Selecting and Upgrading Motorcycles

The purpose of this guide is to elaborate upon a mechanic that the game explains very poorly. Every time you win a previously unfinished race series, you are offered sponsorship deals for gear. Normally, one of these sponsorships will be for a motorcycle part-related product (I.E. Renthal bars, Motul oil, Michelin Tires, etc). These upgrades will improve all three statistics of your CURRENT motorcycle (Engine, braking, suspension) by a small amount, approximately 1/10 of the stat bar. In addition, you are usually given a separate offer to join a completely different racing team, which will set you up with a bike which they claim is "more powerful" than the one you are currently riding. Their claim is only partially true.

Depending on which team you choose to sign with, while the new bike will probably be better than the unupgraded bike you are currently riding, the new team's bike may actually be WORSE than the upgraded version of your current bike. This can kill your run if you decide to jump headfirst into a new team and realize your new ride has a terrible engine. Note that it is the actual TEAM that matters, not just the brand of the motorcycle. For instance, in my testing I discovered that Suzuki Pro Racer had equal stats in all areas, whereas Pro Tour Suzuki had a better suspension, but weaker engine and braking. The spread of stats can be quite varied. Either all stats are equal, two stats are tied and the last is higher or lower than those two, or all three stats have different values.

When it comes to choosing whether to upgrade your current bike or sign with a new team, there is a safe way to always make the correct decision. Since you can upgrade your current bike and still retain the offer of going with a new team, upgrade your current bike and go into the bike shop. Take note of the stat bars any way you wish (I put my finger on the screen, because there is no real way of eyeballing the difference). Then save your game, and accept the new offer. Then view that bike in the bike shop and see if it is actually an improvement on your old bike. If it is, keep it. If it isn't, reload your save and start the next series. Make sure not to start the next series before you have either upgraded or switched teams, because if you do, your emails will be wiped and you will no longer have the option to do either. This is a big mistake because you will need every upgrade possible to have a chance at the master series.

It is important to note that there are four choices for motorcycle engine size. In the 125cc class, you have a choice between a 125cc bike or a 250cc four-stroke. In the 250cc class, you must choose between a 250cc two-stroke and a 450cc bike. However, Kawasaki and Suzuki are uniquely disadvantaged in that Suzuki and Kawasaki do not have a 450cc model (which, as engine is the most important stat, puts you at a power deficit in the master series races), and Kawasaki also doesn't have a 250cc four-stroke, which is less important as by the time you sign with a team you will no longer compete in the 125cc class.

The brand of motorcycle does not seem to affect the statistics of the bikes; of the four Suzuki teams I have seen, all four had different stat spreads. It is possible that certain brands do give a bonus to specific stats but it would be impossible to generalize without much more data. In addition, there appears to be a limited number of different team offers you can receive at the end of a series; for instance, in one testing session where I completed the last race of MX250 East seven times, I received offers for Red Global four times, Kawasaki West twice, and Suzuki Pro Racer once.

Below I have tried to record the stats of every team's bike from my various runs. I measured them based on each team's 250cc 2-stroke bike as it has the most balanced stats. The 450cc bike always follows the same pattern: It's the 250cc bike's stats, plus more engine power and minus some braking power with the same suspension. 1 indicates it the bike is the strongest in that area, 2 indicates that that stat is the second strongest, etcetera. If multiple stats are listed under a single number, then they are statistically tied.

The listed teams are not randomly generated and ALWAYS favor the stats provided, so you can resort to this list to determine if a team is a good choice or not. Ideally, you want to get onto an Orange, Red, or Yamaha team (for their 450cc bike) with engine power in the #1 position. Initially I had a suspicion that doing tricks during races tends to give you a bike with higher suspension stats, which is useful in freestyle, but after testing where I replayed the last race in a series to see what offer I received, it seems that it doesn't matter. Also, you tend to receive "MX" team offers after MX events only, and "SX" team offers after SX events only.

In summary, for the purposes of a speedrun: Once you accept an offer from a team with stats that suit your needs, continue to upgrade it rather than switching teams at every opportunity. If you are unsure or are offered a team not listed here, use the method mentioned above to compare your options.

Kawasaki Teams

Kawasaki Hyenas:
1. All Equal

Kawasaki MX:
1. Braking and Suspension
3: Engine

Kawasaki SX:
1. Suspension
2. Engine and Braking

Kawasaki West:
1. Braking and Suspension
2. Engine

Orange Teams

Orange Europa
1. Braking
2. Suspension
3. Engine

Orange Racing:
1. All Equal

Orange Racing (MX):
1. Engine and Braking
2. Suspension

Red Teams

Pro Red:
1. Engine and Suspension
2. Braking

Red Global:
1. Suspension
2. Engine and Braking

Red MTX:
1. Suspension
2. Engine and Braking

Red Racers:
1. Suspension
2. Braking
3. Engine

Red Riders:
1. Suspension HEAVILY FAVORED
2. Engine and Braking

Red Pro SX:
1. Engine and Braking
2. Suspension

Suzuki Teams

CTZK Suzuki:
1. Engine and Braking
2. Suspension

Suzuki Pro Racer:
1. All Equal

Pro Tour Suzuki:
1. Suspension
2. Braking and Engine

Racer Suzuki:
1. Braking and Suspension
2. Engine

Suzuki MTX:
1. Engine
2. Suspension
3. Braking

Suzuki West:
1. Engine and Braking
3. Suspension

Yamaha Teams

Yamaha Pro:
1. Suspension
2. Engine
3. Braking

Yamaha Pro Race:
1. All Equal

Townsgate Yamaha:
1: Braking and Suspension
3: Engine

Yamaha Riders
1. Engine
2. Suspension
3. Braking

JakePlisskenSDA

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