Australian Championship shows why the AMA has banned Stark. It ain’t Safety.

[Johnny Depp]

Alta probably got a pass because it was American made and once allowed it wouldn't really be fair to not allow others. If American companies were still in the game I don't think the AMA would have been as easily pushed around by the Japanese and other ICE companies.

SX and MX under AMA Pro racing are dependent upon the OEM's paying for everything, so when they say jump, Feld and MX Sports ask how high. Until they have competitive competitors to the Stark, the door will remain closed, other than exhibition rides. Getting their ass kicked in the showrooms will be the thing that forces change, like always.

 

[Erwin P]

Alta probably got a pass because it was American made and once allowed it wouldn't really be fair to not allow others. If American companies were still in the game I don't think the AMA would have been as easily pushed around by the Japanese and other ICE companies.

And Alta was a bit further removed from a serious competition. Sure it was a good bike. But the Stark has more budget and years of E development to back it.

 

[Chaconne]

SX and MX under AMA Pro racing are dependent upon the OEM's paying for everything, so when they say jump, Feld and MX Sports ask how high. Until they have competitive competitors to the Stark, the door will remain closed, other than exhibition rides. Getting their ass kicked in the showrooms will be the thing that forces change, like always.

Agreed

 

[Chaconne]

And Alta was a bit further removed from a serious competition. Sure it was a good bike. But the Stark has more budget and years of E development to back it.

Yes. But that was 10 years ago. If Alta had stayed on course and was able to grow they might have stayed on top of market with developments. Woulda, coulda, shoulda I know...

Europe is a much more natural place for development of new motorcycles anyway, since Europe has a true motorcycle culture and consumes a rational share of the products it makes.

The American market is fickle, and the Japanese are the primary producers unwilling to take risks in an export market that is fragile and declining. Stark is in a good place, time will tell if they can keep it together and ride the curve of E adoption or end up like KTM in a good old fashioned financing mess.

China may take the whole E market using innovations from Alta and Stark plus their own cutting edge E-tech along with better production methods and lower costs. Plus, China has a huge two-wheel culture. The AMA won't like it either way.

 

[markhamr]

You can race a stark in pro mx here.
No results have been achieved this year so?
I would be open for mixed races classified separately,
so the stark riders are not intimidated about getting poor results and just stay home like they have been.

 

[UKLee]

Talking to a friend who is big in to motocross here in the uk he says there was starting to get a few starks at events but hardly seen one recently, he thinks they have gone back to ICE bikes.
Banned in Enduro.

 

[Erwin P]

In NL with our heavy sand tracks the pro's don't make it an entire race on the MX. However i spoke a few and their laptimes are better on the Stark. But a DNF (did not finish) status overrules good laptimes.

 

[markhamr]

It should turn around .
I think you are correct about them going back to ICE.
The mx 1 was a disappointment to be honest.
A better bike and the r and d should get it back.
The company needs to do some evaluation on
Itself to be honest it has a bit of a bad rep.

 

[Johnny Depp]

In NL with our heavy sand tracks the pro's don't make it an entire race on the MX. However i spoke a few and their laptimes are better on the Stark. But a DNF (did not finish) status overrules good laptimes.

Pro's don't ride Starks, mostly because they aren't allowed to. If your'e a pro, you better have 2 bikes.

 

[Fog 25]

I’d like to see someone do a sound check on a Stark (On the stand) to see how many dB lower than AMA min sound requirements.

 

[markhamr]

I have 4 bikes jd
pro mx in Australia is mostly amateurs
.A lot of effort has stopped me from just throwing the thing in the bin .
It is still heavy and slow ,but it has many advantages,
less fatigue and quiet,
but who wants to ride a slow bike?
Australasia is a good environment for developing bikes
The britten and a number of other motorcycles out of the same fold come to mind.
I have papaya on my boots and it is not there for ktm.

 

[UKLee]

I have 4 bikes jd
pro mx in Australia is mostly amateurs
.A lot of effort has stopped me from just throwing the thing in the bin .
It is still heavy and slow ,but it has many advantages,
less fatigue and quiet,
but who wants to ride a slow bike?
Australasia is a good environment for developing bikes
The britten and a number of other motorcycles out of the same fold come to mind.
I have papaya on my boots and it is not there for ktm.

How do you arrive at slow? from what I have seen on a par with ice bikes if not a tad faster, more than enough power for most.

Unreliable, not sure what is going to happen each time you turn it on or put it on charge yes but when it is running lap for lap with ICE not a lot in it.

 

[Erwin P]

Indeed, it has disadvantages, but being slow is not one of them. All the semi pro's out here that tested it are faster on it than on their own bike. They also report it feel way nimbler and lighter than the 450's, especially in the sand.
However it not being able to do the full length moto's in the deep sand at their speeds is the big issue.
That was on the 6.5 battery though, i wonder what might happen with 7.2. Although i suspect they want a little more buffer since conditions in the Sand nay vary too much.

 

[Theo]

I’d like to see someone do a sound check on a Stark (On the stand) to see how many dB lower than AMA min sound requirements.

In the manual they say it's 70 - 80 dB.

 

[markhamr]

The bike is slow
I have tested it back to back in a number of scenarios
450 smashed it on lap times.
The stark is heavy and slow feels like a adventure bike.
I am over all you dumb asses with no credentials
saying it is not.
Go race it and prove me wrong.
All I hear is excuses and keyboard warriors talking sh&t .
So how did stark go in the french series this year?
That's right nowhere in a series they sponsor.

 

[Beagle]

Go race it and prove me wrong.
All I hear is excuses and keyboard warriors talking sh&t .
So how did stark go in the french series this year?
That's right nowhere in a series they sponsor.

I agree that competition is the real test to assess the level of the bike (wether it suits you or not is a different matter).

I don't think they've been nowhere though, quite the contrary.

David Herbreteau finished 7th in Elite MX1 championship, our top pro series (25 min + 2 laps). This was a very solid result for their first try.
That's likely about where Herbreteau would finish with an ICE bike (for comparison, in 2023 he raced the first 3 rounds on a KTM, after round 3 he was ranked 8th; his best season was the year before, he was 4th in 2022).

Now I'm not sure which french series you're talking about (and I don't think Stark sponsors any?), if you were referring to SX tour, there has only been one round so far this year, Zaragoza is 5th in SX1, Hicks is 6th in SX2.
If you were thinking about last year, Zaragoza finished 7th in SX1 with a podium to his name, Irsuti 5th in SX2 with 3 podiums. Again it's quite significant to score podiums against the best European SX riders.

This year they are also scoring great results in both Enduro and Cross-country championships.

Then obviously they won AX UK championship last year at the first try then won AX UK races this year with both Hicks and Zaragoza.

Can't wait to see how they will fare in WSX later this year.

 

[UKLee]

The bike is slow
I have tested it back to back in a number of scenarios
450 smashed it on lap times.
The stark is heavy and slow feels like a adventure bike.
I am over all you dumb asses with no credentials
saying it is not.
Go race it and prove me wrong.
All I hear is excuses and keyboard warriors talking sh&t .
So how did stark go in the french series this year?
That's right nowhere in a series they sponsor.

Ha Ha.
I have been and still are one of the bikes biggest critics, unreliable, breaks down all the time, stark dragging there heels to fix things, battery range etc etc and stand by that. When the stark does run Just not seeing that the bike is slow at all except if the race is long enough for the bike to go in in to limp mode because the battery is low or has be run at lower power to make the finish.

My kids ran the stark and ICE bikes back to back just yesterday at a MX practice, did not check any lap times but they were running with the same other riders on both stark and ICE

So tell us about your "credentials"

 

[markhamr]

As i have said before .
It is not a pissing competition(no stalkers please)
I timed the stark back to back with the 450 and the surron ultra bee
Read my previous posts.
I have been easy on it.
During run 1 for the stark (farmgate track) the bike shut off completely dnf
you cant get much slower than that.
Run 2 is was significantly slower than the 450 more than it was faster than the ultra bee.
And it was the same wherever I tested.
I was talking about the elite series,24mx sponsorship probably 999 too .
The results are good enough but hardly point to the stark blowing a 450 into the weeds as many make out they do.
Why we are still talking about yesteryear i am not sure.
Since then I have made significant gains with the stark.(and so has stark)
At first it couldn't even get through a days racing.
As for today and this is untested,
I think I would get better results on the stark due to fatigue over 3 motos and practise,
more so on a stark 1.2 which i am sure would be a much better option.
Maybe get jett and hunter to test one ?
I am talking about the stark mx1 that was sold to me over a year ago only, Which i consider unreliable too heavy
and had no range in stock trim. dte 32 minutes 100 to 0 percent.
And that is just my personal opinion of the bike nothing more.