Posts
252
Joined
2/21/2012
Location
Red Creek, NY
US
Edited Date/Time
2/27/2012 2:00am
Two stroke mania. If I ever won a lotto I would fight the AMA. I would find any loop whole I could to allow the 500cc two strokes back in the outdoor series. The cost to maintain and upgrade the four strokes is crazy. The four strokes are killing the motocross sport. With this economy the way it is the privateers are struggleing just to make it to the races. You can no longer say that the 500cc is to big or even to heavy. When in fact the Service Honda CR500AF and the KX500AF is built useing the 250f chassi's. Plus they are lighter than the stock 250f' four stroke's. The cost to maintain and or upgrade these 500AF's is by far less expensive than any four stroke. Do some reasearch on the Service Honda CR500AF and the KX500AF. Or better yet maybe you know someone who has one. Do a day worth of moto's on it and before you know it you will be faster on the 500AF.
no question the power to weight on a smoker is superior to a 4t....... i don't think anyone would argue that, but on a track where traction is at a premium, smokers do have 2 things working against them in unison...... while the KTM 250SX makes similar torque and HP figures to the 450s, the way it lays it down is more violent. with power on every single downstroke, the 2 stroke wants to spin the tire all the time. on top of that, the transition from the bottom end to the top end isn't as smooth as the 4t and any lack of smoothness will cause the tire to break loose easier. spinning tires cause lost time on the tracks. while lost time may only be fractions of seconds, those fractions add up.
then to add the BRUTE power of a 500cc 2stroke (i have ridden them many times) into the mix and it would be like trying to race a drift car against a world rally car. raw HP is not the solution........ a 250/300cc 2 stroke can play and play well with the 450s in the peak hp and torque game...... but getting them to put their power to the ground as efficiently as a 450 is the problem.
having said all that, i think 2 strokes are superior in offroad especially in tight tracks where direction change and the ability to instantly explode over obstacles is at a premium.
the biggest issue is not the raw power of a 2 stroke, but the rate at which they have developed compared to the 4t. you want change....... start convincing people to only buy from the 1....... ok......... maybe 1.5 companies that are still producing and developing (leave out yamaha for the developing part) both engine types.
both engine types are good and have their strengths......... just embrace their strengths and understand their weaknesses and use them where they work best.
STFU Noob!!
The loop....whole.
The Shop
love how people say they dont put the power down and are explosive and hard to ride, ha ha people who never rode one say that,
i race a MPS modded kx500/kxf last season and it was wicked awesome!, and those are crude conversions at best, a service bike must be incredible
Pit Row
I rode a KX 500 once and it scared the living shit out of me. That's a real man's bike.
now i get the fact that you love your 500AF...... i get that...... i too am biased toward my 300 as probably the best all around bike i have ever owned. i truly understand the "beer goggle" effect toward your favorite bike...... but..... you are talking about race bikes where the fastest lap times are the main concern............ and i doubt very few guys, if any, are consistently faster on a 500cc 2 stroke than they are on a 250F, 250T, 350F, or 450F for an ENTIRE MOTO. not to mention the fact that the 500AFs do not have frames that were designed to work with the 500cc engine that IS A BIG DEAL.
what you are also forgetting is the fact that it is easier to go faster on the track with a 4stroke than a 2t for the average joe.
again, i'd love to see 2t back in the mix in the big leagues...... i really would and i truly think that guys like chad reed, who have the talent on a 2t and have raced those bikes at the highest level would still be competitive with the 4strokes...... but i would imagine it would be on a smaller displacement than a 500. jmo
also, jumping on a bike for a few laps, even if hot-laps, with a big ultra powerful engine will get glowing remarks from your buddies......... but.......... it is much much different than running an entire moto....... that and the fact that there was not stop-watch involved. try it against any smaller displacement bike and a way to keep accurate lap time and get back to us with your findings. unless your last name is of the likes of "ward" or "johnson", i would imagine that you will be faster with A LOT less bike (again, i am talking about for a full race, not a few laps). the desired end result of racing is winning........ not pulling up to the line to feed a case of "small man's complex" with the biggest engine.
Post a reply to: a dollar and a dream