New Mechanic for Chase Sexton...

RandomUserName
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4/29/2024 4:33pm
Sully wrote:
You've mentioned before that you have a journalism background; get a credential, go to a race and ask the hard hitting questions you want asked. If...

You've mentioned before that you have a journalism background; get a credential, go to a race and ask the hard hitting questions you want asked. If your story's good, one of the moto outlets would buy it.

because it's not my job, perhaps? It's the moto-journalist's job. and they blew it - again. I also have a dirt bike background. should i show...

because it's not my job, perhaps? It's the moto-journalist's job. and they blew it - again. I also have a dirt bike background. should i show up and show Eli how to properly hit the whoops?

Sully wrote:

If you're not willing to be part of the solution to the problem then stop bitching about it as much as you do...

 

ok. I'll grab a wheelbarrow and help build some REAL whoops cause I complain about those, too. C'mon man.

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Sully
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4/29/2024 4:49pm Edited Date/Time 4/29/2024 4:52pm
because it's not my job, perhaps? It's the moto-journalist's job. and they blew it - again. I also have a dirt bike background. should i show...

because it's not my job, perhaps? It's the moto-journalist's job. and they blew it - again. I also have a dirt bike background. should i show up and show Eli how to properly hit the whoops?

Sully wrote:

If you're not willing to be part of the solution to the problem then stop bitching about it as much as you do...

 

ok. I'll grab a wheelbarrow and help build some REAL whoops cause I complain about those, too. C'mon man.

Well then, sounds like you're just insufferable, and nothing is going to make you happy. Have the best day ever.

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RandomUserName
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4/29/2024 4:56pm
Sully wrote:

If you're not willing to be part of the solution to the problem then stop bitching about it as much as you do...

 

ok. I'll grab a wheelbarrow and help build some REAL whoops cause I complain about those, too. C'mon man.

Sully wrote:

Well then, sounds like you're just insufferable, and nothing is going to make you happy. Have the best day ever.

not a bit. I have my critiques, as do most of us. I can say I've never posted a single time in anything related to the production team, so there's that. Don't know why my encouragement to our moto-media-brethren upsets you. They have acknowledged themselves that they could be better. A top rider firing his mechanic over a "malfunction" is a big deal - just figured SOMEONE would have asked about it and was curious why they did not. And you have the best day ever, too.

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4/29/2024 5:31pm

ok. I'll grab a wheelbarrow and help build some REAL whoops cause I complain about those, too. C'mon man.

Sully wrote:

Well then, sounds like you're just insufferable, and nothing is going to make you happy. Have the best day ever.

not a bit. I have my critiques, as do most of us. I can say I've never posted a single time in anything related to the...

not a bit. I have my critiques, as do most of us. I can say I've never posted a single time in anything related to the production team, so there's that. Don't know why my encouragement to our moto-media-brethren upsets you. They have acknowledged themselves that they could be better. A top rider firing his mechanic over a "malfunction" is a big deal - just figured SOMEONE would have asked about it and was curious why they did not. And you have the best day ever, too.

KTM, Sexton and Zimmerman have not commented why Zimmerman is no longer Sexton's mechanic, was he fired or did he leave, there could be many reasons...

The "rock" damaging the throttle may be an excuse to cover poor workmanship, Kyle Defoe may be perceived as a better mechanic.

Using KYB fork internals and not hiding them, manufacturers use Supercross to advertise their brand, using a competitor's product undermines the brand.

Internal friction between Zimmerman and other team members.

Illegal activities by Zimmerman.

Zimmerman may have health issues, preventing him from traveling and he wants privacy.

KTM is unlikely to comment if it's any of these reasons even if pressured by the media, but eventually somebody will let it slip.

 

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The Shop

DonM
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4/29/2024 5:43pm
I haven't poured over this entire thread but is there any exact confirmation that KTM let his mechanic go? Maybe he just didn't work the last...

I haven't poured over this entire thread but is there any exact confirmation that KTM let his mechanic go? Maybe he just didn't work the last race because of some personal reason

There was but the poster deleted it…basically said that there were issues for awhile and it was a KTM decision…he alluded to Zimm either not showing up or showing up late a few times.

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Spoonguy
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4/30/2024 4:16am

Decoster has stated the best rider would be an orphan, obviously he doesn't like outside input on the scooters.

Village Idiot
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4/30/2024 3:26pm
Spoonguy wrote:

Decoster has stated the best rider would be an orphan, obviously he doesn't like outside input on the scooters.

He was just stealing the line from the James Bond movies. Cool

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4/30/2024 3:27pm
tomlopez wrote:
This just in: Chase Sexton is a very good dirt bike rider and our only hope of making things even slightly interesting against Jett for the...

This just in: Chase Sexton is a very good dirt bike rider and our only hope of making things even slightly interesting against Jett for the next decade 

neysbo wrote:

I totally agree, but as we’ve seen Jett is like a Ricky Carmichael, and who knows

183Matt wrote:

Only in riding.  Jett’s use of the English language is far superior to RC’s.

Um... yeah... no.Grinning

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Gator 4
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4/30/2024 4:06pm

Looks like the new mechanic brought some speed with him.....   Grinning  It was a good night for Chase.

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4/30/2024 7:45pm
KTM, Sexton and Zimmerman have not commented why Zimmerman is no longer Sexton's mechanic, was he fired or did he leave, there could be many reasons...

KTM, Sexton and Zimmerman have not commented why Zimmerman is no longer Sexton's mechanic, was he fired or did he leave, there could be many reasons...

The "rock" damaging the throttle may be an excuse to cover poor workmanship, Kyle Defoe may be perceived as a better mechanic.

Using KYB fork internals and not hiding them, manufacturers use Supercross to advertise their brand, using a competitor's product undermines the brand.

Internal friction between Zimmerman and other team members.

Illegal activities by Zimmerman.

Zimmerman may have health issues, preventing him from traveling and he wants privacy.

KTM is unlikely to comment if it's any of these reasons even if pressured by the media, but eventually somebody will let it slip.

 

yep interesting post ...

 

Matthes hit the " nail on the head" on PULP  when he mentioned the silence from KTM reflects poorly on chase ....ala peeps may think it was actually his decision when he may have had Nadda to do with it?

why not wait until SX finished to change wrenches? lots of smoke around this .................

 

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inflammable
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4/30/2024 7:58pm Edited Date/Time 4/30/2024 7:59pm
yep interesting post ...   Matthes hit the " nail on the head" on PULP  when he mentioned the silence from KTM reflects poorly on chase...

yep interesting post ...

 

Matthes hit the " nail on the head" on PULP  when he mentioned the silence from KTM reflects poorly on chase ....ala peeps may think it was actually his decision when he may have had Nadda to do with it?

why not wait until SX finished to change wrenches? lots of smoke around this .................

 

So just for giggles, let's say the mechanic had a few mistakes or other troubles, and the DNF was the final straw.

Why would it make sense to give the mechanic three more chances to again make a mistake and possibly have a worse outcome for Sexton?

Firing the mechanic doesn't reflect negatively on Sexton, it reflects negatively on KTM management for not nipping the trouble in the bud before it got to that point. 

Matthews does seem to have a burr under his saddle for the KTM group though. 

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truck
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4/30/2024 8:13pm

Tough crowd...  matthes said unequivocally this wasn't from the sexton camp, almost happened a month ago, and was 100% a KTM decision. Also said Zimmerman declined to come on the show to talk about it. The silence from KTM is how an organization with an actual HR department handles things. Nothing to be gained by telling people why you fired someone or invited them to resign. Resisting the urge to defend your decision is the grown up thing to do.

Obviously wasn't a great fit and neither side cares to elaborate on specifics. That's OK, wish both sides the best.  Not sure there's any big thing here as much as it's just that it wasn't working. The specifics of why are likely pretty subjective. 

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8tensolutions
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4/30/2024 8:21pm

not one moto-bro-media journalist asked CS a single question about his mechanic during the presser. Are you surprised? ugh.

Matthes the most independent hardest hitting journalist is a Capt remember?  everyone feels sorry for the multi-millionaire, but how bout we afford the working class mech...

Matthes the most independent hardest hitting journalist is a Capt remember? 
everyone feels sorry for the multi-millionaire, but how bout we afford the working class mech the same. 
We dont know the story yet of course, but Zimm is an experienced race tech, so somethings fishy. 
Do we trust Ktm after treating their ex-riders the way they do?

Matthes doesn't go to press conferences and he tried to get Zimmerman on Monday's show and he declined.  

4/30/2024 9:29pm
truck wrote:
Tough crowd...  matthes said unequivocally this wasn't from the sexton camp, almost happened a month ago, and was 100% a KTM decision. Also said Zimmerman declined...

Tough crowd...  matthes said unequivocally this wasn't from the sexton camp, almost happened a month ago, and was 100% a KTM decision. Also said Zimmerman declined to come on the show to talk about it. The silence from KTM is how an organization with an actual HR department handles things. Nothing to be gained by telling people why you fired someone or invited them to resign. Resisting the urge to defend your decision is the grown up thing to do.

Obviously wasn't a great fit and neither side cares to elaborate on specifics. That's OK, wish both sides the best.  Not sure there's any big thing here as much as it's just that it wasn't working. The specifics of why are likely pretty subjective. 

As an employer, if an employee is not meeting your expectations, you are happy to see them gone, nothing to gain by airing dirt laundry, it is also best for the ex-employee's reputation.

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Speeddemon73
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5/1/2024 3:46am

Like any corporation, most places of employment are "at will" for both the employee and the employer. They can fire you at any point in time for any reason and you can leave any time you wish to seek out other employment opportunities. Neither you or your employer are obligated to provide a "why." Employees agree to this when you sign the contract of employment. Will we ever know the reason why? Maybe, but having worked in corporate America for a long time "fitting in" with the culture is a big part of your success. Could be as simple as Zimm didn't fit the KTM group's culture causing some friction. All things come to a head, its just really convenient that Sexton's incident and Zimm's departure happened simultaneously. Zimm's a top mechanic and will land on his feet. 

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DonM
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5/1/2024 5:54am

Not sure what you all want from KTM....A press release saying that KTM and Zimm have decided to part ways and that they wish him luck in his future endeavors....that's pretty much all the legal dept would allow them to say anyways....

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RandomUserName
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5/1/2024 3:26pm

i guess ML isn't going to answer and I'll get the standard "If they don't wanna talk about it, there's nothing we can do!" response. Ok, moving on....

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5/1/2024 4:37pm Edited Date/Time 5/1/2024 4:39pm
yep interesting post ...   Matthes hit the " nail on the head" on PULP  when he mentioned the silence from KTM reflects poorly on chase...

yep interesting post ...

 

Matthes hit the " nail on the head" on PULP  when he mentioned the silence from KTM reflects poorly on chase ....ala peeps may think it was actually his decision when he may have had Nadda to do with it?

why not wait until SX finished to change wrenches? lots of smoke around this .................

 

So just for giggles, let's say the mechanic had a few mistakes or other troubles, and the DNF was the final straw. Why would it make...

So just for giggles, let's say the mechanic had a few mistakes or other troubles, and the DNF was the final straw.

Why would it make sense to give the mechanic three more chances to again make a mistake and possibly have a worse outcome for Sexton?

Firing the mechanic doesn't reflect negatively on Sexton, it reflects negatively on KTM management for not nipping the trouble in the bud before it got to that point. 

Matthews does seem to have a burr under his saddle for the KTM group though. 

can't recall too many issues with chases bike last year?

how much different wld orange be?

how many on vital thought chase may have been involved in the changes?

As a fan of chase ...........KTM need to stump up and clear the air on this...............imho

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Sully
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5/1/2024 6:01pm Edited Date/Time 5/1/2024 6:02pm
i guess ML isn't going to answer and I'll get the standard "If they don't wanna talk about it, there's nothing we can do!" response. Ok...

i guess ML isn't going to answer and I'll get the standard "If they don't wanna talk about it, there's nothing we can do!" response. Ok, moving on....

If you know you'll get "the standard..." then go do something about it yourself, or shut the fuck up. Christ this is getting old.

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avidchimp
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5/1/2024 6:12pm

I got hired onto a very high profile show some years ago that most in my industry would fight their mother for and I left after three months. There was just no agreeing on how things should be done for my dept. so we decided to part ways. No harm, no foul.

Me thinks this situation is a lot like that show.

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RandomUserName
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5/1/2024 6:15pm
i guess ML isn't going to answer and I'll get the standard "If they don't wanna talk about it, there's nothing we can do!" response. Ok...

i guess ML isn't going to answer and I'll get the standard "If they don't wanna talk about it, there's nothing we can do!" response. Ok, moving on....

Sully wrote:

If you know you'll get "the standard..." then go do something about it yourself, or shut the fuck up. Christ this is getting old.

lol. feel better? 

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DonM
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5/1/2024 6:49pm
i guess ML isn't going to answer and I'll get the standard "If they don't wanna talk about it, there's nothing we can do!" response. Ok...

i guess ML isn't going to answer and I'll get the standard "If they don't wanna talk about it, there's nothing we can do!" response. Ok, moving on....

Sully wrote:

If you know you'll get "the standard..." then go do something about it yourself, or shut the fuck up. Christ this is getting old.

lol. feel better? 

He’s right you know….you seem to complain a lot about the moto media but with limited solutions…if people don’t want to or can’t talk for legal reasons which is more than likely the case here I’m not sure what you want them to do…

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OldTech
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5/1/2024 7:09pm

The only standard is when Roger was assembling Ryan's bikes.

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5/2/2024 3:48am

From Observations by Matthes:

https://racerxonline.com/2024/05/01/observations-philadelphia

"There was a mechanic change for Chase Sexton this week as Brandon Zimmerman, who he brought over from Honda, was let go and replaced with test guy Kyle Defoe. It had nothing to do with the bike malfunction from last week (wasn’t Zimm’s fault), and also had nothing to do with Chase himself. From people I talk to, it was just a case of Zimm not fitting in with the orange guys and I would expect Zimm to land somewhere good real soon."

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RandomUserName
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5/2/2024 7:12am
Sully wrote:

If you know you'll get "the standard..." then go do something about it yourself, or shut the fuck up. Christ this is getting old.

lol. feel better? 

DonM wrote:
He’s right you know….you seem to complain a lot about the moto media but with limited solutions…if people don’t want to or can’t talk for legal...

He’s right you know….you seem to complain a lot about the moto media but with limited solutions…if people don’t want to or can’t talk for legal reasons which is more than likely the case here I’m not sure what you want them to do…

Solutions? The SOLUTION is to ask questions that the public want to know about!! How is that difficult? Lewis has admitted openly that if he asks "tough" questions, he can get his access to riders removed, and that is simply pathetic. We have a big story of the week (mechanic), Chase is in the presser, and our moto-media is too scared to ask him about it. You claim "maybe it's for legal reasons" yet Chase is forced to go to social media and make a formal statement?? Why not just ask the man the damn question? I don't understand why several of you have tasked me with proposing a "solution" when the very definition of a journalist's job is to ASK QUESTIONS - yet the moto-bro-media seems scared to do exactly that.

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DonM
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5/2/2024 7:32am

lol. feel better? 

DonM wrote:
He’s right you know….you seem to complain a lot about the moto media but with limited solutions…if people don’t want to or can’t talk for legal...

He’s right you know….you seem to complain a lot about the moto media but with limited solutions…if people don’t want to or can’t talk for legal reasons which is more than likely the case here I’m not sure what you want them to do…

Solutions? The SOLUTION is to ask questions that the public want to know about!! How is that difficult? Lewis has admitted openly that if he asks...

Solutions? The SOLUTION is to ask questions that the public want to know about!! How is that difficult? Lewis has admitted openly that if he asks "tough" questions, he can get his access to riders removed, and that is simply pathetic. We have a big story of the week (mechanic), Chase is in the presser, and our moto-media is too scared to ask him about it. You claim "maybe it's for legal reasons" yet Chase is forced to go to social media and make a formal statement?? Why not just ask the man the damn question? I don't understand why several of you have tasked me with proposing a "solution" when the very definition of a journalist's job is to ASK QUESTIONS - yet the moto-bro-media seems scared to do exactly that.

And how do you know the questions aren't being asked? because it's not asked in the press conference? Do you think that possibly they did ask and were told that they wouldn't or couldn't answer the question? How many tough questions do you hear in NFL press conferences or baseball for that matter....whenever there is any controversy it's typically an unnamed source that it comes from...there have been multiple Moto media people that have said the exact same thing Chase said....Matthes reported it on X prior to the race that he was told that it didn't have anything to do with the stuck throttle and that it just wasn't a good fit at KTM. He also invited Zimm to be on the Pulp show but he declined....it amazes me how people don't want to hear or believe what has been said because it doesn't fit the narrative they want or expect so it must be the Moto medias fault....this thread is a perfect example of that.

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DonM
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5/2/2024 7:54am

lol. feel better? 

DonM wrote:
He’s right you know….you seem to complain a lot about the moto media but with limited solutions…if people don’t want to or can’t talk for legal...

He’s right you know….you seem to complain a lot about the moto media but with limited solutions…if people don’t want to or can’t talk for legal reasons which is more than likely the case here I’m not sure what you want them to do…

Solutions? The SOLUTION is to ask questions that the public want to know about!! How is that difficult? Lewis has admitted openly that if he asks...

Solutions? The SOLUTION is to ask questions that the public want to know about!! How is that difficult? Lewis has admitted openly that if he asks "tough" questions, he can get his access to riders removed, and that is simply pathetic. We have a big story of the week (mechanic), Chase is in the presser, and our moto-media is too scared to ask him about it. You claim "maybe it's for legal reasons" yet Chase is forced to go to social media and make a formal statement?? Why not just ask the man the damn question? I don't understand why several of you have tasked me with proposing a "solution" when the very definition of a journalist's job is to ASK QUESTIONS - yet the moto-bro-media seems scared to do exactly that.

From Matthes in observations...this is also what he said before the race...if you look you will find...

"There was a mechanic change for Chase Sexton this week as Brandon Zimmerman, who he brought over from Honda, was let go and replaced with test guy Kyle Defoe. It had nothing to do with the bike malfunction from last week (wasn’t Zimm’s fault), and also had nothing to do with Chase himself. From people I talk to, it was just a case of Zimm not fitting in with the orange guys and I would expect Zimm to land somewhere good real soon."

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