Hell, and I thought you were gonna tell us about a supercharger or something. That Honda would make a wicked supermoto.

 

 

Palmer, you won't make it around the block on that thing. USA's Ricky Brabec just lost his 1st place in the Dakar today because his POS Honda 450 broke...just like it did in one of the other prior Dakars he was in. He should have been riding a KLX. I hope you didn't sell yours.


LOL!...well, I am disappointed in Brabec's Dakar Hondas, but honestly the new "L" model is a great bike and you should be very happy with it...just don't enter the Dakar...LOL!

 

Ruined Dakar for me for the most part. Glad to see Andrew Short doing well though.

 

Click bait..suckers!

 

klx678, yeah, that was a disappointment. Looks like he's really matured as a Dakar rider. I wish they said more about two issues. One...what specifically broke on his bike. Two...what was the alleged "bike tampering" that someone did to his bike.

 

In the show they said something about increasing the rebound clicker on the shock, Brabec commented about I think it was the increased rebound damping.

It was kind of heart breaking to see his reactions. But that is the curse of motor sports, mechanical failure.

 

I love Japanese bikes, but one has to admit that KTM has got a pretty good handle on how to build a pretty tough and effective dirt bike. Sure, the Dakar and the bike prep that the factories put into that event don't always mirror a personal owner's experience and needs, but Honda is a bigger company than KTM, and it's evident they put a big team together with plenty of backing.

I watch every Dakar. Honda has had trouble keeping their bikes and riders in one piece. Honda did well in the Baja series races, but in reality that's a cake walk compared to Dakar. I have no qualms about the toughness of the Honda 450L, but as much as I hate to admit it, KTM "may" be just a tiny bit tougher overall. I think any difference won't even be noticeable in the consumer market.

 

Seems for having a minimal number of riders on Hondas versus KTM, 7 vs 24, having one or two bikes out is a big deal. Honda has a rider in 2nd and one in 6th at the moment, would have had the lead had the penalty on Sunderland withdrawn. In 2017 Honda finished fifth and sixth land was second, sixteen minutes behind - after a 1 hour penalty for fueling in an illegal zone. So they seem to have the durability considering the finishes. I would venture to say the two rally ending occurrences that took out Brabec were a bit of an anomaly, like lightning striking twice in the same place, but definitely more likely considering the fickleness of motor sports.

But let's also consider part of the politics Brabec spoke out January last year Honda's Brabec slams KTM for "behind closed doors" tactics , now consider what has gone on this year. Seems Honda was penalized for a violation of a rider carrying notes which didn't exist until an after the fact clarification. Honda's Kevin Benavides and his team had taken the rule of not modifying the official road book at face value, making separate notes to carry after being told it was okay by a steward. The after-the-fact "clarification"costs - Three hour Benavides penalty ends Honda's Dakar hopes.. KTM's Sam Sunderland is given an hour penalty for modifying the Iritrack monitoring system on his motorcycle, but it seems some negotiations after the fact gets the penalty lifted, Sunderland gets Dakar podium after penalty withdrawal. It seems Honda needs to play the game better or not try to follow the face value of the rules and believe the Dakar stewards, but rather become mind readers of the Dakar organizers.

A long way of saying I think Honda has proven durability in a majority of the cases, but has not quite hit the win column yet. This year Honda lost one rider to injury and one to being terminally stuck, and one mechanical failure. I'm thinking there have been three top KTM riders out for similar causes, but there are enough to continue to be a major force.
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