from MXA...Italy 4-stroke banned for kids in competition

hmmmmmm....

They banned the CRF 150R.

Honda just got a taste of its own medicine.

Circle of life

love it, common sense, this is what it looks like. I almost forgot

That might be just a little exreme.

There should at least be an option for the 150F, like allowing it in the 125 cc class where it is comparable to the other machines and doesn't have a large displacement advantage.

I sincerely hope that any proposals at AMA congress to allow the 150F in the classes currently offered for 85cc machines fail like they did last year.

Agreed. Good move.

sweet.

I couldn't find any reference to this on the MXA website.

Mid week report

WOW

That is a big move. Real Big.

Bet Honda gets some 2 strokes back now. Thats allot of lost sales.

Edit I forgot about the Italy and France only part while reading.

This is good because it wont let small riders jump right to the 250f when they are far from ready. It does seem kind of weird that they wont allow them to ride the 150f though.

Finally someone is going to start doing something about the cost of racing for kids. KTM will clean up with this rule. As they should. They never quit development unlike the lame jap companies.

Notice how the governing body doesn´t let the manufacturers decide the rules! Great news!

Great move!

Surprised and pleased!

Just got back from France on Monday. In the MX Masterkids, Under 17 class it was probably 75% 2 strokes. Most were big bore 125s, but the class was open to 250Fs. A 144 won.

france has been doing it for a while.....
the french junior national championship, under 18 i think !!, is raced on 125s, they also have that class in their sx series, and that could be a strong reason to explain all the talent that has been comming regulary from them.........

Great news. Sanity goes before corporate cash. Love it!

Awesome!

about time . It's also the skill level that a 2 stroke teaches these kids. 1/2 these kids these days don't even know how use a clutch or how to brake into a corner without engine breaking.

Fathers are to dumb to work on 4-strokes in Italy?

"This is great news. We must keep down the cost at entry level to our sport and many fathers can work on a two-stroke but not on a four-stroke"

i also don't think all americans are like you....!!!!!!!

http://www.mx-pure.com/archive/news-20090318095911-20110712192036.htm

If you listened to Honda - or even the FIM seven or eight years back - you'd have thought that two-strokes were dead and buried. But the sound and action of a two-stroke on full song is coming back ... with a shrill scream rather than the drone of a modern four-banger. Last week the Italian federation FMI took the decisive step of banning kids from riding four-strokes in competition until after their 15th birthday ... and other countries are poised to follow suit.

Neatly side-stepping the moves his organisation had taken in 2003 to promote four-strokes with a whole list of beneficial rules, FIM MX director Wolfgang Srb welcomed the Italian move with open arms: "This is great news. We must keep down the cost at entry level to our sport and many fathers can work on a two-stroke but not on a four-stroke. We at the FIM set a signal when we restricted the World Junior Championship to two-strokes, and the UEM have introduced the wonderful 125 series. I am sure other federations will soon follow Italy's lead."

France of course already have a ruling which restricts teenagers in national competition to bikes of 125cc or less until their 16th birthday, and the benefit to their riding skills as they learn to coordinate throttle, clutch and momentum through the turns is reflected in their incessant flow of talented young riders. With a dearth of talent to eventually replace the Cairoli-Philippaerts-Guarneri generation, it is not hard to understand why Italy has taken the step and the way in which EM125 leader Simone Zecchina stepped onto the factory RMZ250 to score at GP level, having never previously ridden a four-stroke, was confirmation of their decision.

ACU MX committee members are already keeping a careful eye on developments, well aware that if they miss the boat when the change becomes more widespread, it could damage the prospects for UK youngsters on the international stage.

Reigning ACU 125 champion James Dunn, one of the British trio contesting the UEM 125 series, said in Germany at the weekend that he was learning so much from the series that he had even decided to forgo his chances in UK series to contest every round: "GP tracks are a lot harder technically and more physically demanding, and the competition is really tough."

Teutschenthal paddock neighbour Luke Dean confirmed the benefits: "It's hard, so many riders on the same pace, one mistake and you can lose three places. It's a great way to learn."

Engine breaking when talking about four strokes....

Now that's funny

Call it not mechanically inclined.

Honda doesn't give a rats ass about bikes anyway. It is not some much the labour cost, but the parts that are the issue. $100 head gaskets, shim kits- what are they worth? Two strokes usually do not damage the cases in the unlikely event of piston failure.

One big questions still remain though, maybe not a question... For 2010 or was it 2009 according to the FIM regulations (I read them long time ago) they changed the rules to allow equal displacement in the MX2 class (250F in the US) which then opened up for the smokers. Then that went away when that season was closing. I wrote to FIM and asked what happened, no answer. No magazines mentioned this either. I guess that wasn't news (hush, hush).

I get the impression that if more than one brand bark simultaneously these "guys" at FIM roll over. In this case Honda was the only brand with an 150F, so I guess this happened with the Help of the others in some way. Still they probably don't want to piss on each other to much, but what are the odds for this to happen if all the OEM made a 150F? Would FIM then listen to the fathers? Yeah, sure...

Sometimes I feel embarrassed by the obvious suck up for power and money in our business...

Trickle across the pond theory?
I hope!

So much for Mr Srb saying it'll keep down the cost - if they ban kids from riding 150f's I'll have to buy my son a 2 stroke and nobody will want to buy the 150f from me so that'll be worth nothing. How is that keeping the cost down?????? Quite the opposite I'd say.

the FIM is smarter than I thought.

LOL @ hOnDa
hahahahaha