You're very welcome. It's a little surprising that this turned out to be James Stewart's only race on a 4-stroke (250cc or 450cc) until December 2005 when Kawasaki came out with their new KX450F 4-stroke. You still had to give James a lot of credit for competing with the 450s in the 250cc class in 2005 MX on his 250cc 2-stroke though.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames its because this bike was not actually fully made by kawasaki, they only built the frame. it was part of the suzuki kawi partnership same deal as the klx400 and drz400 being the same bike. the 06 450 and 250f are the first bikes they built fully in house. James had a factory kawi deal not pro circuit. They didn't want him on a bike they didn't fully make. He was there brand at the time. Those 04-05 kx250fs and 03-06 rmz250s are identical in every way except radiator shroud shape. and rolled out of a suzuki factory
Yeah he did. You could visibly see the difference there with James getting the holeshot on that 250F as opposed to starting around 6th-10th on that KX125.
Stewart’s one race on equal equipment that’s year🤯. He managed to smoke everyone with a third less power throughout that year on a 125. We may never see another athlete of his caliber in the sport again. The man was pure genius on a motocross bike.
No disagreements. When Stew announced he would ride the 250F at Glen Helen, you had to think a 1-1 sweep was inevitable after he won 27 races on a KX125.
To be fair the 125s peak hp was higher. Those ktm 125s ripped. They just had no tourqe and need to be on the pipe, not easy to ride like that for 30 minutes. The real advantage is in the ease of riding. You don't have to clutch a 250f hardly at all compared to a 125, 125 needs momentum. I'd bet james wasn't that much slower on a 125 for 1 lap. But on lap 15 he was still fresh on the 250f.
I certainly wouldn't tune in if the ESPN2 crew just focused on James Stewart from beginning to end. We definitely want to see battles -- whether they're for 1st place or not.
I also never knew he rode a four stroke 250. I learn new things thanks to your excellent uploads. I wish he had the 450 four stroke for Carmichaels last full year. It would have made a great year even better if that is even possible.
Actually, this was Stewart's ONLY 125cc National on the KX250F; he also DID have a 450cc 4-stroke available for Carmichael's last full year (2006) -- it was 2005 that Kawasaki didn't have a 450cc available and Stewart paid for it big time. I agree that having a 4-stroke would've been a better fight for RC, but 2005 was James' 250cc/450cc rookie season, which was interrupted by injury, and made 2006 James' official rookie season. With James on that KX250, I honestly doubted he would win a moto, but Kawasaki really screwed the pooch for sure -- they thought James would do the same he did in the 125cc class, especially on a 125cc 2-stroke, but there was NO WAY the 250cc class would let Stewart cakewalk the series. That has to have been James' first real lesson, too. This is the 250cc class -- they could give less than two shits if your name is James Stewart, or how much you dominated the 125cc class. I admire James' efforts, but you could tell that his hard riding was going to land him in trouble at times, and it did.
I like to go back and watch these old races when I get the time. I don't think I'll be posting anymore races unfortunately, but I am glad to give people back some memories of back in the day :)
This one is because suzuki and kawi could not agree when they went to design a 450 together so the ended there manufacturing partnership agreement. Kawi broke a frame in Japan in 2005 and ended up scraping the 05 gen1kx450 all together. No way Factory kawi was going to put there main man on an unproven machine after what happened the year before in japan
Saw Stewart for about 15 seconds. ESPN then realized that they only had enough cameras to cover one race, so they decided to focus on the one behind Bubba. Meanwhile, Bubba finished first and last in his race; it apparently being a separate one and he the only competitor. Would have been nice if they gave him a bit more camera time.
Well, Stewart on that 250F just about guaranteed that he would be the winner for the day. I was glad to see James out of this class because he made the class a major snoozefest all throughout much of 2004. This series would've been so much more better if James just advanced to the 250cc class for the 250cc Motocross Championship, or if he was out with injury, or racing in Europe.
The coverage was ish. The fastest man in the class and we barely. EVERY TIME I saw James race in person he did something that made me say "that boy ain't right in the head". It was mind boggling. HE was the show in that lass and the producers refused to acknowledge it.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames If they had shown James you would have seen the best rider to swing a leg over a dirt bike go to work. They did a disservice to the moto community and the history of moto.
@@paulf144 I don't dispute what Stewart did on a dirt bike, but at the same time, I'm one of those people who crave battles like RC does. Seeing James win by 30-60 seconds or more was "watching grass grow."
Let's agree to disagree.I miss the sitting on the edge of your seat excitement. I wish he would have sponsored himself also, But that suspension the A.M.A gave him was a travesty of justice. It seemed to take all the wind out of his sails. As far as Reed goes, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. O.K. he was a whiner and never achieved the speed of Ricky or James.I broke my own rule. I'm going to have a serious talk with myself.
I miss that excitement, too, but Vegas '17 gave us quite a bit of that. I just wish that Reed won that race if it weren't for Anderson's cheap shot. James sponsoring himself would've gone a long way like Chad Reed forming his own team, which brought his passion for Supercross back. The only thing I despise from both RC and Stewart was that they both ruined Reed's prime years for winning races; I still despise that to this day. Now, with RC retired as of 2008 and McGrath retired as of 2003 (2006 officially), Chad Reed is the ONLY reason I have left to follow this sport. Once he leaves, I won't have anybody to cheer for, especially with Ryan Dungey announcing his retirement just a couple of days ago.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames "Ruined"? That makes no sense. He simply got beat. All there is to it. That's like saying Dungey had his prime ruined by RV.
Yes I say "ruined" because Stewart and Carmichael split a lot of the wins between each other and left Reed to just go for 3rd. Just think -- Chad could have had as many as 20 more wins if it wasn't for that #4 and #7.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames Ok? Just think, RC would have 8283738 more wins if it wasn't for Chad Reed. Chad Reed could never win anything unless his best competition was hurt.
Reed was better than RC in '03 when he won the final 6 races of the Supercross season. Unfortunately, that knee injury RC suffered in November 2003 was a blessing in disguise because after Stewart advanced to the 250cc class for 2005, and Chad Reed having problems with his new '05 Yamaha (and not going to the World Supercross rounds in Canada), Reed was having to find more speed, but he did the next best thing: stay consistent. I won't disagree with people who say that Reed was more consistent than McGrath.
Personally, I think the sport is doing just fine without James Stewart out there. Once he went to San Manuel Yamaha at the prime of his career, that was the first of his worst decisions -- going Supercross-only. Next was all his off-track incidents in 2011, and next, burning bridges with Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki. If James is not willing to privateer things and just stay out in no-man's-land, just retire already and stop leaving so many fans in wonder. Chad Reed saved himself from that pathway and then some by funding his own team in 2011 w/ TwoTwo Motorsports Honda. Look where that got Reed.
Mathewv21688...I couldn't agree more about the move to Yamaha and all the rest, but come on, don't you miss the fly or die attitude? Just seems dull without him, but I concede the point. And by the way, Thank you for posting all this great motorcycle racing.I just keep watching it over and over! Many, many thanks!
I don't miss it at all. I just knew that Stewart in that red-zone speed was going to result in trouble, and it did. How many races he gave away should be a prime example (Daytona '11, Houston '11), along with his poor riding choices (Phoenix '10), and I think the WADA suspension is the final nail in James's coffin. You're very welcome on all the posts of classic races. Hope you have liked all that I've posted because all that you see on my channel (save for a few races taken down from copyrights) is my entire collection of races. :)
I have you to thank for still being up at 2:15 in the morning watching a race that happened 13 years ago. Instead of becoming a professional motorcycle racer I spent all my money on booze and women, the rest I just wasted.
Well, where I live in Hawaii, it's now 12:02 AM. Whoops, well that won't get anyone anywhere. I remember I was in my 3rd year of high school when this race took place myself.
I heard all the issues with 04’ but that was Kawis first year for the 4 stroke. 2005 was much better. I had a 2005 that I rode almost every weekend. Raced once a month at glen helen with SRA, valves always stayed in spec. Mine was crazy reliable. Loved that bike
Who were his serious competitors, no one? Yes, he's probably the fastest guy to ever race motocross, but he has no real competition here besides Ramsey and Tedesco. Broc Hepler was playing hide n seek I guess? LOL
On the contrary, Mike Brown showed us something at Red Bud with the 2-1 for the overall win after Stewart crashed twice and lost his clutch. But after that, Brown faded out of contention with bad luck and just pulling out of motos for no reason (reference Millville), and busting a shoulder at Steel City. Hepler crashed in this moto, but that was only a prelude to how his career turned out (save for winning the 125cc race at Phoenix 2005).
This is an awesome piece of history! Thank you for the upload!!
You're very welcome. It's a little surprising that this turned out to be James Stewart's only race on a 4-stroke (250cc or 450cc) until December 2005 when Kawasaki came out with their new KX450F 4-stroke. You still had to give James a lot of credit for competing with the 450s in the 250cc class in 2005 MX on his 250cc 2-stroke though.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames its because this bike was not actually fully made by kawasaki, they only built the frame. it was part of the suzuki kawi partnership same deal as the klx400 and drz400 being the same bike. the 06 450 and 250f are the first bikes they built fully in house.
James had a factory kawi deal not pro circuit. They didn't want him on a bike they didn't fully make. He was there brand at the time. Those 04-05 kx250fs and 03-06 rmz250s are identical in every way except radiator shroud shape. and rolled out of a suzuki factory
@@amfk8079 Well, either way, lucky you.
Stewart took off like a bullet,i was there that day awesome to watch the 125 bad ass turn up the heat...
Yeah he did. You could visibly see the difference there with James getting the holeshot on that 250F as opposed to starting around 6th-10th on that KX125.
Stewart’s one race on equal equipment that’s year🤯. He managed to smoke everyone with a third less power throughout that year on a 125. We may never see another athlete of his caliber in the sport again. The man was pure genius on a motocross bike.
No disagreements. When Stew announced he would ride the 250F at Glen Helen, you had to think a 1-1 sweep was inevitable after he won 27 races on a KX125.
To be fair the 125s peak hp was higher. Those ktm 125s ripped. They just had no tourqe and need to be on the pipe, not easy to ride like that for 30 minutes. The real advantage is in the ease of riding.
You don't have to clutch a 250f hardly at all compared to a 125, 125 needs momentum.
I'd bet james wasn't that much slower on a 125 for 1 lap. But on lap 15 he was still fresh on the 250f.
The amount of video of James Stewart that the production company didn't air in his 125 days is a travesty.
I certainly wouldn't tune in if the ESPN2 crew just focused on James Stewart from beginning to end. We definitely want to see battles -- whether they're for 1st place or not.
I also never knew he rode a four stroke 250. I learn new things thanks to your excellent uploads. I wish he had the 450 four stroke for Carmichaels last full year. It would have made a great year even better if that is even possible.
Actually, this was Stewart's ONLY 125cc National on the KX250F; he also DID have a 450cc 4-stroke available for Carmichael's last full year (2006) -- it was 2005 that Kawasaki didn't have a 450cc available and Stewart paid for it big time. I agree that having a 4-stroke would've been a better fight for RC, but 2005 was James' 250cc/450cc rookie season, which was interrupted by injury, and made 2006 James' official rookie season. With James on that KX250, I honestly doubted he would win a moto, but Kawasaki really screwed the pooch for sure -- they thought James would do the same he did in the 125cc class, especially on a 125cc 2-stroke, but there was NO WAY the 250cc class would let Stewart cakewalk the series.
That has to have been James' first real lesson, too. This is the 250cc class -- they could give less than two shits if your name is James Stewart, or how much you dominated the 125cc class. I admire James' efforts, but you could tell that his hard riding was going to land him in trouble at times, and it did.
You are correct. Hey, I'm getting old. I bow to your superior knowledge. Please keep up the excellent work posting these races. Thank you!
I like to go back and watch these old races when I get the time. I don't think I'll be posting anymore races unfortunately, but I am glad to give people back some memories of back in the day :)
Classic race
This one is because suzuki and kawi could not agree when they went to design a 450 together so the ended there manufacturing partnership agreement. Kawi broke a frame in Japan in 2005 and ended up scraping the 05 gen1kx450 all together. No way Factory kawi was going to put there main man on an unproven machine after what happened the year before in japan
Saw Stewart for about 15 seconds. ESPN then realized that they only had enough cameras to cover one race, so they decided to focus on the one behind Bubba. Meanwhile, Bubba finished first and last in his race; it apparently being a separate one and he the only competitor. Would have been nice if they gave him a bit more camera time.
Well, Stewart on that 250F just about guaranteed that he would be the winner for the day. I was glad to see James out of this class because he made the class a major snoozefest all throughout much of 2004. This series would've been so much more better if James just advanced to the 250cc class for the 250cc Motocross Championship, or if he was out with injury, or racing in Europe.
Awesome
Glad you liked it. Stewart finishing out his 125cc career on the 250F.
I have the same bike he Is riding. I'm rebuilding it as a 259 tribute.
Lucky you.
The coverage was ish. The fastest man in the class and we barely. EVERY TIME I saw James race in person he did something that made me say "that boy ain't right in the head". It was mind boggling. HE was the show in that lass and the producers refused to acknowledge it.
Well, I would certainly want to see more than just another runaway with James on that 250F myself.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames If they had shown James you would have seen the best rider to swing a leg over a dirt bike go to work. They did a disservice to the moto community and the history of moto.
@@paulf144 I don't dispute what Stewart did on a dirt bike, but at the same time, I'm one of those people who crave battles like RC does. Seeing James win by 30-60 seconds or more was "watching grass grow."
Let's agree to disagree.I miss the sitting on the edge of your seat excitement. I wish he would have sponsored himself also, But that suspension the A.M.A gave him was a travesty of justice. It seemed to take all the wind out of his sails. As far as Reed goes, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. O.K. he was a whiner and never achieved the speed of Ricky or James.I broke my own rule. I'm going to have a serious talk with myself.
I miss that excitement, too, but Vegas '17 gave us quite a bit of that. I just wish that Reed won that race if it weren't for Anderson's cheap shot.
James sponsoring himself would've gone a long way like Chad Reed forming his own team, which brought his passion for Supercross back. The only thing I despise from both RC and Stewart was that they both ruined Reed's prime years for winning races; I still despise that to this day. Now, with RC retired as of 2008 and McGrath retired as of 2003 (2006 officially), Chad Reed is the ONLY reason I have left to follow this sport. Once he leaves, I won't have anybody to cheer for, especially with Ryan Dungey announcing his retirement just a couple of days ago.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames "Ruined"? That makes no sense. He simply got beat. All there is to it. That's like saying Dungey had his prime ruined by RV.
Yes I say "ruined" because Stewart and Carmichael split a lot of the wins between each other and left Reed to just go for 3rd. Just think -- Chad could have had as many as 20 more wins if it wasn't for that #4 and #7.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames Ok? Just think, RC would have 8283738 more wins if it wasn't for Chad Reed. Chad Reed could never win anything unless his best competition was hurt.
Reed was better than RC in '03 when he won the final 6 races of the Supercross season. Unfortunately, that knee injury RC suffered in November 2003 was a blessing in disguise because after Stewart advanced to the 250cc class for 2005, and Chad Reed having problems with his new '05 Yamaha (and not going to the World Supercross rounds in Canada), Reed was having to find more speed, but he did the next best thing: stay consistent. I won't disagree with people who say that Reed was more consistent than McGrath.
Motocross and Supercross just seems boring without James Stewart. Let the hatemail begin,,,
Personally, I think the sport is doing just fine without James Stewart out there. Once he went to San Manuel Yamaha at the prime of his career, that was the first of his worst decisions -- going Supercross-only. Next was all his off-track incidents in 2011, and next, burning bridges with Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki. If James is not willing to privateer things and just stay out in no-man's-land, just retire already and stop leaving so many fans in wonder. Chad Reed saved himself from that pathway and then some by funding his own team in 2011 w/ TwoTwo Motorsports Honda. Look where that got Reed.
Mathewv21688...I couldn't agree more about the move to Yamaha and all the rest, but come on, don't you miss the fly or die attitude? Just seems dull without him, but I concede the point. And by the way, Thank you for posting all this great motorcycle racing.I just keep watching it over and over! Many, many thanks!
I don't miss it at all. I just knew that Stewart in that red-zone speed was going to result in trouble, and it did. How many races he gave away should be a prime example (Daytona '11, Houston '11), along with his poor riding choices (Phoenix '10), and I think the WADA suspension is the final nail in James's coffin.
You're very welcome on all the posts of classic races. Hope you have liked all that I've posted because all that you see on my channel (save for a few races taken down from copyrights) is my entire collection of races. :)
I have you to thank for still being up at 2:15 in the morning watching a race that happened 13 years ago. Instead of becoming a professional motorcycle racer I spent all my money on booze and women, the rest I just wasted.
Well, where I live in Hawaii, it's now 12:02 AM.
Whoops, well that won't get anyone anywhere. I remember I was in my 3rd year of high school when this race took place myself.
Stock motor plus a pipe.
Uh-huh.
The GOD
Strictly 125s only is where I agree; overall, certainly not.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames can't deny it
@@johnnybgood774 125s only -- NOT both classes overall.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames all classes
@@johnnybgood774 Not overall. He still never passed Ricky in terms of overall wins, and never will.
Those bikes were such piles of junk
I highly disagree with that.
I heard all the issues with 04’ but that was Kawis first year for the 4 stroke. 2005 was much better. I had a 2005 that I rode almost every weekend. Raced once a month at glen helen with SRA, valves always stayed in spec. Mine was crazy reliable. Loved that bike
Who were his serious competitors, no one? Yes, he's probably the fastest guy to ever race motocross, but he has no real competition here besides Ramsey and Tedesco. Broc Hepler was playing hide n seek I guess? LOL
On the contrary, Mike Brown showed us something at Red Bud with the 2-1 for the overall win after Stewart crashed twice and lost his clutch.
But after that, Brown faded out of contention with bad luck and just pulling out of motos for no reason (reference Millville), and busting a shoulder at Steel City.
Hepler crashed in this moto, but that was only a prelude to how his career turned out (save for winning the 125cc race at Phoenix 2005).