Thumper shootouts

[nephron]

Damnit, what's wrong with these mags? I thought it was just MXA, but they appear to have all caught the spreading hysteria of favoritism & journalistic fraudulence. :confused:

Dirtrider gave the Honda #1 on everything except the motor.:eek: ---AND that went to the Yamaha.

I now really feel for the guys that are diehard orange fans. Look at the TORQUE (which is all that matters) curves. None of the bikes even compare to the 520sx--and the Honda's torque curve is between the sx & the YZF, yet with equal amounts of overrev.

Now I'm sure all these bikes are great, particularly the highly refined YZ426F, but give me a break. They give the motor to the YZ, which places third on dyno. The 520 clearly has the most torque, & best "tractable" power of any of them, but was docked for its "vibration" at overrev. A little clue: hey numbnuts--look at the torque curve. You're not supposed to overrev it. Keep it in its torque curve. :mad:

There's clearly either mass Honda hysteria, favoritism, or other brainwash phenomenon not otherwise specified going on here.:silly:

 

[Okiewan]

Or the Honda is just a better overall package for MX?

 

[CanadianRidr]

Who da thunk it?:silly:

 

[KawieKX125]

Haven't you all realized that the mags blow big time? I just feel auwful for all the manufacturers that get falsely bashed by them because it hurts business.
My favorite gripe is in the new MXA. THey complain that it cost them 1200$ to fix loop out damage on a CR450. C'mon, you exspect Honda to build an invincible bike or make cheap parts. Geeze, last time my bike looked like that, I had it fixed for less than a hundred dollars.:silly:

 

[CanadianRidr]

Maybe tolson will stop in and tell us what actually cost 1200 bucks LOL.
Maybe they should loop out a 520sx that silencer looks more that expensive:eek:

 

[nephron]

Or the Honda is just a better overall package for MX?

I was primarily complaining about the way the KTM motor took 3rd, despite the fact that the curve comparisons look like the KTM had a blower.:eek:

Yes, I'm sure the overall Honda package is excellent, and probably the best, depending on what you like. The motor thing is just ridiculous, though.

 

[jake949]

well kinda hard to give the motor award to the ktm when it is in a differant class than the other two. the YZF and the CRF are both open bikes ( not 250cc, legal cheaters is more like it) and the KTM is a super open bike. If ktm would have won the Red guys and the Blue guys would be crying. You can't please every cry baby out there, this is not grade school some one has to loose.

 

[Camstyn]

Whoaaaa! The 426 and 450s are NOT open bikes! How quickly we forget about the true open class.. The 500 2-strokes. The ones that would hand the 520SX it's own ass. The 426s and 450s are 250 class machines. The 520 is getting closer to the open class.:uh:

 

[jake949]

well since they are not 250's they must be open bikes. Just as the 250f is not a 125. if they are not a open bike how come they can race in the OPEN class.

 

[Camstyn]

It's not an open class, it's limited to 250ccs 2stk and 550cc 4stk.

 

[CR Swade]

I dunno, after riding all three, I really dig the Honda. The YZ may give up a bit to the others, but it hits hard, feels faster and makes me tired just hanging on. The Katoom is wicked strong, but not quite as racy as the Honda. The Honda is my favorite-racy,fast and controllable. JMO

What was that, oh yeah, my shameless CR bias;)

 

[Okiewan]

Originally posted by Cam Mitchell
It's not an open class, it's limited to 250ccs 2stk and 550cc 4stk.

Not for long :)

 

[Camstyn]

Yeah, they're going the wrong direction.. Instead of dropping the 4stroke limit, they should be raising the 2stroke limit so that they can compete with a 550cc thumper.. Or better yet, make it an open class. Maybe we'd actually start to see better bikes in the showrooms every year if they did that.

 

[Okiewan]

Why raise the 2 strokes to match ONE bike? Think it's a matter of happenstance that Honda stopped at 450cc? Yamaha is at 426 (except the works bikes of course) . All the AMA needs is a weight:horespower ratio.

Either way, UNFORTUNATLEY, the 2 stroke dirtbike is on the way out. Just as the 2 stroke streetbike went away... then they'll try to eliminate the 4 stroke due to noise.

 

[nephron]

I could really dig a 700cc single cylinder thumper with a Hemi-sized piston, 5 valves like the 250F, oh yeah....:p

Soon, we'll be riding electric technology. Then, that will be done away with because of the excessive rubber particles rubbing off into the soil. Of course, we'll have to go to hemp chains & hard clay tires to make the !@#$$greenies happy. :silly:

You guys have all the fun. All those picketing granolas out there to roost. Not one to be seen here. Just farmers billowing more diesel smoke out of their 8850's than 100 KX500's.

The future looks grim.:mad:

 

[dirtbikedad]

Remember how magazine pay the printer. They sell advertising to Honda, Yamaha etc. The company who buys the most adds will end up looking the best, but none will look bad. Purely financial.


Jerry

 

[Jon K.]

Not that I totally disagree with Nephron,
but you can't ride a dyno!

 

[XRpredator]

Originally posted by nephron
I could really dig a 700cc single cylinder thumper with a Hemi-sized piston, 5 valves like the 250F, oh yeah....:p

You can ride one. It's called a 660 Raptor (a quad :eek: )

Personally, I think Yamaha should take that engine and put it in a frame for an XR650R competitor!

And Cam, if the 500cc 2-strokes are so good in the open class, how come one hasn't won the world championship since Shayne King a few years ago on the KTM? And that was a 380!

 

[OnAnySunday]

Originally posted by XRpredator :
"You can ride one. It's called a 660 Raptor (a quad :eek: )
Personally, I think Yamaha should take that engine and put it in a frame for an XR650R competitor!"


Hey! <superhero anouncer voice on> Maybey this is a job for......BBR MAN! MAN Man man man..... Or woman? uh Firecracker, you listnin?
Got any spare YZF frames over there???
:p :p
Would be a neato idea! (YZ660F)???

 

[Camstyn]

Originally posted by XRpredator

And Cam, if the 500cc 2-strokes are so good in the open class, how come one hasn't won the world championship since Shayne King a few years ago on the KTM? And that was a 380!

Cuz nobody on earth is man enough to be able to use one properly :scream:

I never said that they were the best choice out there, but they are the definition of the open class IMHO.