For the last couple of months, Nick Wey has been filling in for the injured Chad Reed on the Monster Energy Kawasaki factory team. Now that Reed is scheduled to come back, Wey is returning to his Ti-Lube/Babbitt’s/Brown Motorsports Kawasaki team this weekend in Toronto. We talked to him earlier this week.
Nick Wey: I was obviously super excited to get the chance to ride the factory bike, but at the same time I didn’t want to come in and ruffle any feathers and create a lot of work for anybody. They’d done a lot of testing with Ryan [Villopoto] and Chad [Reed] in the off-season that I didn’t want to come in there and start changing a bunch of stuff. That being said, the first few weekends, I ran it pretty much the same as Chad did and then fine-tuned it a little bit after that. So I was excited to get the chance, and at the same time, I was pumped to get a relationship going with those guys so that maybe he would help me a little more when I got back on Team Ti-Lube.
How much different is the factory bike from your Ti-Lube bike?
Once the Ti-Lube team got put together, we honestly didn’t have a lot of time to do a lot of testing before the season started. I mean, I had a Kawasaki since November or so, but I didn’t really have too much done to it. Obviously, Pro Circuit does my suspension, and they did a good job with that, and Brown Motorsports and Pro Circuit worked together on the engine, and we had a pretty good package, but there’s a lot of stuff the factory team has that we just can’t get. They’ve been working on a similar bike for three or four years, so they had a lot of stuff they’ve picked up, and all the little stuff adds up. Obviously, everybody talks all the time about this, but one percent is a huge difference when it comes time for the races, so I wouldn’t say the factory bike is like 50-percent better or anything like that, it’s just a bunch of small stuff that adds up to a better package in general. Like I’ve kind of said all along, I wouldn’t have even had the opportunity to ride the factory bike without Team Ti-Lube, Babbitt’s, Foremost Insurance, and the Brown Motorsports guys being so understanding about the opportunity that I had. And the truth is, it’s not just an opportunity for me, but for the relationship that we can have moving forward with Kawasaki.
What has this experience done for your confidence as a racer this year?
It has definitely helped my confidence, and overall it’s given me a little bit of perspective about where I need to set my bike up as far as suspension settings and whatever. It’s definitely helping get my bike closer to where I need it to be to run up front, for sure…. I had been riding a few months on the standard bike, and theirs is so much different with the geometry of the frame and the engine and all that stuff. I felt like they had it set up for Ryan and Chad, and they’re at the level where I want to be, so I didn’t want to change it back to the way I like it, and I think getting used to their settings is definitely going to help me when I get back on my bike this weekend.
Yeah, exactly. And not only that, but even though the first week on the bike I was eighth and the last week on the bike I was seventh, there was a big difference in my riding from the first race to the last one. At San Diego, I led a couple laps, and then obviously I wasn’t that comfortable yet, so I faded back to ninth, but that’s still a lot better than anything recently, because I haven’t led laps in a couple of years. Any time you’re moving forward, it’s exciting.
Talking to Villopoto in the past, he talks about how much he rides in first gear, and it seems crazy, but was that weird to adjust to?
Yeah, it’s like a lot of the other stuff we’ve talked about already in that it’s not right or wrong, but it turns out that in certain circumstances you can be faster if you are riding in first gear, so it’s kind of like they have different tranny ratios and things, but those guys can do the math and figure out what gearing I need to run now so that I can be similar to what I was on the factory bike, and that’s huge. It’s just a lot of stuff to learn, and to be honest with you, since everybody started riding 450s, it has really evolved.
Is your Ti-Lube deal going to carry you through the outdoors?
Well, that’s the plan, but we’re still kind of working on some funding and stuff to make it happen. One way or the other, though, I’m going to race the outdoors.
How old are you now, Nick? Aren’t you coming up on 30?
Yeah, I’m 29.
Coming into this season, I felt like it was a bit of a make-or-break year for me, because I don’t have too much interest in continuing to race at the level I was at in 2009. Coming into this season, my biggest goal was to get on the most competitive equipment I could get as far as privateer standards are concerned, and with working with Team Ti-Lube and Allan Brown of Brown Motorsports, I knew I had people I could rely on to help me. Also, Pro Circuit, I’ve had an awesome relationship with them over the years, and I’m using their suspension and they’re helping me with pipes and stuff.
Just because you won that one national that one time for them?
[Laughs] Yeah! I mean, I rode for them for a long time through amateurs, and then three years in the pros. But yeah, I feel like I’m gaining momentum every week, and I think the last couple years, in 2008 and 2009, my confidence has taken a huge hit, and each week I’m chipping away at it, and that’s a good feeling. I’m excited about how things are going, and if I can continue to improve and get a little bit closer to the front, where I want to be, then I’m happy with that.
Nick Wey: I was obviously super excited to get the chance to ride the factory bike, but at the same time I didn’t want to come in and ruffle any feathers and create a lot of work for anybody. They’d done a lot of testing with Ryan [Villopoto] and Chad [Reed] in the off-season that I didn’t want to come in there and start changing a bunch of stuff. That being said, the first few weekends, I ran it pretty much the same as Chad did and then fine-tuned it a little bit after that. So I was excited to get the chance, and at the same time, I was pumped to get a relationship going with those guys so that maybe he would help me a little more when I got back on Team Ti-Lube.
How much different is the factory bike from your Ti-Lube bike?
Once the Ti-Lube team got put together, we honestly didn’t have a lot of time to do a lot of testing before the season started. I mean, I had a Kawasaki since November or so, but I didn’t really have too much done to it. Obviously, Pro Circuit does my suspension, and they did a good job with that, and Brown Motorsports and Pro Circuit worked together on the engine, and we had a pretty good package, but there’s a lot of stuff the factory team has that we just can’t get. They’ve been working on a similar bike for three or four years, so they had a lot of stuff they’ve picked up, and all the little stuff adds up. Obviously, everybody talks all the time about this, but one percent is a huge difference when it comes time for the races, so I wouldn’t say the factory bike is like 50-percent better or anything like that, it’s just a bunch of small stuff that adds up to a better package in general. Like I’ve kind of said all along, I wouldn’t have even had the opportunity to ride the factory bike without Team Ti-Lube, Babbitt’s, Foremost Insurance, and the Brown Motorsports guys being so understanding about the opportunity that I had. And the truth is, it’s not just an opportunity for me, but for the relationship that we can have moving forward with Kawasaki.
What has this experience done for your confidence as a racer this year?
It has definitely helped my confidence, and overall it’s given me a little bit of perspective about where I need to set my bike up as far as suspension settings and whatever. It’s definitely helping get my bike closer to where I need it to be to run up front, for sure…. I had been riding a few months on the standard bike, and theirs is so much different with the geometry of the frame and the engine and all that stuff. I felt like they had it set up for Ryan and Chad, and they’re at the level where I want to be, so I didn’t want to change it back to the way I like it, and I think getting used to their settings is definitely going to help me when I get back on my bike this weekend.
Yeah, exactly. And not only that, but even though the first week on the bike I was eighth and the last week on the bike I was seventh, there was a big difference in my riding from the first race to the last one. At San Diego, I led a couple laps, and then obviously I wasn’t that comfortable yet, so I faded back to ninth, but that’s still a lot better than anything recently, because I haven’t led laps in a couple of years. Any time you’re moving forward, it’s exciting.
Talking to Villopoto in the past, he talks about how much he rides in first gear, and it seems crazy, but was that weird to adjust to?
Yeah, it’s like a lot of the other stuff we’ve talked about already in that it’s not right or wrong, but it turns out that in certain circumstances you can be faster if you are riding in first gear, so it’s kind of like they have different tranny ratios and things, but those guys can do the math and figure out what gearing I need to run now so that I can be similar to what I was on the factory bike, and that’s huge. It’s just a lot of stuff to learn, and to be honest with you, since everybody started riding 450s, it has really evolved.
Is your Ti-Lube deal going to carry you through the outdoors?
Well, that’s the plan, but we’re still kind of working on some funding and stuff to make it happen. One way or the other, though, I’m going to race the outdoors.
How old are you now, Nick? Aren’t you coming up on 30?
Yeah, I’m 29.
Coming into this season, I felt like it was a bit of a make-or-break year for me, because I don’t have too much interest in continuing to race at the level I was at in 2009. Coming into this season, my biggest goal was to get on the most competitive equipment I could get as far as privateer standards are concerned, and with working with Team Ti-Lube and Allan Brown of Brown Motorsports, I knew I had people I could rely on to help me. Also, Pro Circuit, I’ve had an awesome relationship with them over the years, and I’m using their suspension and they’re helping me with pipes and stuff.
Just because you won that one national that one time for them?
[Laughs] Yeah! I mean, I rode for them for a long time through amateurs, and then three years in the pros. But yeah, I feel like I’m gaining momentum every week, and I think the last couple years, in 2008 and 2009, my confidence has taken a huge hit, and each week I’m chipping away at it, and that’s a good feeling. I’m excited about how things are going, and if I can continue to improve and get a little bit closer to the front, where I want to be, then I’m happy with that.
