Gear Check | 250 Supercross Brand Breakdown

May 22, 2020

450 CLASS | GEAR CHECK
2020 MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS SERIES | UTAH RESTART DETAILS

With racing on hold for another week, I decided to take a look at 250 Class of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Series and tally up the brands used by the top-40 riders in the points standings of the West Coast and East Coast. This is an article we’ve done a few times over the years, often at the opening round of the season and the start of the East Coast, but this is the first time I’ve done it with a big focus on the different divisions.

Motorcycle manufacturers, apparel companies, and hard part producers all spend considerable portions of their budgets on sponsorships for the top riders, so this breakdown gives an idea of how important brand recognition is at the highest level of our sport. For this summary, I focused on the motorcycle make plus handlebars, exhaust, and suspension, as well as gear, helmets, goggles, boots, and neck braces. Tire brands have been added for this recap because other rubber makers and have Dunlop from having a complete lock-up like in the 450 Class.

There are a number of other things that have an impact on the 250 Class breakdown. Because team-wide gear deals are the norm in the 250 Class, certain brands were able to score a much larger part of particular categories, and the way teams divided their riders to two coasts led to some swings in numbers between groups. Smaller teams and independent riders is another big factor, because they often receive support from a wider variety of companies. We’ll dive into the details of that at the bottom of the article.

Is your favorite brand as popular as you might think? Take a look at the figures below and let us know.

250 WEST COAST CLASS BRAND BREAKDOWN

MOTORCYCLE
Husqvarna – 6
Yamaha – 5
Honda – 4
KTM – 2
Kawasaki – 2
Suzuki – 1

HANDLEBAR
Renthal – 7
ProTaper – 5
Mika Metals – 3
ODI – 3
Neken – 2

EXHAUST
FMF Racing –7
Yoshimura – 5
Pro Circuit – 3
Akrapovic – 3
Rocket – 1

SUSPENSION
KYB – 8
WP – 7
Showa – 5

TIRES
Dunlop – 16
Bridgestone – 2
Pirelli – 1
Hoosier – 1

GEAR
FLY Racing – 5
FXR – 3
THOR MX – 2
Fox Racing – 2
Answer Racing – 2
Troy Lee Designs – 2
SHIFT – 2
Canvas – 1
Leatt – 1

HELMET
FLY Racing – 4
Bell – 4
Shoei – 2
Fox Racing – 2
Arai – 2
Troy Lee Designs – 2
6D – 2
Airoh – 1
Alpinestars – 1

GOGGLES
100% – 6
SCOTT – 6
EKS Brand – 5
Oakley – 2
Leatt – 1

BOOTS
Alpinestars – 9
Gaerne – 6
Fox Racing – 4
Leatt – 1

NECK BRACES
Alpinestars – 0
Leatt – 0
Atlas – 0

250 EAST COAST CLASS BRAND BREAKDOWN

MOTORCYCLE
Honda – 7
Yamaha – 5
Kawasaki – 3
Husqvarna – 3
Suzuki – 1
KTM – 1

HANDLEBAR
ProTaper – 6
Renthal – 4
Mika Metals – 4
ODI – 4
Neken – 2

EXHAUST
FMF Racing – 10
Yoshimura – 5
Pro Circuit – 2
Akrapovic – 1
Stock – 1
HGS – 1

SUSPENSION
Showa – 10
KYB – 5
WP – 4
Ohlins – 1

TIRES
Dunlop – 11
Hoosier – 6
Pirelli – 2
Michelin – 1

GEAR
Fox Racing – 4
FXR – 3
FLY Racing – 3
SHIFT – 3
O’Neal Racing – 1
Answer Racing – 1
Seven – 1
Troy Lee Designs – 1
THOR MX – 1
Moose Racing – 1
Just1 – 1

HELMET
Fox Racing – 5
Bell – 4
Airoh – 2
Shoei – 2
Alpinestars – 2
Arai – 1
FLY Racing – 1
Troy Lee Designs – 1
6D – 1
Just1 – 1

GOGGLES
SCOTT – 9
100% – 5
Oakley – 3
Fox Racing – 1
EKS Brand – 1
Just1 – 1

BOOTS
Gaerne – 7
Alpinestars – 6
Fox Racing – 6
SiDi – 1

NECK BRACES
Leatt – 1
Atlas – 1

WEST & EAST COAST GRAND TOTALS

MOTORCYCLE
Honda – 11
Yamaha – 10
Husqvarna – 9
Kawasaki – 5
KTM – 3
Suzuki – 2

HANDLEBAR
ProTaper – 11
Renthal – 11
Mika Metals – 7
ODI – 7
Neken – 4

EXHAUST
FMF Racing – 17
Yoshimura – 10
Pro Circuit – 5
Akrapovic – 4
Stock – 1
HGS – 1
Rocket – 1

SUSPENSION
Showa – 15
KYB – 13
WP – 11
Ohlins – 1

TIRES
Dunlop – 27
Hoosier – 7
Pirelli – 3
Bridgestone – 2
Michelin – 1

GEAR
FLY Racing – 8
Fox Racing – 6
FXR – 6
SHIFT – 5
THOR MX – 3
Answer Racing – 3
Troy Lee Designs – 3
Seven – 1
O’Neal Racing – 1
Canvas – 1
Leatt – 1
Moose Racing – 1
Just1 – 1

HELMET
Bell – 8
Fox Racing – 7
FLY Racing – 5
Shoei – 4
Airoh – 3
Alpinestars – 3
Arai – 3
Troy Lee Designs – 3
6D – 3
Just1 – 1

GOGGLES
SCOTT – 15
100% – 11
EKS Brand – 6
Oakley – 5
Fox Racing – 1
Leatt – 1
Just1 – 1

BOOTS
Alpinestars – 15
Gaerne – 13
Fox Racing – 10
SiDi – 1
Leatt – 1

NECK BRACES
Leatt – 1
Atlas – 1

– Honda and Yamaha will probably always be in some sort of battle for supremacy in public opinion, and that’s pretty evident in the 250 Class. Although a handful of those riders are aboard factroy-backed bikes, the biggest factor in those numbers is from smaller teams and privateers. The CRF and YZF are plenty powerful in stock condition and can be made into monsters with some motor work.

– Husqvarna’s popularity over KTM is interesting to see. Yeah, there are some very very very subtle differences between the two, but one has to wonder what the determining factor is. Could it really come down to the looks of a white bike? Or is it because JMC Motorsports fields a two-rider team of Huskies and supports Michael Leib on the West Coast?

– It’s a tie of handlebars between Renthal and ProTaper. Renthal’s advantage was on the West Coast with Pro Circuit Kawasaki/Penrite Honda/TLD, while ProTaper made up for it with GEICO Honda/Rockstar Husqvarna/JGR Suzuki on the East Coast.

– Lil’ D must send pipes to everyone because FMF Racing had nearly double the numbers of anyone else the Exhaust category.

– Honda’s popularity plus a handful of Kawasaki riders helped Showa get the top rank in suspension, but KYB wasn’t far behind thanks to the many Yamaha riders in the field. WP was again aided by being partner brands with KTM and Husqvarna.

– Dunlop is again the tire of choice, an honor they’ve held for years now thanks to their high level of support in pro racing. It’s good to see Hoosier, a fixture in auto racing, making an impact in a category they’ve only been a part of for a few years.

– FLY Racing and Fox Racing are without a doubt the two most seen apparel brands in pro Supercross racing. FLY Racing has made their mark by helping out the smaller teams and privateers in addition to the marquee talent, while Fox Racing often goes after the high-profile on factory-backed teams with large rosters. You can see the two strategies play out in the gear and helmet categories, where both are near the top of the results.

– But with that said, Bell continues to have the helmet category on lock with deals at Pro Circuit and Star Racing, while other helmet-only company Shoei scores high in the ranking through deals with teams that only race one coast (Gas Monkey on the West & ClubMX on the East).

– SCOTT gets the win the goggle category after ranking third in the 450 Class. If you want to get really granular with the results, tally up the two different classes and you notice that SCOTT and 100% tie at 18 total riders each.

– It’s very interesting to see how close the boot category was, especially compared to the 450 Class. Yes, Alpinestars is again the top brand, but Gaerne kept it very close thanks to their deals with Rockstar Husky, Penrite Honda, ClubMX, JGR Suzuki, and a handful of other racers. Gaerne was actually the bigger brand on the West Coast! Fox Racing’s push to be known as a head to toe apparel company is evident with their kicks on the full squads of PC and GEICO, plus privateer Soubeyras.