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For the sport, 4 strokes have brought more:
weight
noise
closed tracks
broke racers
posers w/more $ than skill who never would have stuck with a smoker
Seriously though, there are riders who are able to be involved in MX who would never have stuck around if they had to learn to ride a 2 stroke, so they have opened doors. Every bike has it's place.
I am not a 4 stroke hater, was previously mad about the big 4 trying to take my choice away. Now that I don't have to worry about not being able to buy a 2 stroke and they are coming back, I am not angry any more.
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Looks like someone else likes to play "See how many 450's you can pass on the 125". It has given me a new outlook on riding for a few years. Don't you love the sound of 450 angry throttle when they hear you coming pinned then wash out and crash trying to keep "IT" from happening!?
Funny how 450's suddenly have mechanical problems and have to pull off the track right about the time a 125 comes along. A very interesting phenomenon.
In MX2/250F class I don't think there's a single positive thing?
For the local guy? Partly. It has boosted a couple of egos. You can do stuff that you previously didn't manage on a smoker, and you are probably faster in corners as well. If you compare a 250 to a 250F the F eats less tires, sprockets etc. Not so if you compare against a tiddler though?
So the only two maybe positive thing is that you can prolly use a standard engine in both MX1/450 and in Supercross 450 class and still be competitive and boosted some fragile egos on the local track. Other than that, they are true shit and I wish they would newer have hit the surface.
In the blame game, the AMA played their part by writing a rules package that allowed oversize four-strokes to compete against undersized two-strokes. If pressed, the AMA will point the finger at the government and claim that the EPA was putting pressure on them to cut emissions (even though the rules do not apply to closed-course motorcycles). Meanwhile, all the major manufacturers signed off on the AMA’s four-stroke exemption rule because they didn’t think that a thumper would ever be competitive against a two-stroke, even if it was twice as large. Of course, the advertising agencies over-sold four-strokes to the masses, and the public, that’s us, lapped it up. Nobody wants to be behind the times, and suddenly two-strokes were old school and four-strokes were cutting edge (and even if that is so far from the truth that it is laughable, no one laughed). Who is really to blame for our four-stroke future? All of us...stupid incorporated. But since we don’t want to take responsibility for this fiasco, we’ve decided to pin the blame on the Eskimos.
The Eskimos may look innocent in all of this, but the sport needs a fall guy who won’t complain.
So here we sit in 2009 with bike prices rocketing skyward, used bike prices plummeting downward, average repair bills that could finance a vacation to Tahiti, and electronic technology that takes all control away from the owner/operator. Are you happy yet?
500 guy wrote:
I personally think the 450 made the gap between Factory bikes and Privateers much smaller.
but now they are trying to find a way to make the gap wider and the cost is going up by a huge percentage.
A good case for this is the large number of young guy's jumping to 450's in their 1st year because they think they have a better and cheaper shot at competing.
BornA'Lil2Slow wrote:
Ill echo 500guy here....
in the 450 class, it has made horsepower pretty much a level field. In the 2 stroke era, this was a HUGE deal. The motors the top guys had, a privateer, with a genious grinder, still couldnt come close to getting. Also, for a privateer to get even remotely close motorwise, they were strung pretty tight, ie. had to completely rebuild them weekly. Now, ask around with actual privateer riders, they go up to 3 or 4 races in SX before anything major rebuild wise. I know of 2 individuals, in the last 3 years or so, that literally ran most of the SX races with a stock motor, an aftermarket exhaust, and didnt touch the motor the entire SX season. DV went to a race with literally a bone stock 450, and yanked a holeshot, ask Holligan. [/i]
If you don't like the four stroke then don't buy one. With that said, quit the bitching and moaning about it. This rule effects racing at the pro level and has nothing to do with the average joe at chickenlicks raceway.
Pit Row
And that has been my experience also, even at the pro level.
I will say that the four strokes are not as tolerant to poor maintenance as the two strokes are. Proper, and I do mean "proper" oil and oil filter changes, along with not putting putting dirt into the air boot when you remove the dirty air filter, goes a long ways with the four stroke. Valve adjustments are also a must.
The two strokes on the other hand will just lose a little power when they are poorly maintained, and the average joe doesn't even realize it. It takes a long time for the poor maintenance to put the two stroke to its death.
Please name one of the pros racing at the top level that wasn't great that has been injured hucking a triple.
Yes,
Funny thing is when I have a 4 stroke, I want a 2 stroke, when I have a 2 stroke I want a 4. My bikes kx250->cr125->crf250->yz250->kx450f and now I'm looking at the ktm250sx for my next bike
and i've seen more people be made to look like gumbys with bad consequences. when things go bad on a four stroke once engine breaking and inertia get involved...
I actually wrote triple at first, then changed it to jumping before I posted in case someone jumped at that!!!
I thought you were referring to the racers at a pro level.
I don't know of a lot of week end enthusiast tracks that put big jumps right out of a turn, but then again, I have been disengaged from local racing for years.
I think both the four stoke and the two stroke have their place in the sport.
Think of it like this: A 2 stroke throws you to the ground with the weigth force of a framing hammer hitting a nail and a 4 stroke does the same thing with the force of a sledgehammer hitting a nail....at the same velocity the hammers are swung which drives the nail in further?
I just wish there weren't so many injuries in MX... and it seems there's been more since 4 strokes were introduced...
Talk about annoying..........
Post a reply to: Have 4 strokes actually done anything for motocross?