flyingfuzzball
Member
- May 10, 2007
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76GMC1500 said:That's been the story since about 2 years ago.
Not necessarily true. When has anyone ever done an emission test on a race bike? Why ban a particular technology if the goal is lower emissions? How can there be compliance with a standard if no standard has been set?Rotorranch said:It really has nothing to do with the financial side of things, as stated in the earlier post. It all has to do with the EPA and tree hugging greeners! ...
You are on it...100% agree and you took the words right out of my mouth :cool: We race the EM over here and they formed a sub-class this year in the UEM for 2 strokes, the talk in the pits is that many teams next year are going to field the 144`s( KTM,TM,Yamaha) and expand the riders on the teams due to the lower cost and they are able to increase the sponsors exposure with the extra riders,( a win-win situation) and they smoke the 250f`s, not too many years until the end... :)Dekester said:Honda is betting the farm on the 4 strokes and I hope they choke on it. Honda is already crying about the possible displacement changes from 450 to 350 in the 250 2 stroke class. They said they will remove themselves from racing if that happens. F'in crybabies. :blah:
Honda (corporate) tried to corner and manipulate the market and I hope they burn for it. They say that they will leave racing because they know the 450f (and 250f for that matter) have an unfair HANDICAP (yes, get it straight, it is a HANDICAP in the TRUEST sense of the word) for that class of racing and a 350f (or a 200f) would lose the dominance the 4 strokes were unfairly given on a silver platter.
4 strokes are being pushed hard because of financial reasons. The dealers want the 4 strokes because they know the 5-10 fold increase in parts dollars spent on the 4 strokes. They also know that their service department will see much more volume due to the fact that the average 4 stroke rider will not be able to service the complex 4 stroke with the many moving parts and complexities involved in the maintenance and repair.
I have not seen a 2 stroke for sale at my local Yamaha/Honda dealer for over 2 years. They are not buying them because they want to sell the 4 strokes and make the goldmine on parts and service. Several of my friends noticed the same thing. I have inquired numerous times as well as some of my friends as to the lack of 2 strokes for sale. They say nobody even asks about the 2 strokes anymore. LIARS! I know this to not be true. I personally tested this dealership and know they are lying. This is propagana and lies for their financial gain and your financial loss.
I feel the dealers are artificially and deliberately creating this problem for financial gain. I know for a fact this is true in my area. If you want to be manipulated and taken for your hard earned money, by all means buy a high performance 4 stroke.
I feel the real popularity in 4 strokes is with people who are not experienced riders and may not have the skills, patience, or desire to ever develop those skills. A perfect example is a father and son who want to put around a few weekends a year. 2 strokes are not meant to be "putted" around. Pure and simple. So in this application, the 4 stroke is a good choice. Do they need titanium valved, high performance, and high maintenance 4 strokes? No, they do not. They would not even push the TT-R's to their limit on any consistant basis. Male ego comes into play here. My cousin has 6 CRF's for him and his family. Do ANY of them need a CRF? HELL NO! Do any of them push those bikes to their limit at all. HELL NO! I smoke him and will ALWAYS smoke him.
The other popularity in 4 strokes is due to the unfair handicap of the 4 strokes. If they were equalized, more people would ride 2 strokes. Race maintenance is WAY lower on a 2 stroke than a 4 stroke. If they were balanced performance wise (like 350f vs 250T), the 2 stroke would be more dominant due to maintenance costs alone.
I see people who want to ride track or race and buy 2 strokes. They then complain that they cant ride them and that they want a 4 stroke. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SKILLS TO RIDE A 2 STROKE, YOU NEED TO RETHINK YOUR REASONS FOR RIDING. Riding a 2 stroke should be like a "rights of passage". If you can competently ride a 2 stroke, then you could think about riding a 4 stroke (on track or track racing) for whatever reason.
I think that 4 strokes have a place/dominance in desert racing as well. I think if there were mass produced and reasonably priced modern 500 2 strokes (think cr500AF but more affordable), that might change too.
I am sure that people are going to blindly disagree with what I am saying. Please read what I stated again with an open mind before posting.
VintageDirt said:Not necessarily true. When has anyone ever done an emission test on a race bike? Why ban a particular technology if the goal is lower emissions? How can there be compliance with a standard if no standard has been set?
Look at the clean burning two stroke outboard that Evinrude makes. (I think it's Evinrude) It's lighter cleaner and cheaper than the competitors 4 strokes.
Definitely more to the story than emissions.
Possibly the most ignorant thing said on this forum. If you take offense to that, great! Not everyone is a racer, not everyone needs to push their bike to it's limits and beyond. Most people are in this sport for FUN, who cares what they ride, as long as they ride. If we want everyone who doesn't have A-class skills and taking their riding with a heart-attack-serious-attitude to hang up their helmet, then the sport is done. If a 4 stroke works best for someone, then let them ride a 4 stroke! No one is a poser for not having 2 stroke experience.IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SKILLS TO RIDE A 2 STROKE, YOU NEED TO RETHINK YOUR REASONS FOR RIDING.
VintageDirt said:Not necessarily true. When has anyone ever done an emission test on a race bike?.
VintageDirt said:Why ban a particular technology if the goal is lower emissions? How can there be compliance with a standard if no standard has been set?
VintageDirt said:Look at the clean burning two stroke outboard that Evinrude makes. (I think it's Evinrude) It's lighter cleaner and cheaper than the competitors 4 strokes.
Well then I stand corrected.rmc_olderthandirt said:........Rod
two strokes suck.VintageDirt said:Well then I stand corrected.
I already said Uncle.XRpredator said:two strokes suck.
luddites.mox69 said:I wish one of the big guys would step up and update their two-strokes. There IS a market for them.
rmc_olderthandirt said:I don't think that you are going to run a direct injection fuel stroke off a magneto ignition system. The fuel pump requirements and electronic fuel injection systems are going to require a battery. Your weight savings will get decimated pretty quickly when you add a battery.
XRpredator said:luddites.
Dekester said:Adam,
adam728 said:Everyone has their own take on why 4 strokes are taking over. Here's mine
The displacement advatage. Easy enough to see that one, 450f vs 250, 250f vs 125. With the increased displacement a broader powerband can be created to make the bike easier to ride. Many people call it being lazy, I say its an easy way to be faster. If you are someone calling 4 stroke riders lazy, then you better be on a non-powervalved 125 with dual rear shocks, or else you are just using technology to be lazy.
Emissions. No, they don't test closed course bikes, but you can bet its coming. Emissions are getting tighter and tighter on everything. Why not have a platform in place that can be easily adopted to pass? I work in the small engine world and get to see the 2 vs 4 thing daily. It's much more difficult to get 2 cycles to pass consistently in mass production (these run a cat). It doesn't take much of a jetting variation to bomb one over the limit. The 4 cycles on the other hand run so well that even a pig rich one will usually pass the bar without issue. Do the manufactures want to built a more complex, harder to assemble, more expensive to manufacture engine? NO!!! Trust me!
Magazines, other riders, televised races, all push 4 stroke bikes way more than the 2 strokes. There are good articles and such on 2 strokes and the advantages, but I am guessing 90%+ of the stuff in magazines today is 4 stroke, so I don't know how you can blame dealers for the rise of 4 cycles. I know when I was a mechanic at a dealer we much prefered the 2 cycle stuff. If Joe Blow doesn't want to work on his overly complex 4 stroke at home, do you think the local grease monkey really wants to do it? Granted, a challenge is fun, but a relaxing day of changing reeds or tossing in 2 stroke top ends is real nice too. The guy spinning the wenches doesn't get any more $$$ for working on one bike compared to another. People come in looking for 4 cycles, so you carry what sells, right?
Possibly the most ignorant thing said on this forum. If you take offense to that, great! Not everyone is a racer, not everyone needs to push their bike to it's limits and beyond. Most people are in this sport for FUN, who cares what they ride, as long as they ride. If we want everyone who doesn't have A-class skills and taking their riding with a heart-attack-serious-attitude to hang up their helmet, then the sport is done. If a 4 stroke works best for someone, then let them ride a 4 stroke! No one is a poser for not having 2 stroke experience.
[ /rant ]
rmc_olderthandirt said:It isn't necessary to test every bike. The generic two stroke engine is horrible at emissions. It is well understood, and is not being debated.
Four strokes, in general, are much better but can still produce unacceptable amounts of emissions unless they are adjusted properly. Unfortunately, the best adjustments for performance are NOT the best adjustments for emissions so it is pointless to test a race bike, it isn't going to pass.
You ban a technology because it is known to create unacceptable amounts of emissions. There is a standard.
I am sure that if the bike manufacturers built a dirt bike with the same technology that they could get it approved for use. The question is would anyone buy it? The direct injection two cycle outboards have not done very well as far as reliability and customer satisfaction. Applying that technology to a dirt bike would eliminate most of the reasons that dirt bikes want two strokes:
1) Two strokes are simple, easy to maintain: NOT with direct injection!
2) Two strokes are lightweight: I don't think that you are going to run a direct injection fuel stroke off a magneto ignition system. The fuel pump requirements and electronic fuel injection systems are going to require a battery. Your weight savings will get decimated pretty quickly when you add a battery.
3) Low maintenance: You have just added fuel pumps, injectors, electronics, etc.
The classic two stroke outboard has already been banned for sale in the US. Two stroke PWCs (Jetskis) are not only banned for new sales in many areas but there is a growing number of lakes where even the existing ones are not allowed to operate. Two strokes for most lawn/garden equipment has been banned, and what's left is fighting a losing battle.
In California, motorcycles that don't meet the EPA requirements are being significantly penalized by restricting when and where they can ride. There are no two strokes that are eligible for the "green sticker" and even some four strokes don't qualify (The Yamaha YZ-450F, as an example).
The standards are set and the writing is on the wall. I suspect that once any of the major bike manufacturers stops making two strokes that the loss of lobbying power will create a domino effect.
Rod
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