KNIGHT : The presence of David KNIGHT in the Grand Prix of SLOVAKIA is very uncertain… His premature abandonment in Finland on Saturday and his renunciation of the Sunday proves that the divorce is imminent between BMW and KNIGHTER… But the rider of the ISLAND of MAN could very quickly re-appear under other colours in order to try to prove that he is always at the top…
Rumour has it he already has bought new bikes on his own dime and could possibly be heading back to the US for the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see if he shows up tomorrow for Slovakia...
Salminen doubled 2nd place last weekend in Finland, the bike can't be all bad. The real question to me is what will the 2010 production bikes be like? Will they have the frame that Juha is using, or is the 2010 production line already set?
Well I think it is quite obvious that after Knight made those remarks a few weeks ago about BMW sucking that they were going to do their best to make it look like he was the problem not the bike. Does anyone really believe that Salminen is so much better then DK as to get the bike on the podium while DK struggles to get top 5 or 10? Personally I think it is very clear BMW has given Salminen the advantage over DK forcing DK to bail so they can now say "it was DK's inability to get the most out of the bike. The bike is fine, see Salminen is getting podiums. Unfortunately DK was just not the right rider for the BMW team...blah blah blah" DK is an amazing rider and at the very least is equally as good as Salminen. I think DK needs to buy some Huskys and show BMW how a real competition bike performs
Yes, Salminen is a much better rider, that's why KTM never put the two of them head to head in USA. Yes, DK is an amazing rider! Is he equal to Salminen? Salminen has proven himself over and over with multiple WEC and GNCC wins. Truth is you really can't compare the two, Salaminen has won a lot of championships and DK still has a long racing career in front of him. As it is Salminen is a proven Champion and DK still has a lot of work to catch him. I think Husqvarna should just pick-up the contract... everyone knows BMW is going to be out of WEC enduro in the next year or two and it will just be a foot note in their checkered off road history just like Dakar was to them. Just Something to think about
Yes to the above.... I've seen JuHaul and Knighter in person racing GNCC and US WEC GP's. Juha dominated GNCC, Knight struggled by comparison to win his GNCC Championships. Juha is no flash, just digs deep and goes fast while not looking fast. Knight is very much the total opposite.... Looks very dynamic and physical on the bike, but when things go bad, he doesn't have the depth to get it done. This isn't MotoGP, Honda and the Nikki/Danni thing. Juha and Knight are in different classes and BMW would like to do well in both classes. I'd bet they are on equal equipment. I would think the competition is between Knight and Tarkala in the E3 class together. The BMW's right now seem to be highly KTM'ized, so why can't Knight get it together. People always thought Knight could beat anyone, even if he was riding a bicycle in a motorcycle race. Now it's proven not true. Knight has already disparaged the Husky, so I doubt we'll see him on one. To be honest.... he's the last guy I'd want riding a Husky right now. Maybe he'll go back to the Yamaha's he started his WEC career on?
I find it amazing how fast ppl forget..... In 2005, continuing in the E3 class, he took his first world title and also won the ISDE outright. In 2006, he posted a "perfect" season, winning all 14 rounds of the E3 WEC season, also winning almost every special test at each event. For 2007, Knight moved to the United States to take on the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series against the best in the US. He replaced Salminen, who in turn moved back to the world championship from the KTM USA team. Despite some mechanical difficulties and an injury, Knight still managed to take the GNCC title. He is off to a good start in 2008 also, winning two of the first three races. Knight also competes in a wide range of "extreme" enduro events, such as the Hells Gate extreme enduro in Italy, the Erzberg Rodeo in Austria,[1] the AMA Endurocross in Las Vegas, Nevada and the "Tough One" in the UK (he has won all of these, even beating Salminen), and won (leading every lap of) the first annual Red Bull Last Man Standing in Texas. Knight is an accomplished all rounder, having won the British Expert trials championship, as well as competing with success in various motocross and beach racing events. His all rounder status was confirmed by his winning of the "Moto 1" event in the UK, which got riders from several disciplines of motorcycle sport to compete against each other in several disciplines (including road racing, MX, enduro, trials, etc). But I totally agree that Salimen is an amazing rider as well. I was not trying to say he was not. In reality these two guys should be on the podium, at a minimum, every race. The problem is the bike and not the riders.
Actually I am a fan of anyone that gets on a bike and rides competitions like the GNCC or the WEC. You see a wheeny and I see a guy with misplaced passion.
it seem like most of can't figure DK out either!!! I like big Dave for his leverage style way of getting through ugly stuff (i.e Erzberg ugliness), it has taught me some stuff. I like Juha for his amazingly effortless style (smooth as silk) that makes him look slow as he piles on seconds to minutes ahead of the others. Kind of JMB during his AMA MX heyday, these guys rode/ride so light and smooth. Juha gets the robertaccio vote for being tops in most all catagories,,not just on the race course. Juha is also a top 10 MXGP rider as well (points for that too).
Not even 2 weeks ago DK was still laughing at all of the rumors and critics on his website's forum, however the Finland round seems to have been a bad move regardless of what bike or side you're on. The G450X has been on the podium at Erzberg 2 years running now, had a podium team last year for the Six day if I'm not mistaken and does exceptionally well at Rally type events. Simmo Kirssi is racking up podiums in the German Cross Country series and was doing well with the bike in pre-production last year as well. The bike really suits a smooth/trials type rider such as Juha for sure, but it's far from a crap bike. It has the same Zokes half the folks here know and either love or hate, hard to fault the forks if you're a fan of Husky's as they are 45mm open cartridge units just like on older TE and WR's. While they are not as good the WP Works systems, they are no where near as bad as folks make them out to be, the Press dude at BMW needs to be fed a boot up the ass for pulling a bike out of a crate and giving it to press folks assuming no break-in or set-up required for some of the articles that have hit the stands lately. Of any frame changes they might have made for WEC bikes, I'd bet it's pretty close to stock with maybe some modification to get more lock to lock steering out of the bar for tight technical riding.
The set up of the press bikes have been an issue. I rode one that was sent to a CDN mag and it was AWFUL. In conversation with an acquaintance from BMW Motorrad Canada, I was told that after the Dirt Rider test and DKs hissy fits, the G450s are welded to the floors at BMW dealerships. They cant give them away up here no matter how good they are. I will be surprised to the see the bike in the MY11 lineup from BMW.
It's official... It's over! BMW's side: http://www.offroadchampions.com/bmw_motorrad_motorsport_press_news_en.pdf David Knight's Side: http://www.offroadchampions.com/David_Knight_Media_Service__09_-_Knight_and_BMW_part_company.JPG
It's definitely been a very hard "sell" to any offroad only customers as they perceive the bike as a dual sport. The Dual sport guys love the bike (most of them are on DRZ400/KLR/XR's etc though) but feel it's being raced, so it can't be a good dual sport bike in spite of them riding it and loving it. Fuel range is an issue, they need to add a 3.5 gallon tank and then try to diffuse the service requirements which were based on racing/advanced riding conditions. Just like the Husky's, the BMW top end is very durable we're finding and holds valve adjustment for a long time with regular oil changes. Press bikes is an issue with BMW, no-one there is really a competant gearhead to know what needs to be addressed and how. Even their HQ mechanic shop is clueless when it comes to anything outside of a factory manual inspite of great guys/facility there. They don't get the opportunity to use the bike "unofficially" and sort it out for the real world. Scot Harden has been instrumental in this regard to Husqvarna as you haven't seen an overly negative review yet, though the same issues plague the Marzocchi'ed HSQ's IMHO. It will be interesting to see where DK ends up and how things unfold from there. He should probably focus on doing extreme events for the rest of the year and sort out whatever bike he wants to race for next year in whatever venue he ends up chasing.
I had my wifes Mini in at the local BMW shop who also has a Motorrad Dept and was talking to the sales guy who knows I am a Husky guy. He told me that he is getting tons of interest in the bike but they are from GS guys who are asking him where the hard bags mount and asking how big of a windshield they can put on it. When they realize that it only holds 8L of gas they look at him funny and walk out the door. The sales rep said they have brought in 2 450s (1 sold) and will not take another one under any circumstance.
