When??? Oh....1992....lol


How about a current production quad that we can all buy from the dealership, thats what this is all about.

 

I think a lot of people put too much emphasis on the phrase 'race ready.' To me, what this means is- a machine that when bought new, could be entered in a local race and perform on nearly the same level as the other quads on the track. Cannondale has undoubtibly done this, as well as- Polaris, Yamaha, Gas-Gas, and now that I know about it, I guess ATK did also. Why do you think a quad has to be stripped down in order to be a competitive racer? I ran a very near stock 400ex at the track several times and it did pretty good- especially when I stalled it and all I had to do was push a button to bring it back to life. I would much rather take on an extra 15lbs to have electric start than to loose a race because I couldn't kick start my "race ready" quad fast enough. Oh yeah, I said local race because IF people who buy these quads actually make it to a race it will be local. This is what matters. If you think Carmichel runs a "race ready" mx bike from Honda, you really are a rock head. For the 95% of all sport riders out there that will never run an actual race, don't you think they'd rather have electric start and headlights? For the 4% that may actually run in a local race every now and then, I think we can stomach having to remove those headlights and splurge for the race gas a couple of times a year. And for the remaining 1%, the real racers (in which I am sure you rockrider are not), they will indefinately mod their machines to the hilt anyways so what's the big deal?

Oh, and if you want to make a comment on my riding abilities since I mentioned stalling and all- go ahead. But don't get too carried away, and don't insult my momma! Even Autobots get mad every now and then.

JP

 

I've ridden a Cannondale Moto 440 on an MX track. It was bone stock. It was almost identical to my CT440 which had $15,000 in it.

Please tell me why the Moto 440 wasn't "Race Ready"? Don't give me that lame azz electric start issue. Let's see how many MX pros delete the starter on the YFZ, TRX, Gas Gas 4 strokes. I've watched many pros struggle with hot restarts on their CRF - YZF conversions in races. Do the guys running Z400 pro quads use the no reverse / no electric start engines? Bikes have a space advantage that allows the use of longer kickstart levers and you have a longer arc in which the lever moves. Basically, you can put more azz into kicking a bike with the same engine. I've got news for you beer drinkin', Wendy's eating squids. You can drop 15 lbs pretty easy just by taking care of yourselves. For any of you that are not, YOU are not race ready.


One more thing, only KTM, Gas Gas, TM and the new CRF's are race ready. All the rest come with throw away handlebars just like most "race ready" quads.

 

people label them as race quads, probably becease they are the MOST LIKELY new quad ANYONE would purchase in order to race.... whether amature or not... the higher up the ranks you want to go the more you need to mod it

 

It is all about marketing. While the C-dale Moto was very trick it was still nothing more than the standard Cannibal with some better parts and accessories. It was in no way as specialized as an MX bike is for racing. There is the difference. An MX bike is a true race machine, it is made for one purpose, to race on a closed course. No quad exists that is that specialized.

 

Okay, now you're making a good point. It seemed that in your earlier posts, you were thinking that a stripped down quad is a race ready quad. You may have stumbled onto something new, or this was your mindset the entire time. Either way, this is a fresh outlook to "race ready." Yes, bikes are specifically taylored to the style of racing that they will be doing; CR-mx, XR650-desert/baja, WRF450- woods. This will NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER happen with quads. If it did, then manufacturers would put out fully lowered and sway bar equiped quads for TT. Wide, well suspended, quick revving quads for MX. Fully geared up bulky tanks for desert, and so on and so on. All of them of course would be stripped down to the bare nesesities and would be just like their bike counter parts- good for nothing other than their intended purpose. Quads, because of their nature of design (4 wheels) will always be more approachable for the average Joe. Thus, the average Joe's of the world will buy the vast majority of these race quads and will expect them to be good at everything. Therefor, we cannot expect the manufacturers to supply the few racers out there with a purpose built machine because more than just racers will be buying them. Why are all of my posts so long?

JP

 

Rock,
If Honda or Yamaha took an 04 CR or YZ, added lights, mirrors, DOT tires, and an EPA friendly exhaust to come up with a dual sport would that make the original bikes any less serious?? Your arguement doesn't hold water. The C-Dales latest engine was used in all of it's products and was only 4-6hp short of the 450's of Honda and Yamaha. That same engine was in their MX bike and Supermoto racers. Maybe the Cannibal was just the most race ready Sport quad of all time.

Have you ever raced MX on a bike?? The first thing you do is lose the bars and often the triple clamps or barmounts. Then you install a set of grips that you can live with. Until recently you had to get a clutch lever that worked cuz stock was junk. Most importantly you had to get your front and rear suspension done unless you are the 160lb b class rider the bikes are built for. Throw in your pipe and silencer, reeds and airfilter [forget any Pro-Cicuit big money internal mods that the winners have]. If you are fast and ride on rough terrain you can ride your stock wheels for a couple of races till they fall apart then it's time for some Excels. You ride in sand/loam or rocky hardpack? Well the tires that come on your bike are great for intermediate tracks. Problem is there are about 5 tracks in the US that are intermediate. The rest are soft or hard. I won't mention oversized footpegs cuz some of the guys can actually use them but I was born with men's feet so I need the biggins'.

So the way I see it, If you are planning on winning anything go get your "Race Ready" mx bike for $6000 then get "ready" to "race" on down to the bank and withdraw the other $2500 it's gonna take to make the bike competitive. Oh yeah, don't forget an extra $125 for the "race ready" graphics. When was the last time you saw somebody win with factory graphics? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Moto 440's are race ready.

 

Motorcycles are specialized from the factory though they need set up and mods to race effectively.

Quads are not as specialized from the factory and take more set-up and mods to race effectvely

The Moto 440 is still the only race ready MX quad from the factory and the Blaze was race ready for cross-country.

 

I dont need a shortend swingarm cause i know how to race a bike. My bike has a stock suspension and is race ready. Its not the bike that wins races, its the rider. People consider yfz's, raptors, z's, ex's, motos etc... race ready because they are compared to 300ex's, mojaves, blasters...but with a "race ready" bike you need a "race ready" rider.

 

Dude, Whats with the name calling? Everyone has their own opinion on this topic, And feel differently about it. Just because their stand is different from yours, doesn't mean you should start a thread like this and get people worked up with your name calling.

In my opinion, the phrase "race quad", has a broad window of definitions. So why bother trying to stress the fact that your opinion is the right one?


I've put $7000 to mod my 1987 250r to make it up to my standards of "Race Ready.
I agree with you about the definition of a Race Ready quad, but I'm not about to start a thread about it.