Our great friend in USA, Eric Johnson sat down and talked with Chase Sexton about the change from KTM to Kawasaki and a whole lot more. EJ always gets the inside news with the top US riders and is not just a good friend, but also one of the true legends of MX media.

2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX champion and 2024 AMA Pro Motocross 450 champ Chase Sexton recently sent the global motocross world spinning by announcing he would be turning in the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition he scored 36 podium finishes with the last two seasons for a Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450SR (Special Racer).

Having signed a new three-year deal, the 26 year-old racer out of La Moille, Ill., will line up in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, the Pro Motocross Championship and the SMX World Championship next year.

“Joining Monster Energy Kawasaki is an amazing opportunity, and I’m really looking forward to this new chapter in my career,” said Sexton. “The team has already made me feel very supported with anything I need, and they’re here to give me all the tools I need to win. I believe this is the next step I need to compete for championships, and I and motivated for the 2026 season.”

Sexton is now hard at work coming to terms with his new Kawasaki KX450SR, preparing for their premiere race together in Anaheim on Jan. 10.

“I got a new track built. I’m excited. It’s just a lot of training and a lot of riding all in one," said Sexton. "It’s the only time of the year that we kind of get a chance to really train a lot and also ride a lot because I mean otherwise, you’re trying to recover and whatnot for the season. I’m just trying to do as much training as I can and get a base built prior to the season. I also want to try and work on the things that you need to work on with the bike. It’s kind of the only time that you get the chance to do that.”

The 2016 Pro Motocross 250 class Rookie of the Year, as well as the 2018 250SX Rookie of the Year, Sexton believes he is still learning as he goes.

“Always. I mean I’m 26 years old, but I still feel super young, so I don’t know," he mused. "I feel like I’m learning every time I get on the track, which is cool. I’m kind of on my own just as far as the training part. I have Levi Kitchen here with me. I do all the riding stuff kind of by myself. I like it that way. I’ve always been that way since I was young. The team will be down here occasionally, but for the most part, it’s kind of on me in trying to figure out a new bike. It’s the part that people don’t get to see, but for me, it’s the most fun part of the year because I do get to work on my weaknesses and try to just become better for the year ahead.”

He admits there's a lot to get used to on his new Kawasaki.

“Yeah, new bike, new team, and I’m back on Monster Energy, which is cool. Yes, it’s a whole new thing," he said. "I’m happy to be back on an aluminum frame, to say the least. I’ve had probably had about two and a half weeks or so of riding on the bike. It’s really refreshing. It feels a lot like my Honda did. Honestly, the first time I got on it, it took me a while to get used to it because I’ve been riding such a different bike for the last few years. It’s completely different, so I kind of had to bring back some of the old memories on the Honda and work from there.

"It’s just different because every rider is different and every rider likes different stuff. For me, it was just so polar opposite of what I’m used to, it took me so long to get used to it. I kind of had to change how I rode for the bike, which is kind of a normal thing. It was just very different from what I grew up on and what I always rode. Getting back on an aluminum frame, it feels like more high performance, which is good. I feel like it’s easier to go faster on an aluminum frame.”

He's enjoying his new team and surroundings, too.

“I want to be here at Kawasaki for a while. It’s kind of a different mindset for me," he said. "I just kind of want to find a home and work around really good people, and I feel like I’ve found that. It’s still early, obviously. It’s still the honeymoon stage, but I think for me, it’s off to a really good start. It’s been fun so far. We’ll see at Anaheim.

"So far, so good. The team is really cool. They’ve been around for a while. They have a lot of knowledge and that’s something I kind of lean on and trust in. I have Theo Lockwood as my crew chief and then Rango (Jason Motoya) as my mechanic. They came to Hawaii with the bike and stuff for the team photo shoot, so I got to spend some time with them there away from the track. They’re really good people and trustworthy, so I’m really excited.

"It’s a good change. I think everyone loves change. You see the same guys on the same bikes for so long. I think everyone likes the KTM I raced, but for the most part, it seems like everyone wants to see me get back on a Japanese bike. That’s kind of the same for me. Everyone is stoked on it and how it all looks. For the little part of time that I’ve ride on the bike, I feel looser on the bike and just kind of open. I feel loose and I can move around more on the bike, which for me allows me to go faster. That’s something that I didn’t really ever find at KTM. I felt like I was pretty stiff on it. I kind of want to get a little more open and more loose on the bike.

“I really want to come back stronger for next year and kind of re-establish myself as a winner. I think me and Kawasaki both have that mindset. They haven’t won in a while. They had a rough year last year. We’re both looking to improve this year. I think that’s a cool atmosphere to be in.

"I have one goal and that’s to win. Like I said, Kawasaki hasn’t won a championship or even a lot of races in the last few years, so it’s kind of an all-or-nothing kind of thing. We also want to do it smart and to not be too aggressive at the beginning. We kind of want to let it come to us and do the work in the off-season and come into Anaheim prepared.”