4 Stroke Maintenance vs 2 Stroke Maintenance

[mxr915]

1) physical size - 6', 180lbs.
2) How physical / aggressive are you ? Fairly aggressive
3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ????? - MX, fields
4) Do you have any riding experience? - 6 years on a dirt bike. 5 years on a 125
5) Do you think you will race ? - Maybe.
6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? - I am mechanically inclined and will probably do most of the maintenance on my bike.
7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)? - I'm leaning towards a 4 stroke because they aren't updating the 2 strokers anymore.
8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry? All 5 major brands but I am leaning towards Yamaha or Honda.
9) How much do you plan to spend on a bike? Looking at spending around < 5500, depending on the deal i can get.
10) anything else that you think would help form an opinion - Not really.

I keep reading about 4 strokes having more engine maintenance, can someone tell me in a little more detail about the amout of maintenance, how expensive, how much time to spend on maintenance. Also how difficult is it to adjust the valves, I've heard you need to check the values and they need adjusting around 20 hrs depending on the rider. I used to own a 2 stroke 2001 Honda CR 125 which was great, I didn't ride it much but it required very little engine maintenance. Any help would be appreciated. I'm looking at getting a new 4 stroke but if there is a bunch of maintenance i might rethink it.

 

[XMotoX]

I was under the impression that 2-stroke engines needed more maintenence than 4-stroke engines...but that 4-stroke engines costed a bunch more when something went wrong and needed to be fixed. Am I wrong? I'm new to this and could be under the wrong impression for all i know.

 

[SHSPVR]

The only real engine maintenance that need to be done is check valve lash clearance with a feeler gauge ADJUST if needed which initial need be done the frist 1000-mile or about 20 hours of riding time on new bike a few time ocen that done you need do it about every 2,500"Twin Valve"/5000 miles or 40"Twin Val"/80 hours of ride time which depend on how much rideing you do on avg perason 1 to 4 time a years is not as critical as some people make it out to be I personly put 45,000 miles on my old Honda SL100 in 4 years that I own it which was not even a stock motor back in 1980 which I rode every day after school and weekend in calif unless it was raining then I drop in CL 100 frame and had go to work which I put about 35,000 more miles on it in tell it got rip off one day.
My landlard son has 4 wheeler that never had any thing done to it in 10 years other then oil change and valve lash clearance with a feeler gauge the 1st he got it and it still runing petty good.

 

[02rm250]

I t really depends on your mechanical ability. If you feel comfortable ripping into a 2-stroke, you can probably do everything yourself. The four strokes are little more complex with timing chain, cams, valves and such. Get a service manual, its a great tool. It will tell you when and how to make every adjustment. Modern high performance four strokes arent really built for longevity. They use the lightest possible materials to achive higher RPM. Service intervals are pretty close to a 2-stroke. Go with whatever will make happy. Oh, and if you do get a four stroke, please try to keep it quiet.

 

[Octane250F]

4-strokes still last longer though. 2-stroke engines dont have a dedicated lubrication system, so the parts inside the engine wear out a lot quicker. Premix is OK, but its not as good of a lubricant as pure motor oil.
The downside to a 4-stroke though is that when the motor is worn-out, its going to cost you big bucks to get it rebuilt.
Its kind of a tossup. You can spend $100-$200 a couple of times a year to rebuild a 2-stroke or you can spend $1000 ever 2-3 years to rebuild a 4-stroke.

 

[SHSPVR]

Octane250F How you fig big bucks
Usely with worn-out 4-stroke it dosen't not cost $1000 if your doing it your self which really not all that hard to do unless it a Double OverHead Cam then it take a little more work vs a Single OverHead Cam to get line up.

Single Cylinder w2/4 valves 3 ANGLE VALVE JOB (30-45-60 degree) $80/140 as long it dosen't need new Valve seats.
As rule alway have new Valve Guide install $7/15 each.
Exhaust/Intake usely they just need seat re-facing but if needs new one the exhaust valve cost much then intake valve around somelike $intake15/exhast25 each.
Bore and Hone Cylinders $90/140 depend on the shop.
New Pistons w/Rings $100/200 depend engine size.
Complete Top End Gasket Set $35/90 depend engine size.

 

[nsxxtreme]

Two stokes are cheap and easy if you can work on an RC car you can work on a two stoke motorcycle.

$100-$200 seems kinda high for a 2 stoke if your doing the work yourself. People change there pistons way to often. Eric Gorr had a good article on this but his site seems to be down.

I replace the rings once a year. Ring and piston every other year IF it needs it.

I'm not quite sure what maintenace you speek of. For my bike there is virtually none that wouldn't have to be done on a 2 or 4.

 

[Josherichy]

2 strokes have less and cheeper maintanace, Rebuilding a 4 stroke could esily cost you 1 grand and a 2 stroke is about what... $200-400