
Let's let's talk about bit motor and Kawasaki.
36:32
You know, we got Lowe's, we got Bassani and we got girl girl
36:37
off. What do they got to do this
36:40
year? I mean, you know, we kind of
36:43
gave them a pass last year, but you know, is it?
36:46
I mean, we, it, we, there's only one Lowe's brother on a green
36:49
machine, so we can't blame the, all the riders.
36:53
What? What does Kawasaki got to do
36:54
this year? TJ?
36:58
Win some races, the top five or something like that, get a poll
37:06
or or some of it. They got to be relevant, you
37:09
know, and it's good that Garrett is still sticking with them
37:14
where, you know, switching with one team, you can still continue
37:18
to improve and don't have to like start from scratch.
37:20
So hopefully that that's an advantage, but they need more
37:25
speed and to get on the on some podiums.
37:29
I think that's what they need. And and promoter, I think for
37:34
sure. I think last year was their
37:36
first year. I think it was super break.
37:38
I'm not sure, but I think they're definitely on some and
37:44
they should have a much better year than last year with more
37:46
things figured out. So it's pretty interesting to
37:48
see what they can do besides other classes.
37:51
It it, it will be interesting, but Reese, when you when you're
37:54
when your rider comes out and and and and kind of downplays
37:57
the expectation of, you know, top 2, the more like top 6.
38:03
Is that a good sign? Are they are they are they
38:05
Because I think Lowell came out and said that, you know, yeah, I
38:08
think we could do something. I don't know if we can catch
38:10
keep up with Bulaga, but I think we can do something.
38:12
I mean that that's is that, that's not a good look, right?
38:15
It's really, I mean, it's not a good look.
38:17
I mean, you should have all the faith in your crew and your team
38:19
at all time, you know, but I mean, he was setting real
38:24
expectations, especially for a new new brand new bike coming
38:27
out that hasn't been out. But I mean, are they really new?
38:29
Because their power plan is pretty much a Cali, you know,
38:35
and you know, so it's it's really not a good look though.
38:38
It's just as a team you don't really have it's like you're
38:41
showing no faith in US right now.
38:43
So but I get what he was doing. You know, he just, he's just
38:47
setting a real expectation with a new bike, new chassis, He knew
38:51
everything. He's sitting there just the
38:52
real, you know, real expectations for everybody.
38:54
Hey, don't, don't expect too much.
38:57
You know, like, like the and like TJ said, Cowie just need to
39:01
show face. You know, they definitely need
39:03
to show face because a lot of people don't know.
39:05
The only team that's Cowie is that Cowie team that Garrett's
39:09
on. That's the only Cowie team and
39:10
it's factory supported. It's not like a full factory
39:14
team. It's, you know, and Garrett's
39:17
the only one on a super bike. The rest is super sports.
39:22
Right, right. Lewis, man, what are your
39:24
thoughts on Kyrie And that, that, that you know, what we've
39:27
just been talking about as far as Reese and, and, and TJ also
39:31
with girl off, man, because I mean, it's when you're it, it,
39:34
it's tough, you know, because you got to be thinking about the
39:37
future, even though you're, you're racing this, this current
39:40
season that you got to see this car is the current season when
39:42
there's only one bike on the grid.
39:44
It, it, it doesn't give you the same comfort as if there was
39:47
like 2 bikes on the grid, you know, and you know, because
39:50
where, where else can he go? Maybe he, he already left BMW.
39:54
He was with Yamaha. I guess the only place he hasn't
39:57
gone is Ducati. So, I mean, you know, he's, he's
39:59
in a, a Honda. Yeah, he could go to Honda too,
40:02
for sure. He's he's sort of in a, in a, in
40:05
a if they don't win in a tough situation, right, Because he he
40:08
has to get some podiums, if not win.
40:11
I mean, the sad part about the situation is if you kind of
40:14
understand the history here is Kawasaki bought controlling
40:17
stake in BIA Mota and then they went racing with a BIA Mota
40:21
chassis with the Kawasaki engine.
40:23
And pretty much Kawasaki kind of just, I'm not going to say they
40:26
completely threw up their hands and quit World Super Bike.
40:29
But you only have one factory ZX10.
40:32
The ZX10 used to be the dominating bike in World, Super
40:35
bike like Jonathan Ray used to crush people.
40:38
And you know, again, maybe it's this Japanese mentality where
40:41
they just kind of stop caring about leader bikes.
40:44
You know, Honda's starting to care a little bit more now, but
40:48
you know, Yamaha has been pushing the same bike out there
40:51
for like 72 years now. Kawasaki is more or less the
40:54
same bike. I mean, this year they made, you
40:56
know, not just bold new graphics, They didn't do the
40:59
Suzuki thing. They actually did redesign the
41:01
bike a little bit to give it a little more power, a little bit
41:04
more this, little bit more that. But it's not a true ground up
41:08
development of a bike. It's still more or less the same
41:11
ZX10 with some new pieces. But when you're out there by
41:15
yourself, you don't have a teammate, you don't have a
41:18
second person to try things with.
41:20
So every test, every practice session is also your only
41:23
testing session because you're not going to get other data to
41:26
compare. You can't really compare the VM
41:28
MOTA data to your data because the chassis is completely
41:31
different. So it works differently than
41:33
your bike. So even if you do get
41:35
information from them, it really doesn't apply directly to your
41:37
bike because it's not the same swing arm, it's not the same
41:40
frame, it's not the same triple tree, it's not the same
41:43
geometry. Like you can't get it to be what
41:46
a VM MOTA is. So whereas Via Mota has two guys
41:48
that can kind of feedback into the animal.
41:51
Gary Gerloff's out there like dude, he's a one man show.
41:53
He's running out there. I mean, I'm surprised they don't
41:55
have him changing his own tires because that's really the next
41:58
step of just embarrassing this guy because the dude has talent,
42:01
but he's the only guy out there on his bike.
42:03
It doesn't seem like Kawasaki's investing in them at all.
42:07
And for for me, a win for Gary Gerloff.
42:10
Is he he can out of the 12 races this year, I think there's 12
42:14
weekends out of the 12 weekends, if he can get 50% of the time a
42:19
top 12 finish, that's AW for Kawasaki.
42:24
Because for what? For the amount of money they're
42:26
investing, that's really all Kawasaki even deserves as a
42:29
company. It's embarrassing.
42:31
Like, you know, Honda is Honda only has two bikes out there,
42:33
but at least they have two bikes out there and at least they have
42:36
they paid to have two quality guys join the team, even though
42:39
they're both on injured reserve. They did put up the money.
42:43
They put up the bikes. They have two guys.
42:45
They brought two quality guys, they didn't get hurt.
42:50
So Honda's, Honda's invested, but Kawasaki is just like
42:53
minimal effort to even show up. I mean, there, there, there.
42:57
This is literally one step above a club racing effort that
43:01
Kawasaki is putting in is my feeling and and I hope that
43:05
Gerloff is able to stay in the paddock, walk around the
43:09
paddock, talk to other teams and hopefully next year sign to
43:12
another team because Kawasaki is just not the place to be man.
43:16
No, I agree. It's tough to watch and see and
43:19
we see what you know, the folks on the motor GP side are trying
43:23
to do to bring more Americans in.
43:25
Should they be throwing some of that money and money in the
43:27
world? Super bike guys?
43:31
I mean, last time I heard, I know Garrett wanted to come
43:33
home. He was ready to come home, OK?
43:38
He was ready to remove America. I mean, I mean go.
43:44
Ahead, TJ No, I mean I was just just when he was on BMW and you
43:50
know they had I think like 4 bites at the time or something
43:53
like that and. He.
43:57
Just struggled to get in the contract and then he landed on
44:00
Kawasaki luckily, but I'm still glad he's in there.
44:03
But I just I agree with you, Lewis, like the way they're, you
44:07
know, treating Kawasaki right now.
44:09
It's just not a good look for. And I can just understand how
44:13
Garrett would actually feel for all the effort you got to put
44:16
in. And still you ain't putting that
44:18
effort the same. On the other hand, you know, So
44:21
what Reese is saying that he well, he wants to come home.
44:24
I can't believe that, but I just hope it don't happen.
44:28
Right, No, I, I hate it. I mean, I, I wish Cam Bobia was
44:32
still in, in, in Moto 2 as well. I mean, it's good to see more
44:35
Americans. I mean, it's tough because you
44:36
got to make that sacrifice and be away from family and and
44:40
recent and and Louis, you guys know that all all too well
44:44
traveling. So I mean the grind does get
44:46
does does grind you down after a little bit, you know what I
44:51
mean? So if well, we got a little bit
44:54
of talk about before we get out of here.
44:55
So I guess let's move to Moto GP and Andrea none and and that
45:00
signage and and what do we think is going to happen for the Moto
45:06
GP bagger series? Is it going to be a hit better
45:11
than the Moto E? You know, what are your thoughts
45:14
guys? I I think a bagger series is
45:19
going to be a hit just the way it is evolved over here in
45:25
America and like now like mode of America is more revolved
45:29
around the bag of series. I think it's just going to be
45:33
something crazy. So I think it's going to be a a
45:35
good hit besides to see how this all turns out.
45:40
Yeah, I, I, I completely agree. I mean, I, I saw a, a, a Harley
45:46
that was $110,000 with Orleans on it, man.
45:50
I mean, come on, Reese. I mean that, you know, we can't
45:53
speak. We can't say the, the Pentagon
45:55
is the most expensive bike anymore that goes fast.
45:59
You agree with TJ? This is going to be a win for
46:03
Moto GPI. Mean Kennedy?
46:10
Yes, I mean it could still be a win.
46:13
I mean, but Moto GP is Moto GP mean it doesn't really need any
46:17
help on his own. It's a stand alone thing.
46:21
It did help, you know, bagger series did help here in America
46:24
and then put more fans in his seats and got a different
46:28
viewing on it. But is it really racing or is it
46:33
just an oil fest? It's really racing, even if
46:38
there's oils because I mean, so. My my my question is, you don't
46:43
want a sport bike, but you want your big fat pig to be a sport
46:48
bike. I mean, listen, we, we got, we
46:51
got trucks racing and, and car racing nowadays, right?
46:55
We got a Truck Series. We do.
46:57
And at first we thought it was weird.
46:59
Then they got, they brought the semis out and we see them racing
47:02
now and they're doing tricks and all that.
47:03
Now we see people racing the school buses.
47:09
Oh yeah, I mean, I get it. I get the concept of it.
47:12
I'm like, I can't knock it because it's bringing in a ton
47:15
of money, but to crash one of them things at a like over
47:20
$1,000,000 just to put one together, They were insane.
47:23
Come on. Man, like going to the you know
47:26
the spot. Just let it Rain, Man.
47:28
Yeah, that's going to the ER. I'm gonna have a heart attack
47:32
after I crash. What do you?
47:36
Thought. I I see the numbers just coming
47:39
up here $1,000,000 one diversify.
47:48
Well, the the problem is that, you know, I'm not going to say
47:51
that we've completely engulfed the entire sport bike community,
47:55
but we have saturated the, the racing game has saturated as
47:58
much of the sport bike community as you can.
48:00
There's still a huge section of the sport bike community and
48:04
sport bike riders that do not watch any racing at all.
48:07
I know they're not. Racing.
48:09
It blows my mind that they don't like they're they ride sport
48:12
bikes, they do everything else. They don't.
48:13
They have no idea who a racer is.
48:16
They've never seen a race or anything.
48:19
And this is what I look at as the V twin market. 50% of all
48:23
motorcycles sold are V twins. They're cruisers.
48:28
This is a giant, giant amount of people, and these people are
48:31
invested in their motorcycles just as much as sport bike guys,
48:35
if not more. So there's not a lot of sport
48:38
bike guys that will pack all their shit up and drive across
48:42
the country to hang out for a week in Daytona, driving up and
48:45
down the same St. getting tickets for having loud
48:48
motorcycles, just to be with other people that have the same
48:51
bikes they have. They just won't.
48:54
So this is a huge market. We're giving a product that's
48:58
specifically targeted at this market.
49:00
And the numbers don't lie when when Harley-Davidson showed up
49:05
and they did the bagger race two years ago at CODA, the
49:08
attendance was almost 20 percent, 26% higher than it was
49:12
last year when Harley-Davidson didn't show up.
49:16
So that was proof in the pudding to, to Dorna, Hey, this is what
49:20
this is bringing in the US. Now the litmus test is going to
49:24
be how will the Europeans adapt to it?
49:27
Because in Europe, Harley-Davidson is a desired
49:30
motorcycle. If you have a Harley-Davidson in
49:32
Europe, you're a big deal. Like, you know, like the, the
49:36
Harley-Davidson is the equivalent of somebody here
49:39
having a Ducati Penigali. He's like that guy's got a
49:44
Ducati. It's a shit box, but he's got a
49:47
Ducati in in in Europe. It's the same thing.
49:51
Oh, that guy's got a Harley-Davidson.
49:52
He's got money. Look at that.
49:54
There's he parked a Harley-Davidson next to 7000
49:57
Vespas. So it's a unique thing.
50:00
So if they adopt it and they take it to heart and, and again,
50:03
the litmus test is going to be when they race in Spain and when
50:07
they race in Italy. If the fans in Spain and Italy
50:10
get behind it. And if Harley-Davidson is going
50:12
to invest the way they're going to invest to try to make a
50:15
Harley-Davidson village in these races and try to bring more
50:18
fans, it, it will do really, really well.
50:21
It'll go from being the sideshow freak of the the event to
50:26
eventually being as important as Moto 2, Moto 3 as a support
50:31
series. I, I, I think at first it may
50:33
get some Snickers, snickering and stuff like that.
50:37
But I think when they start to see the lap times and they look
50:40
at what sport bikes are doing for lap times.
50:43
I think that just like we saw here, it's just kind of like,
50:45
oh, they're only like a second or so off of super sport bike.
50:49
You know, it's you have to kind of even though they as as Reese
50:55
saying it's spitting up a quart of oil and and drinking 10 lbs
51:00
of gas. I mean it's only 6 laps for a
51:03
reason. For real, that's all.
51:06
That's all it's got in it. After six laps, you're going to
51:09
blow up the. Motor has only got 8 laps at the
51:12
most so you got your your your pit out, you got your siding
51:16
laps, you got your warm up lap, you got your Sid lap and then
51:19
the motor's ready to explode but they.
51:21
Got to pull. 10 circles around the track if you get I mean I I
51:26
don't know what the grid size is right now, but if you get 25
51:30
baggers out on the grid, it's going to look impressive man.
51:35
Because 25 baggers take up as must face as 40 sport bikes when
51:38
you look at the the size of these bikes.
51:41
And let's say you get 3 baggers going down the front straight at
51:45
Majello. Yeah, come on, man.
51:48
Well, I mean, I think it's going to be the, the, the, the tracks
51:51
that got the narrow chicanes is going to be the issue.
51:54
Like when they go to bulletin and, and some of these places,
51:59
we'll we'll see if they'll be able to make them turns or at
52:02
what speed they can make those turns and stuff like that.
52:06
They're going. They're going to circuited
52:08
Americans, Majello, Asin, Silverstone, Aragon and Austria.
52:14
OK. All right.
52:15
So they picked these specific tracks for certain reasons,
52:20
attendance, eyeballs. And by keeping them all in
52:23
Europe, they can keep the cost down because they don't have to
52:26
fly these things to Malaysia, Japan and all these other
52:31
countries. So they do one race here in the
52:33
US, they bring everything to Europe and then they just truck
52:36
everything from event to event around Europe.
52:38
Italy, Netherlands, UK, Spain, Austria.
52:41
You can get there driving. You don't have to fly these
52:43
giant bikes in a in a plane. And so let me ask and I assume
52:50
the the the Bagger series in the US is still going to continue.
52:53
Yes, so the Bagger Series is continuing as its own thing,
52:57
just as the Bagger Series. So that's why Kyle Wyman, for
53:00
instance, you would think a guy that's won as many races as he
53:03
won a championship, as he won would be a natural move to the
53:07
World Bagger League. However, he's not, he's going to
53:10
stay here in the US because for Harley-Davidson, it's important
53:14
to keep winning the championship here and he's their, he's their
53:18
go to guy. You know he's been the guy
53:20
flying this Harley-Davidson bagger flag since day one.
53:24
Right, All right, you got to hear, what do you guys think of
53:28
that, that $110,000 Harley? I mean, I besides, it's it's a
53:34
good place to take a hot bath with all that oil.
53:39
Is it 110,000? Yeah, yeah, the C or the CVO,
53:43
whatever. Yep, the CVO rafer just like
53:47
orange and black or something. That's like 110 grand.
53:49
Yeah, bro. What is the frame?
53:52
What's up? Yeah, that's a $10,000 Harley,
53:56
man. I buy me yourself a fleet of
53:58
Gixxers and crash them all day and still have 800 Gixxers to
54:01
go. That's what I'm talking about I.
54:09
Just keep rolling jigsons out of the trailer all day.
54:12
I won't even pick them up. I.
54:13
Don't. Even want it back like a set of
54:22
tires. He said I'll get a fleet of
54:25
Jigsons. We we, we always get our hate.
54:31
I know you guys misses too, but that was a good one.
54:35
I'm a guy, so. Me too.
54:40
It, it doesn't away from the aftermarket community by doing
54:44
that, when you put a bike together, sort of like what
54:46
we've seen with the car industries now you can get
54:49
vehicles with TV's in them and all lowered and wheels and
54:51
everything. So you know, is, is, is this, I
54:55
mean, you think about all these Harley aftermarket places and
54:58
stuff like that, they look at this and go, what are we going
55:00
to do? Or they just got to step their
55:02
game up to compete. Or just they just mark their
55:05
pricing up to compete. Right.
55:11
So. So is this is this the race
55:13
Harley that's marked at 110,000 or are they just like it's a?
55:17
Street bike. I'm looking at it right.
55:19
Now it's a street bike. It's a street.
55:20
Bike. It's a street bike.
55:22
They are, and there's one that you know, there's a, a a YouTube
55:26
who has one of the Orleans on it and and it's it's, it looks
55:31
pretty good, man. It's a street bike that's made
55:34
the concept from racing. It's literally sitting there.
55:37
I'm like, what the heck? How much 110 grand?
55:40
Who is buying this? Yeah.
55:42
No, I mean, there's a lot of people that already put a put
55:44
close to 100 grand in their, in their regular St. glides, right.
55:47
So I mean, you know. There's you got the money just
55:50
to have it, yes. Wheels you just sit 17 in the
55:54
front wheel. Yeah, Harley guys do invest in
55:58
their bikes. I mean, if you look at how many
56:00
guys like do custom paint job, custom chroming, you know,
56:04
custom body work, sound system, stereo system lighting, Ellie,
56:08
they're like when you go to Daytona bike week and these
56:11
you'll see like guys out there that probably invested 30 or
56:14
40,000 bucks into their bike. Like we used to have a saying,
56:18
Hey, son, I can't give you braces because I'm going to put
56:20
Chrome on my Harley. And it's, it's kind of like the
56:24
culture of, of Harley-Davidson guys.
56:26
They will invest a ton of money into a bike that's not worth
56:31
that much money. And and said they got a savings
56:35
they made. And yeah, and then, yo, I got
56:37
this on the 153 horsepower, $110,000, man.
56:41
I'm sorry man. You know what that means.
56:45
Just make sure make sure you have your tool kit handy because
56:48
it's probably going to vibrate, lose a bolt or something going
56:51
down the highway, Something's going to happen.
56:53
I got to look into this. That's an expensive, expensive
56:56
boat. 10 grand for a boat? I bought myself that that that
57:05
trailer home that I wanted, man. 110 grand.
57:09
I can buy a couple of R ones and still be good to go.
57:14
Can you get that on a 30 year mortgage?
57:16
Just get 2. I could.
57:17
V4 Rs to me just two V4 Rs but still.
57:22
I just don't want the service on the V4.
57:23
I don't want to do the decimal service.
57:25
I'm like, Nah, sell this thing. Wow, what?
57:30
You know what man? I I guarantee you
57:32
Harley-Davidson will sell well. They're.
57:36
Going to sell. Out they're a limited number.
57:38
How many are they? How many are they making
57:40
they're. Going to sell out of those
57:41
things, they're going to sell out.
57:42
Units. Yeah, they're going to sell out.
57:44
They sold out probably right now.
57:45
Hold on. A.
57:47
Second, yes, yes, under 31 units.
57:49
I guarantee you they sold out. That's like 1,000,008.
57:53
So they sell all of those. They're making just over 14 and
57:56
a half million dollars selling 131 1 units, man, that's not
58:01
that's not a bad day at the office.
58:04
No, I guarantee you they they didn't probably sold either out
58:08
by now or sold majority of them things with deposits.
58:11
I was. Like I know we can speak.
58:14
Hardcore. I can see hardcore
58:18
Harley-Davidson guys that have money in their pockets because
58:21
we get the same thing. Even on our end, we'll get guys,
58:24
you know that Rossi limited edition suit and helmet that we
58:27
did that are numbered from 1 to 46.
58:29
We sold out of those and those things were like 4050 thousand
58:34
bucks for a suit and a helmet in a glass case just because it was
58:38
signed and numbered and limited like we sold them out.
58:42
Yes, so at the H2 is how we H2 that bike it's pretty expensive
58:48
like a lot of people got them you know but you know I ain't
58:54
buying I didn't spend that much for.
58:58
Anything limited, somebody's going to buy.
58:59
When it's limited and it's like a rare, they're going to buy it.
59:04
That's what everybody wants. They just want something rare
59:06
and limited. Well, listen man, I if, if I get
59:08
a spin on one, I'll definitely take it and see what it's like
59:11
because it got to be a little impressive.
59:15
Until it spits out that oil. I'm sure it comes with a decent
59:19
warranty. You know $10,000, you better
59:24
come to my house and pick it up. So, So what do you just go to a
59:30
regular holiday dealership, be like, hey, so it's not working?
59:35
Here's my $22,000 deposit. Yeah, something like that.
59:39
I think it's, well, I don't know, it might be 0 percentage
59:42
financing, but. That sounds like a Ducati right
59:47
there. All y'all limited edition bikes
59:49
coming out and everything limited for y'all.
59:52
They listen, they the other manufacturers are learning.
59:54
I mean that they see what works. And I don't know if I, I, I
59:59
think Harley, you know, I give them credit, right?
1:00:02
Because when you know the bag of C, we started, I remember when
1:00:05
they were testing that Black Hawk and we were out there
1:00:07
running with CCS Azra and I'm like, what?
1:00:10
What are they doing? Like that's not going to work
1:00:12
And you know, look now. So it's it's pretty impressive
1:00:17
and and and they they are capitalizing and that was in
1:00:20
Moto GP. So you know, it doesn't get
1:00:23
there's no bigger stage for motorcycle racing than that.
1:00:26
So well, Hey man, you know, you know, club races myself more
1:00:33
Harley's and you know than than R sixes.
1:00:38
Yeah, you don't want to go Harley racing I.
1:00:40
Don't think so, man. You don't want to go Harley
1:00:42
racing. You'd be building engines all
1:00:45
the time. For real, how many people does
1:00:47
it take to get it off the the Jack the Stand?
1:00:51
Probably like 3, that heavy mic. You're like, yeah, no, we're
1:00:58
good. Need this thing.
1:01:00
Either way I was going to say how much weight is really shaved
1:01:05
off on the Harley though compared to like the street
1:01:07
biker. I've seen the Motor America
1:01:09
version so obviously you can tell a lot of weighted shades,
1:01:12
so I know it's still a heavy bike.
1:01:14
It's still heavy. All that bike is really I.
1:01:16
Know it's still. Heavy, it's just plastic.
1:01:20
It's just literally, it's just plastic, all of it so.
1:01:23
How the quarter weight 785 lbs including fuel.
1:01:29
Wow, geez. And and then like a street,
1:01:33
street that's like close to 1000, right?
1:01:35
Or 900 S no. No, that's, that's the street,
1:01:37
that's the CVO Rd. Glide RR.
1:01:40
The the I think the Moto America bikes are right at like 625 or
1:01:47
so. Like they're still heavy.
1:01:48
I mean, they take the bags off. Those bags are hollow carbon
1:01:51
fiber bodywork, but it's still 600 something like the motor on
1:01:55
that thing is still AV twin. Like it's still a steel.
1:01:59
Motor. Thing is.
1:02:01
No doubt. Well, hey, if they can do it,
1:02:05
you know, Harley-Davidson needs a couple wins.
1:02:07
They had a rough couple years. They've lost a lot of momentum.
1:02:11
They closed a lot of dealership. They have a new CEO and new
1:02:15
management team. So hopefully they can kind of
1:02:17
turn things around over there because Harley-Davidson is 50%
1:02:21
of the US motorcycle market realistically.
1:02:24
Unfortunately. Yeah, So isn't, you know, it's
1:02:26
important for them to stay healthy because if they're not
1:02:28
healthy overall, the motorcycle industry kind of feels that
1:02:31
little shake. You know the rising tide floats
1:02:34
all boats. With the the sinking tide does
1:02:37
start to sink all the ships as well.
1:02:39
No doubt. Speaking of.
1:02:41
So we're going to get out of here guys, because we, yeah,
1:02:44
there's more to talk about. I want to thank all the folks
1:02:47
that are following, liking, subscribing, commenting, you
1:02:52
know, putting Lewis to work, got him explaining things, got the
1:02:56
graph out. Apologizing.
1:03:00
All that fun stuff, we appreciate it.
1:03:02
It makes us know we're doing the right things.
1:03:04
We have some cool things coming down the pipelines to keep it
1:03:07
locked. My name is Rex 45.
1:03:09
It's the Beef Forever Cool podcast.
1:03:10
I want to thank thank Reese from Attack, Yamaha to Rio, Luis
1:03:14
Ortega, the numbers guy, TJ with two wheels and coffee Peace.
1:03:19
Peace.