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Originally Posted by RockyMt

Another (albiet possibly minor) reason Vale left was the BROKEN promise of him keeping his RC211 championship winning bike, apparently that was a major issue at the time, Vale said "no bike, no contract" and Honda wouldn't budge.

-Rocky-

I agree, a minor point.

Originally Posted by wdavis009

That is debatable. Rossi himself has stated numerous times that the main reason he left was because he wasn't being challenged and had become bored. He claims if he had stayed at Honda he would have retired from motorcycle racing within a couple years. He also points to the fact he was tired of people claiming his winning was due to the bike, and wanted to prove the rider is more important than the bike. I am sure the atmosphere at HRC played a big role, but the lack of challenge and desire to prove his success wasn't due to the bike is what he himself always points to as the primary reasons for the move. Of course, I am sure some of those explanations are calculated on his part to ensure his legacy in motorcycle racing. I agree with your main point though...if he and Burgess didn't think the Yamaha had great potential they never would have gone there.

Rossi like all the greats is a student of history and more importantly conscious of his place in that history. Rossi celebrates every milestone crossed in Moto GP and he knows he's solidified his place in racing by making the switch to Yamaha.

The greatest motivation IMO for Rossi leaving Honda wasn't the challenge as so many seem to think. It was his place in history. Rossi's mentor Mick Doohan to this day suffers from the 'what if he wasn't on a Honda' question despite his multiple world titles gained while enduring career ending injuries. Somehow winning on the winningest manufacturers motorcycle seems to diminish the herculean efforts of these riders despite the fact that the margins for victory are often within 10ths of seconds.

Rossi's switch, akin to Lawson's historic switch back in the day, ensures that Rossi's legacy is not besmirched by similar allegations, which TBH would be credible, for lack of a better word, allegations considering the overall dominance of the V5 in its day. The move to Yamaha was calculated to not only ensure his place in history with more titles but to also ensure that the focus on his place in history would be on the rider not the machine.