Havasu :
Mac took pro 1200 = black #1 plate for 2003 tour
Motz took pro ski = black #1 plate for 2003 tour
Pro tour :
Mac took pro ski = white #1 plate for 2003 tour
Motz took pro 1200 = white #1 plate for 2003 tour

Meaning Mac and Motz will have nothing but #1 plates on their skis.
Even if I'm a fan,
YAMAHA, HONDA, SEA DOO, POLARIS WAKE UP!!!!!
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So what is the point of this post 11, what is the feeling you are looking to convey, is there a point to it or do you just feel like rubbing our nose in it. We all have boats we love and will continue to love no matter how many titles Mac and Motz take, I'm saddened by the loss we as a group of Yamaha owners suffered today, but you know what, I really don't care I'm not going to enjoy my boat any less. I'm really saddenned and bothered by your need to stirr up sh8t and arrogantly cop a holyer than though attitude even though you dont own a STXr or a SXi Pro at least in America. You feel so powerful, get rid of the boats you have and get the **** STXR you want so much and enjoy it, have all the fun in the world with it, but don't kick people when they are down, it just makes you lesser of a person in my eyes.

After seeimg the results thru Sat. I would say that Yamaha, See-doo, Polaris did rather well with quite a few wins. In fact it was Kawasaki that was lacking in wins. The only wins I saw were a couple in ski class. I haven't seen the results in pro classes yet, but it might be interesting to see if kawasaki won any of the other classes. As we all know yamaha won 6 of 7 pro classes last year and finished second in the 7th. That is not bad by anyones twisted standards. I would say that if Kawi. didn't win the 1200 and ski class with the money and effort they put into it, that it would have been a big embarrassment. How did kawi do when competing against teams with limited money and resorces. What I mean is, what did independent racers that were on kawi's do against equally backed competition? Maybe its not the others that need to wake up, but they already know something that kawi can't find out. And that is that they don't have to spend unlimited amounts of money in racing to be able to sell watercraft. Sea-doo and Yamaha both used to sponser racing and both pulled out for some reason, but are by far the top 2 selling brands of watercraft. rp PS. Mario, I second that opinion.

[ 10-13-2002: Message edited by: rpfossil ]

Wow RP that was well said and I could not agree more.

Funny enough I just got word that there was a replay of the nationals in tech and the weight of the Kawi boats was not disclosed, the scale's meter was covered so as to not allow on lookers to see the weight and this was the case only for the Kawi boats. Rius a pivateer with not only absolutelly no factory support but going through financial dificulties, had a great showing running on 2 cylinders in the first moto as he melted the spark plug wire with his custom pipes. Pipes that were hand welded and developed by Lillian Baumer at Rius' shop NOT by one of the big aftermarket manufacturers, his boat not 100% still gave Mac the battle of his life, something to really be proud of. We're still living the bad politics of the IJSBA, it's a wonder Yamaha even bothers with racing at all as it has become a one brand series. Just as a little tidbit, I was told some numbers for one of the Pepsi Stampede boats that seemed pretty impressive to me. Acceleration was clocked at 0-50 1.7 seconds and 0-60 2.3 seconds, I haven't got top speed, but those figures alone just knocked me on my a$$

I just feel the races are getting boring, like in F1.
I'm a Kawasaki/Mac fan and a French Yamaha owner.
I'm also a Ferrari/Schumacher fan.
"MY" teams did well on the tracks and on the water this year and have been doing well for a while but I lost a big share of the interest I had for my two favorite sports.
Oddly I'd have somewhat enjoy a Yamaha, Sea Doo or Polaris victory in pro ski or pro 1200.
The best victory is the hardest to get, if Rius or Bosio had wan it would have been a beautiful victory, Mac and Motz did and it was just normal.
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I guess you weren't listening to the races, they were anything but boring and by all accounts quite exciting on the track and from expectators point of view. Some people were also saying how boring the tour was because it was all Kaw, but watching them on the tube it turned out that Kaw didnt by any means walk all over the competition and if Rius had not been injured there would have been plenty of excitement. Considering Lawrence being a rookie gave Mac and Motz a run for their money and though dominant the wins were far from easy for the Kaws their victory is kind of diminished when you consider the unlimited funds they have compared to all the Yamaha "priveteers" that gave them serious competition. All in all I don't tink we have anything to be ashamed of or by any means have anything to "wake up" to. The competition is formidable, but our boys did great all things considered. I'm not bored at all and in fact I am very proud to be a Yamaha owner and fan today.

I'm not a brand fan, I'm a notorious Mac Clugage fan, but I like racing and for me, right now, the spirit is just not there.
WTF, Kawasaki took the 4 top notch titles (meaning tour and WF, ski and 1200), I don't even remember that happening.
I am a proud Yamaha/Kawasaki owner but I don't think personnal feelings/bias has anything to do with it.
I love my Yamaha skis, but I don't feel bounded to a corporation that doesn't give a rat's azz about me.
Now Mario, because it's all about that, I appreciate your loyalty to Nicolas Rius and admit he deserves it because he's in the top 2 as far as being the best rider is concerned, and no one can tell where he is in that top 2.
But don't think he's a poor little rider with no budget, he has the money, and he has R&D backing, so maybe that's not Kawi Factory, but that's not a schmuck in a schmucky team either.
I'm happy he gave some competition to Mac and regret he didn't make it on the tour, like I appreciate Bosio's performance for a private team, and Jet Immagine is a really small team.
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The STX1200R is for midgets... and the 2003 color is just not right. Puke green. I thought the 2002 looked bad-arsed. Of course with Yami having a Gay-looking retro neon orange/blue GP13R, I guess the Kawi's lime green will look just fruity.

Yeah, I'm bored.

[The STXR is for midgets] [/QUOTE] When you consider who kawi designed the ski for, it makes a lot of sense. Have you ever seen Mac in person? He is not much bigger than a midget. Maybe that is why the seat is up so high, so he can reach the handle bars. Mac is definately one of the best riders in the world if not the best, but he is very small in size. rp

Hey Mark did you get a chance to ride the 1300R? I know it won't be the same production boat but wondering what the boat actually fealt like...

Hey rp, watch the "midget" comments, I happen to be Mac/Rius sized and I think the Kaw is uncomfortable, oh and btw, what happened to Avery riding a STXR?

11, where is your info that Rius is beig backed by R&D?

Nothing disrespectful meant Mario. Avery must not have been able to get the electronics problem solved on his stxr. The word on thurs. was that they were having elect. problems and were trying to get the ski ready for the races. If he couldn't get it ready he was going with the Yamaha. rp

Might other riders follow suit for next year with the STXR? What if Rius came out on a STXR?

I think it would be a good thing t have Rius as Mac's teamate in 2003, would be interesting, but most likely won't happen.
Now Lillian Beaumer knows the GPR very well and is able to make it pretty fast with what he knows.
With the STXR they'll have everything to learn again and they can't afford to loose that time.
Now some rumors start forecasting Rius' future in red, if red team there is.
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11 that would really be boring and go completely against why you started this thread. What I mean is Rius was really Yamahas best chance at winning. I'd like to see the race course get stretched out with some longer straight-aways so there would be more passing. The races I saw reminded me too much of stock car racing. Not enough passing going on.

It would be interesting to see dollars spent per team. That would tell a lot.

I don't think these races really effect sales all that much. I think word of mouth and seeing someone on a new machine at the local ride spot has more effect. This forum is very helpfull for those who come here seeking advice. The first two skis I bought I had no idea who was winning the races nor did I care.

My two cents.

Great point Spud!!

I started out over 7 years ago on a Kawi STS750. I really didn't even know what a jetski was all about till I got on it and played on the water.

Never looked back since that day!

Actually, if Rius racing could hire Mac, it would be the same thing to me.
Whatever whoever could do with whichever team or ski to make it more exciting than only 2 riders smoking the competition (Mac and motz on thz tour, mac and Rius at the WFs)would make me happy.
All I'd like to see is leveled machines allowing racers to win by skills more than HPs.
I miss the times when Doo, Yamaha and Polaris where here racing modified with whatever they wanted in them allowing a more fair competition.
But I think I'm dreaming here.
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Rumor has it that Kawasaki tuned their skis down for the WF because of lack of factory competition. So they would not run away like they did all season. Could be just rumors though.

They ran away from all the competition they had on the tour at the WFs the same way they did on the tour.
Just Rius help up with them, unfortunately, he wasn't on the tour.
And I really don't picture Kawi Factory de tuning skis and take any risk of losing with all the money they dump.
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