The 2-stroke thread

Dont worry man, took me forever to hit the old tripple setup out at canyon. When I say old I am talking back in 2007-2008. I have yet to sack up and hit an actual ramp.

 

I had the ramp from 08-10ish, I'm not so sure I would hit a ramp again since its been so long. And the correct suspension is a must, with soft rear suspension you can bottom out going up the ramp, say hello to a front flip

 

Haha no joke i had my bike setup for trails when i first hit the track. Almost killed myself numerous times just on little baby jumps and table tops. I still need to tweak some more cause it feels like im riding the skinny side of a 2x4 in the rough sections.

 

Worked up the balls to hit a majority of the jumps at the track yesterday including the bigger ones after i pussed out quite a few times coming up to it but i gave no fucks after about 5 hours of riding and went for it AND we were the only group of 2 strokes at the track . Lol my buddy on the Kawi 125 was shitting allover guys on 450's. There's a decent sized jump that one of the guys on the 450 couldn't quite clear. He'd pin it out of the berm and let off too early before the jump, you could tell he was nervous. Then along comes the screaming 125 out of the berm tapped out and clears it like nobodies business Needless to say i'll be at the track much more often this summer.

 

I love hearin a 125 with someone screaming the shit out of it. To the point where you think it's comin apart internally!

 

Thats AWESOME! Its nicer to see little bikes hold there ground

like this guys? haha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1us2ovSmHwg

 

Good job! Once you get over the fear of the first one its easy, but pretty much every jump the "first" time is the same feeling until you do it One piece of advice I can give is ride with people that are better than you, I mean way better, the faster they go the faster you will go. Get behind the fastest guy on the track and learn

 

Or eat shit trying, just wanted to slap another possible option in there.

I had a guy try to hook up with me last sunday during the Nationals race, it worked till he tried hitting the rock face like I did, difference is one of us didnt run out of talent!

When I looked back all I saw was boots and drain plug! Not good, lol.

But good thing there arent obstacles like that on a track! Thats the best way to learn jumos, follow a guy who knows whats up and do your best impression of him! Just dont puss out on the face and get out of it, commit!

 

when in doubt, throttle out

 

haha, yes that is a possibility too

 

Yeah that's exactly what I did too. My buddy on the 125 has been riding for a long time so me and him just did a shit ton of hot laps. After a while I just went for every jump I could. Tons of fun! I'll be hitting the track a lot more than just the trails this summer.

 

wear some knee braces if you dont already.



ask me how i know.

 

Haha good call. I'll be buying some gear to add to my collection pretty soon. I'll add those to the list

 

I know how you know

 

i bought tires instead of knee braces annddddd yeah.... Same story as him VV

i still cant ride for another 3 more months

 

Back in the day to be fast you had to work the gears and clutch. Now with the 4 pig's you just put it in 2nd or 3rd and twist. Makes for lazy riders. There was an art to going fast on a 125 even 250 2 strokes. 4 strokes are not better it's all about money. 4 strokes need constant work and that's more money for the big 4 in part sales.

 

Agreed, I think it takes the fun out of riding. The lady at the dealership was persistent about trying to sway me towards looking at a 4 stroke over the new YZ. I don't wanna pay nearly 1.5k more for a bike then have to fork out even more money when it needs to be rebuilt. Two strokes are fun as hell i don't give a shit what anyones says. Working your ass off just to stay on the bike is all part of the fun

 

Yep. I agree 100% they did the same when I bought my 2006 YZ250 kept telling me how much better the 4 pig's were. I looked at the guy and told him you are kidding me right. I like to ride not wrench on my bike.

 

Pro's and Con's on both sides. I race both (2t and 4t) in NHHA,SCORE and District 38, 37 AMA series, depending on which one isnt broken.
A 4 stroke has more power, more linear torque, but feels 2x as heavy and doesnt handle as well taking more energy to ride at a competitive level for long periods of time, my races are anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours, composed of all types of terrain, most being pretty nasty, rocky, rutted, steep, and unforgiving in the event of an incident.

It depends on where you are riding, in tight technical areas a 4 stroke isnt a big advantage at all, unless your a pro with boundless energy. But in the open desert the 4t is gonna roost away without too much trouble.

I wouldnt go so far as saying 4t takes the fun out of riding, I love to ride both, and have a huge smile everyday I ride. If you think riding a 4t is too easy I am 100% sure I can make you rethink that, after giving you a hug and wiping the tears from your cheeks.


That being said I still LOVE my 2 strokes and will never stop riding and racing them!

As a matter of fact I am thinking about racing my Honda AF500 in round 5 of the NHHA. Power of a 450 and the weight and handling of a 2 stroke, sounds great on paper right?

That being said, I am not a big jump guy, and more of a technical and high speed rider as I have raced Desert for over 25 years, I can jump some big stuff, but just a straight pussy to be honest, and would rather watch others do it.

Still no Knee braces, just knee guards and also own a neckbrace, but its never been used yet! I like to be able to turn around or look up steep hills, with the neckbrace I cant do it! I better try and get used to it before I end up needed it and not wearing it!!!

 

The Yamaha 4 strokes are really durable, only thing more reliable IMO 4 stroke-wise is the Kawasaki, valves usually last damn near forever, and just change your oil and keep your air filter clean!
I personally know 1 desert racer (expert) that has over 175 hours on his KX450f without even adjusting the valves and yes he rides FAST!

I have a Yamaha YZ295 and in 185 hours I have changed the piston/rings, gaskets, and reed petals 3 times in that timeframe. (Over $800)

But when the 4t does go horribly wrong, yeah its a financial disaster! Just a valve job on a CRF from a shop if the valves and guides are toast could be easily $1k..


HBtaco, do you ride often, always looking for riding buddies, lemme know if you wanna go burn some gas buddy!