@@zolfyl8816 Yup plus when will they put year and cc size head to head 250 2 stroke against 250 4stroke ? when i had my Mean dark forest Green H2 750 triple 2 stroke i never lost a race against 4 stroke 750s jus saying :)
Advancement in design not just the motor. Suspension geometry etc makes the new bikes easier to ride. The old bikes had character like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
I was riding 2 strokes in the late 70’s early 80’s. They were everywhere on the road and off. Lots of trail bikes were popular on road. At the time 4 strokes seemed old fashioned and sluggish. Happy days.
@@Deontjie yep there's a whole video on why two strokes are no more bc 4 strokes make more power there faster now they cost more to fix is the biggest down side to 4 strokes everything else is a W
I had a 1983 Honda CR480. It never seemed fair to me that the 400cc four strokes got to compete against the 250cc two strokes. My guess is most young people today have not experienced the awesome powerband of a two stroke. They need to bring them back, they truly are the essence of motocross. And so much easier to work on, fewer moving parts. You can change out pistons and rings so fast.
@@ibewillow Yeah, the pros race 4 strokes because they’re way worse. Do people really not know that modern 4 stroke race bikes aren’t like an ‘85 XR? They also don’t seem to see the benefits of running an entire race in 2 gears.
I had a 2005 RM250 around 12 years ago. That bike was an absolute animal. It would pull up the front tire in 5th gear lol. They’re so much fun. Miss my two strokes.
It's guys like you Max that keep the passion of true moto alive. It's easy for old men like me to sit on the porch in a rocking chair smoking a cigar mumbling how good mx was when a cloud of blue 2 stroke smoke was left behind the line after the gate dropped, but it takes someone with mx in their heart to be making videos about it when they aren't even 30 years old. I hope you make it to the States and can race my 83 KX125 at Unadilla,Southwick or Binghamton
AHHH the smell of premix was almost as sweet as the sounds of a herd of 2 strokes racing to turn one in a huge pack like a swarm of really pissed off hornets LOL
That 2t sounds great! I grew up on 2ts (although my very first bike was an XR50 back in '89). Had a CR60, a KDX80, a KDX200, and finally my dad's '88 CR250 that I still have. I didn't get into track riding until I was in my mid 20s, and my CR was outdated equipment. It didn't take long for my buddies to convince me to "upgrade" to a 4t. So I bought a used 2003 CRF450R. Honestly, I loved that bike the moment I clicked it into gear, and I still love it. I've had that bike for 15 years and I never get tired of riding it, but whenever I jump on the old CR, I find a smile on my face that only the 2t can supply.
Good video Max. Two different riding styles required to ride top notch. Suzuki looks and sounds really good. That Bills pipe and silencer work well together. jetting really sounded crisp and clean. Thanks for doing this video, enjoyed watching. Glad rider was ok from his big get off.
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Imagine where the 2 strokes would be had they kept being developed. We used to take the '90 cr500 on the ice, couldn't keep the front wheel down. It was bored out as well, thing was mental.
That RM sounded killer, even when they had a stock pipe they sounded sweet, I remember my k7 model as one of my favorite bikes.Hope the dude is ok. Iv been using CUSTOM MX for my graphics for many years they are very helpful good value and good quality. Said it before and say it again this is the best 2 smoke channel on the whole grid, keep em coming max
Man idk. I'd prefer that sound that they put on the new e mussel car. Electric mussel car. With a Electric mussel car sound. Wonder how a e dirt bike sound with a Electric 2 stroke noise. Lmao. 😂
I miss my 2006 RM a lot, it was 2mm over with porting. Pulled good and smooth, handled awesome. Come on Mr. Suzuki lets pump out some new machines. Enjoyed the vid . Braaap
@@fastballfilms4214 it literally is. You have twice the fun. Four strokes only have the advantage of new suspension, chassis and electrinics cause they stoppe doing mx 2 stroke 14 years ago, exept ktms and yamahas.
They had to add 200cc to the four strokes just to compete with the 2 strokes. That says it all right there. Run a 250 2T against a 250 4T and see what's faster!
@@fastballfilms4214 Without handicaps? No chance! A 500cc two strokes power to weight ratio is way higher. The limiting factor is how long you can fight with the beast, as they are very demanding on the rider.
I've never had the "just shot out of a canon" feeling my old YZ-490 had on any four stroke. You aimed the 490 and pulled the trigger, in the time it took to blink you were there.
I have never owned a 4-stroke MX bike but I grew up on several 2-strokes up to a big bore RM250 that had terrifyingly explosive power delivery. My KLR650 was a 4-stroke and had smooth torque and excellent power but on a 400lb bike with a 220lb rider (OK I got bigger as I grew up LOL) it was more than adequate. I don't have any reference but for me, nothing will ever replace the sound and feel of a 2-stroke.
@@ServeraServera0 Nope.I lived on a track for years and never got tired of hearing a well ridden 2 stroke on the pipe. 4 strokes get annoying quick.Even when you`re riding them good ,they don`t sound fast
125 ring dingers are still the most fun dirtbikes to ride. I restore one back from the dead every now and then, and it's always a struggle to list it for sale. People always come back from a ride with a grin on their face, in a way that they don't on 250/450f's. My favorite is the '00-01 YZ125. They always seemed to have the best balance of chassis, motor and suspension. I have yet to ride an RM but I really would like to find a 2000's RM125 and restore it.
Might not be a Rm but i absolutely love my CR250. The sound when its on the pipe is just perfection. Yeah the torque of the 4s is insane but the insanity of the 2 stroke power band always makes you clentch them ass cheeks and hold on for your life.
I have a 99 CR250, bought it in 2003. Love it, so fun and never a problem with it. Except I turn 45 next month and the bike is quickly becoming too fast for me because I'm old and getting fat now. Lol
Honda always had mix and match bikes. The 99s for example were great motors with crap suspension and frames. Where the 02 and up cr 250 had great everything but the motor. I had one a 2004. It was honestly the fastest 250 I've ever ridden but it had a power band as wide as an 80.
You opened the powder keg of motocross war. Nice video and even a older vs. new model bike. I have two friends with blown up 2022 four strokes. That Suzuki was a well tuned machine. I think it’s the sound of the radical power band that makes people like 2 strokes.. POW !
a lot of lads abuse the bikes and dont do maintenance, i know a lot myself who constantly blow bikes up and complain to the garage meanwhile they sit on rev limiter the whole time theyre out, goes for 2 and 4 strokes
I had a 2008 RM250 with the unplated Pro Circuit Works Pipe and shorty silencer. Sounded just like this bike. Never met a person who didn't love the sound of it. A snarling, spitting beast.
I think about it at least once a day many times a few times a day. I also wonder if they brought back the 500cc 4 cylinder sport bikes the 100cc 4 stroke would be obsolete. Much lighter and easy 200 hp like mid 80s 500 race bikes they weighed like 380lbs wet 200hp and 2 stroke power, ohhhhh mama
2stroks been around since the 60s 70s 80s 90s 2000 2010 2023....i own a 96cr250 great bike xr600 Nice bike....but my favorite bike is the crf450r 2008.....thinking about buying a yz450fx 2023...I prefer 4stks...I am getting older55
The two-stroke internal combustion engine was invented in 1881!😳 If technology hadn't improved it by 2006, not much else gonna change from then till now.
@@plantfeeder6677 wrong with direct injection and other things modern 2 strokes are now able to meet epa guide lines. Just read a nice article on 2 strokes making a comeback with better ecu control of fuel land air, and injection improvements. Google it had they not put it on back burners and really put money in it a 500cc grand prix bike last run in like 2002 or so at 200hp they would easily be at 250hp as that is where most developments of 2 strokes took place as that was premiere racing of 2 strokes. Enginers learn new things everyday so to say it had reached its limits shows you do not understand engineers at all
Rode both. Loved the throttle response on the 2 stroke. A 4 stroke will never have that kind of throttle response. I would choose the 2 stroke any day over the 4.
Great vid! I used to race locally a 1988 KX 125 two-stroke and loved it. I now ride a four-stroke sport touring bike but miss my two-strokes. My most beloved was a 1985 Honda MTX200 dual sport which was a two-stroke in South Africa.
Top video mate! There's just something raw and delicious about a 2E spooling up that a 4T will never match! Way back to the early years, the sound of the MX's,TM's, CR's and Huskies, CZ's and Hodakas ripping it for turn one will never be forgotten. And, add that Klotz oil for the smell and Nirvana is just over the next jump!
You're always just as happy when you see a video with old 2 stroke's bikes that prove that you can have fun and go fast with an old bike.. I myself have an RM 250 2007 :)
I don't think they've made a 4-stroke motocross bike yet that is as long-lived and dependable as the old smokers. When you lighten and tune a 4-stroke to run with the fastest 2-strokes, you will definitely sacrifice a degree of durability. All those extra moving parts that have been whittled down to their smallest possible size and weight are a recipe for wear and failure. The old 2-strokes, with just their cranks, rods and pistons for major moving parts, were just easier for regular people to own, keep running and enjoy for years and years. You could also kick start one with your hand - literally! I miss 'em.
my MX bike is a 2001 CR250 frame with a 1998 CR500 motor(Service Honda 500 ) I can ride it all day off the pipe turning surprisingly fast lap times while sounding much slower. It will flat wear this old man out if I try to ride it any harder. The only time I get it on the pipe is coming out of a sandy corner with plenty of runway before the next obstacle.
Loved my Husky CR250. Went everywhere with it: mountains, deep woods, mud, tundra, wouldn’t’ve traded it for the world. Then in my old age (57-ish) I rode a Christini 450 thumper with front wheel drive and recluse clutch, and I could point that puppy straight up a mountain side and go places I would have really struggled with on the Husky, and it was a cake walk. I gained a real appreciation for the 4s torque, plus the extra pull from the front wheel meant I didn’t have to lay on the handlebars to keep the front end down while simultaneously keeping traction. (some places have long, steep climbs, like near the tops of mountains) That was an awesome bike.
Niiiice! Love that sound. Was racing a 1981 (shorter stroke) RM250 grass kart for many years. Had a custom pipe, programable CDI with flat shift trigger, and ran on av gas. It sounded even crisper than this later RM! With a rev limit at 9,500 it would wind up pretty hard! Great fun, but needed plenty of respect too ;)
Sold my rmz450 for a fully restored rm250 by a long time mx race mechanic. I had alot more falls on hard turns with the rmz450 too. I just love the sound and smell of the castor 927 when I'm ripping on the track and have my fiancée on an 85 so I can always hear and smell that sweet 2 stroke
Four-strokes still sound weird to me. My son thinks two-strokes sound annoying. Different experiences I guess. I absolutely love the smell of race fuel and MC1 and the howl of a high RPM two stroke flying down a straight. It never gets old. My son thought all the old two-strokes were super slow until he rode my wife's 86 ATC 250R. He couldn't believe it. That thing is heavy and detuned. The CRs were much quicker. Now, about the CR 500R...
Reminds me of my teenage days. Started with a Keystone minibike at 12 (two stroke with clutch) then a Yamaha 80 then Suzuki RM125. Eventually ended up on the Kawasaki KX250. Back then I would sometimes use Castor oil for pre-mix. Love that smell. Had a Suzuki GT550 for a street bike. Two stroke all the way!!! Yes kids, that was in the mid 70's to mid 80's
2022 Vet class at Loretta, older fella raced Maico 490 (81), vs 2022 450 and finished top 25. . Amazing. Ryan hushes last year raced 85 cr250 against modern machinery in 40+ and finished 3rd overall. They are still competitive, and cheap to operate.
No comments on this yet! When I see and SMELL that 2stroke oil exhaust, I begin salivating! & tripping out missing the old days. Loved hill climbing & trail riding the mountains of N. Utah.
Glad that Ed is ok. Great video. I remember Micheal Pichon winning 2 MXGP championships in 2001 and 2002 on the RM250. He gave Everts a good run in 2003 on the RM250 but Everts had the 4 stroke?yamaha at that point . I never thought it was right to have 250 2 strokes in a class with 4 strokes that are double the displacement. I always said they should be in the 250 class with the 250f bikes. I’ve got an 02 RM 250 that is the best MX bike I’ve ever owned and it’s in my Will to go to my sons👍🏼
I'm restoring my 97 I bought in highschool. But all the original parts you can before they're gone! So much stuff is discontinued and isn't supported by aftermarket.
The difference between 250 2 stroke and 4 stroke is 10 hp more for the 2 stroke and the diference between a 250 2 stroke and a 450 4 stroke is only 4 hp but thats with all 3 bikes new with new technology also for the 2 stroke (yamaha ) i looked it upp before in another whats best 2 or 4 My choice would go to the screaming 2 stroke over that tuned up lawnmower everyday 😃😃 did you ever see carmichael vs everts in zolder belgium mx of nations i was there was nice to see
as someone that owns an 02' RM250 and a 21' CRF250R, I can say that the RM is fun when you can rip it wide open at the dunes or anywhere that you are just wanting to put some wide open miles in. My 250R however, its super smooth power delivery, front end is much more planted, bike geometry feels better in almost every way and its a lot less taxing on you to ride. For these reasons, my RM is basically a garage ornament and I take the honda when I go to the track.
Love the 2wee and if I had to buy a new bike it would definitely be a 2wee! My son races the GNCC series currently on a GG 250 4 stroke in fact I’m heading out to Florida at noon today and gonna go to the Supercross in Daytona!! My kids and my grandson make it there every year since 14 ! Sorry got off subject 😂 but I still love the 2 stroke and love the test you and your mates do! Thanks man
To this day the sound of that 2-stroke blasting through the gears brings back so many memories of my teen years in the 80s. I owned a 1978 RM-125 and all my friends rode 2-strokes as well. The sound, the power band, the smell of the premix exhaust. There's nothing like it.
It will be good to know how much the 14 years of evolution of the 450's chassis, weight, suspension and breaks influenced in the 450's advantage over the 2 stroke 250. Cheers
I still have my 06' RC replica RM 250!! About 7K in upgrades / A-kit and all that. I have two newer Husky's here.....and still to this day , the RM is probably the most perfect 250 2 stroke ever made.
the last suzuki RM250's were known as the most powerful 2 stroke of all the manufacturers. there were a few things that contributed to that but the biggest were the power jet design in the carb and the form of reeds used. I had an rm250 for a long time and it outran the 4 strokes of its day pretty well.
I know around a track I'll ride way faster on my dad's sxf250 than my 05 kx250 but the kx is just my favourite bike ever. Solid, reliable, fun, but maybe a bit unpredictable. When the motor was on its last legs after 8 years of riding and I don't know how many hours I tore it down and found the skirt of the piston was cracked and about to totally let go but it just kept going. Very tough bike.
I think part of the fun of riding a 2 stroke comes from the bike being a little unpredictable. At least with the 250. I raced a yz250 2t and no matter how good you thought you were it always had to be treated with a little respect, or it would catch you by surprise
I tried pretty hard to land a good 06+ RM250 but ended up with a decent 03 YZ250 instead. It’s a great bike, no complaints, but I still find myself checking the classifieds occasionally. lol
2-stroke engines are simply more energetic. 4-stroke dirtbikes never had that urgency of excitement. Hearing them back to back is like all the fun just ended when the 4-stroke arrived. Lol
Grew up on the 2 stroke, remember the old man cranking his wrist and waving me on by as I road the race tracks back in the eighties. Your all right bout hot zoot 2's can't be beat.
if he’s accustomed to that 4 stroke and has ridden that competitively for years, but hasn’t hardly touched a 2 stroke, then the lap times are obviously going to be effected. He could definitely shave some time off the 2 stroke time after more practice.
@@Ralfostman 2 strokes have a much narrower power band than a 4 stroke, so you have to work it different to make sure you stay within that power band effectively. For someone that's not a 2 stroke rider, shaving a second off the 4 stroke is pretty great. Just shows the potential 2 strokes have over similar sized 4 strokes
@@Ralfostman There's a few, engine braking, torque v HP and most importantly where in the rev range they occur. A four stroke will be more forgiving in the wrong gear because in general they have a broader power band and on the flip side a 2 stroke that's geared to suit a track will launch out of the corners way quicker.
In all honesty it just comes down to the 4 strokes being much easier and "lazier" to ride, the two strokes you have to be on the ball the whole time and are much more tiring to ride. I'm no racer so that doesn't apply to me so I'll be sticking to my 2 stroke madness for a while yet
This. I only had a 350 2 stroke streetbike, but it was NOT an easy riding bike. It was a FUN bike, but you were either givin' er' s*** or you weren't. Very little in between. When it was stock with the stock pipes, it was a wider powerband of course, but once the race pipes went on, all the porting work, jetting, etc, the difference of 1000 RPM was the difference of the front wheel being off the ground or looking like it wasn't running. 5K in top gear, it would barely hold speed wide open. And I mean *barely*. Once it hit 6K though, that's when the fun started. The noise sure didn't win me any popularity contests though. Ah, to be young again. :)
Pretty much! Honestly, it was a fairly ridable bike when it was stock though. I just got ridiculously carried away. My goal was to make as much power as I could with regular gasoline (Well, 100 octane low lead av gas anyway). Man was she fun once it was on the pipe!
There is something impressive and awe-inspiring about hearing a deep humming four-stroke with only half the number of revolutions jerk violently and jerkily from a squealing two-stroke that revs so much that the engine is about to explode, and yet it does not move appreciably in relation to it fearsome and deep-humming four-strokes with only half the number of revolutions.
Yeah they was hard hitters for sure The hardest hitter would have been the 08 ktm 525 OMG that thing would dislocate your shoulder with quater throttle nothing but a animal that bike was And the noise it made was mental
My 81 KX420 upgeared to the max must have been knocking on the door of 90 mph !! It sure felt like it when I came to a very sudden stop ! That's the painful bit , but to this day I don't regret a single minute of it !! You know you're alive 😁😁 I think that's why my 89 rm250 lives next to the bed ! Far safer 👍👍👍
there's nothing and I mean nothing better than the smell and sound of a 2 stroke. I still have a Kawasaki 2 stroke in great condition and probably will always have it around. it's a monster and just love it
I think a big factor here is the softish terrain of that track. I always felt really fast on my old RM on these types of tracks. A four stroke has a huge advantage on hard pack, or slick clay tracks and also flat or off camber corners. A two stroke slides all over the place in those conditions. It is exhausting and you will make mistakes. Unfortunately east coast of Australia doesn’t have many sandy or loamy tracks so sadly I gave up and went to the dark side.
I was a Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki shop mechanic in the '80s and I loved working on and test riding the 2 strokes. My personal bike was a 2 stroke Husqvarna 250. Wish I had that bike today.
With pro riders the 4 strokes will always have faster lap times. They have massive torque from top to bottom so you don't have to be on the pipe the whole time. But idgaf. The 2 strokes are way more fun to ride. The way the power comes on is explosive and a blast. Whack the throttle and hang wheelies in almost every gear. Clutchless power shifts at 10k rpm. Massive corner speeds and burm blasts. VP race fuel and maxima castor oil smells amazing. The sound they make. I love them. I'm not a racer so Ima stick with the 2 strokes.
@@xfdfff2620 that’s why I said depending on the rider. Cause with the the port work an pipe setup on a 2t you’ll have a rocket but it can be a light switch an if you can’t hold on to it, an keep it on the pipe/powerband. A 450, even 250 4strokes will walk all over a 2t 250 yeah they do have a advantage all that torque they make 😮💨
A 2-stroke on the power band is a very additive, exhilarating feeling. Not saying that 4-strokes aren’t fun, but they lack that special feel of a 2 stroke.
Great video Max, loving the action shot's at the track absolutely fantastic work, your not wrong the RM sounds brilliant, in my book the RM wins hands down, great work again Max, looking forward to the next video.
Race lap times would be better than single lap times simply because of the competition pushing you to the edge. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day.
4 stroke dirtbikes scare the hell out of me. They are strung out to the limit and when they blow up, its easily a complete catastrophic failure. Theyre heavier and make less HP per/cc than a 2 stroke and are 10x more complicated. I feel like companies didnt like that racers could rebuild their engine at home.. They needed more dealership visits.
I ran a 11 crf450 for about 2 years with just basic maintenance. But I did always feel un easy for it to blow! I then had a 16 crf450 and boy it was fast but couldn't gel with the weight. Now back on an 02 cr250, and although I've had quicker I'll never sell
They changed to four stroke because government intervention. The environmental regulators changing in mid 1990’s. The four stroke burns less fuel, oil than a two stroke. Therefore less emissions. Motorcycles, garden, lawn motors, chainsaws, marine equipment mostly made the change to fourstroke. However some companies took to making the two stroke cleaner (KTM), along with oil companies making oils synthetic that can burn 50:1…100:1. Now environmental regulation is trying to strangle the fossil fuel burning vehicles completely. Usher in 100% battery powered machines.
Love 2 strokes,i was still restoring them up to 2 years ago,mostly kx500,s,cr500,s,rm465 and rm500,s.First bike was an rm465 when i was 14,never had a smaller 2 stroke since,hooked!
I totally agree with you big two strokes are totally addicting. I had the big Yamaha‘s and the big Honda CR’s 500. I loved them both so much too old now to ride them. But the memories will be with me forever. All that power is totally addicting. I used to shred back tires every two rides. When I was young I was very strong I could throw these bikes around and handled them very well.
@@noidontthinksolol so your pretty sure that a 125cc 2 stroke aprillia engine CANNOT do 129MPH .......after gearing after race tuning after bigger carb you still belive that it cannot do near 129mph it's funny because you clearly never touched a 2 stroke bike in your life end off later mush
In High School in the late 80's i bought my first bike ...an 83' Yamaha IT 490! I weighed about 155 at the time and it was a beast of a bike ...a controllable beast. The 5 speed had huge gears ...and was like riding a Cadillac. Still miss it to this day.
@martin barr's CRF450 but it's not for motocross competition and not with other huge brands pushing each other's boundaries, still glad they are doing it and doing some R&D. But most resources are being used for the 4 stroke divisions...
@martin barr's CRF450 it's not a works bike, resources are limited for R&D and yet it still is a competitive bike. that's what I'm trying to say, if KTM would fully focus on 2 stroke it would've been an even better bike.
@@dr.hugog.hackenbush9443 I disagree with a lot of your comments Hugo, but I agree with your take here. Fuel injection is nice & smooth, but a carbs just fine.
I've been riding motorcycles since 1983. ALL but 1 was 2 stroke. I had a KTM 200 SX when I heard they were going to start making 4 stroke mx bikes. Well, I tried a 2004 Kawasaki KXF 250. That bike handled great, in fact one of the best handling bikes I've ever had. In almost 40 years of riding I've blown up 3 bikes, 2 of them were the 2004 KXF 250. I get it, it was the 1st year Kawasaki was making the 4 stroke 250 so some growing pains but that bike was so unreliable and anybody who's ever owned one can atest to that. The only other bike I've ever blown up was a 1993 KX 125. The flapper valve broke and it slid into the cylinder and came to a fast halt. I take care of my bikes and don't beat on them. The 4 stroke I seized up twice and I went right back to 2 stroke. I wanted to squeeze the 200 SX engine in that 250 KXF frame. That would have been some bike. I saw where someone did just that on a RMZ or RMF frame, whatever Suzuki called their 4 stroke MX bike. I don't have the skills or equipment to fabricate the frame. I did however put that 200 SX engine in a 2015 KTM 150 SX frame with the linkage rear suspension and I'm loving that bike now. The KXF 250 had great handling but what a POS. I always rode KX's until I started riding KTM's but that is largely due to the fact that they have that 200 cc mx engine that I'm a big fan of. I love riding and I don't mind doing preventive maintenance, but the 4 strokes are too needy in my opinion. I'll take a 2 stroke any day. I'm glad Yamaha is still making YZ's and of course KTM and Husqvarna. I don't race so it's all about fun.
I think each has their place. I just think they need to bring back the two stroke just because the following is far bigger than the 4 strokes. I think the major manufacturers are missing out on a massive niche in the market. At least bring them back for a year and call it a classic. Something. I guarantee the sales would hit backorder immediately. Honda should take note.
The first time I seen a dirt bike my cousin had a 97 cr250 in bits at my aunties house. I was obsessed from that day on. Even if you can’t ride bikes that well (like me) there’s something special about the sound and smell of a two stroke
Man, the thing with the whole 2 stroke vs 4 stroke battle is that they got the math wrong! We just took a wild swing at what engine sizes would be “roughly comparable,” and totally missed. I guess the logic was that half the power strokes requires twice the displacement, but it’s not so simple. The fact is that having 2 strokes on the gate makes any race more exciting! The noise, different race strategies, and different riding styles between them is great. All we need to do is fix the engine size classes to be fair and we’re off!!
1981 Yamaha YZ 125 two stroke with an awesome power band. I only weighed 120 lbs so that thing was a rocket !! Great times ! Hard to keep the front wheel on the ground.
When 2 strokes left road bike track days it all went downhill too, if you ask me. All of a sudden everyone had new Ducatis and it turned into a rich boys club.
From a mechanics point of view and and father of 2 kids who have both 2 & 4 stroke bikes. It doesn’t get better then a 2 stroke 1.they sound amazing. 2. Way simpler to work on. There ain’t nothing to a top end rebuild on a 2 stoke. And for the average weekend warrior who’s trying to compete and not fork out a ton of money 2 stokes are the best option. Now I have a 4 stroke race quad and it’s a beast but if they were still making 250r,350 banshees ext. you best believe I would have one.
Having jumped straight off the 2 stroke, and going for a hot lap right away on the 450, I wonder if the extra engine break of the 450 caught him out? A friend who was an AMA pro rider had a similar crash over a big jump during his first ride of a 450 back in '05. He said he let off the throttle in the air like he would normally on his 250 2 stroke, and the large amount of engine braking sent the bike into a massive endo. I heard similar stories from others as well. I know they have made improvements to reduce the amount of engine break over the years, but going back to back, maybe the difference caught him by surprise?
The main problem was the gas rule endorsed by the AMA, the lost some bark there. But i would love to see someone with two stroke experience on the highest level do laptimes back to back, just look at Cole Seely who spent no time on the big two strokes, he went do Brian Deegans place on a stock 450 and he had the Fonseca 2005 factory engine in his cr 250, the laptimes were within 1-2 seconds and that on a engine who had not change much for 16 years. And sure people can say "they were maxed out". Not really look at KTM how they manage to squeese more horsepower out of their bikes with mino refinements, and now bursting out the fuel injection for them. I am sure the japanese manufactures would have had an even stronger package of their two strokes if they just had follow suit to KTM, maxed out for its time does not equal R&D development albeit the changes are not as drastically different as in the four stroke engines. If the displacement were fair today, i am sure majority of riders would have opted for the two strokes being lighter less engine mass rotation. David Pingree also said some nice things recently on the rm 250, he thought they could put it into production today and it would be a good package. Love these kinds of videos, they highlights the quality of the last japanese two strokes before they got discontinued.
It all comes down to whether you can keep her on The Pipe. A 4-Poke has more low-down torque and is more forgiving... but a tuned Two Smoker IN the ZONE, is explosively fast. Throttle control and aggression.
I grew up on all 2-strokes! Elsinore 125-250(1979&1980) 1974 husky 250(fast ass bike!) Late 70s-80s yzs,crs. And in 1988,i got to ride my buddies new 1988 cr 500(DAM!) That bike wore us out!
I raced local motocross in 1974 and '75. I couldn't afford two bikes so I put a CR125 barrel and expansion chamber on an MT 125. There wasn't a 250cc 4 stroke that could catch me. The best I ever did was 4th but then RM125's were hard to beat. Was fun trying though. 4 strokes are for going shopping.
2 strokes are a pain in the ass to mantain, and restore regularly but the power to weight ratio cannot be compared to a 4 banger, plus the sound is just out of this world.
