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OT: Road Racing Motorcycles Two Strokes


LeeW

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Anybody here an avid fan of 2 strokes or owns a quarter or half litre bike for racing? Curious on your take for 'em. Seems looking for those bikes are gettin' harder over the years.

EDIT: DUH! quarter or an EIGHTH litre. half litre's next to impossible to get.

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Does Aprilia still make the Suzuki-RGV-engined RS250? That sounded like the hot ticket for me to get back on the track. I just barely keep in touch with roadracing now. Back in the day, the TZ250 was the shjt, though a few people got hold of Hondas and Aprilias. You gotta love a bike that requires your resume before they'll sell it to you.

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Now that was a sexy motorcycle back in the day! The Yamaha RZV500 was a good one too. That was right when I got into riding street bikes and 2 strokes were becoming rare for street use. Had a couple of crazy friends who were die-hard RD fans, seems like those guys always had one torn apart in the front room of their apartment. Ah the good old days!

Have fun,

Paul

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Even few-years-old TZ250s are expensive. If you are not set on quarter-liters, look into eighth-liters. Only one cylinder, much cheaper to maintain, and light enough to pick up by yourself and load into your van.

I once tried to buy/import a grey market Suzuki RGV250 Gamma. I got my money back from the guy when he learned Cycle News was going to publish my letter about him. Soon thereafter he left the country and a friend was screwed out of thousands of dollars for his bike.

I got into dirt bikes, specifically two strokes, which are tuned for broad torque. I can just imagine what a road-tuned ring dinger is like when the revs climb and the power valves open up.

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I had an RZ350 painted in the Kenny Roberts colors, my buddy had the same bike in the blue/red design. WHY OH Why did I ever get rid of that bike. The bike shop made my buddy and I killer deals on them cause they had been sitting in the showroom for 2+ years.

I love all things two stroke, especially a Mecury 2.5 liter Bridgeport outboard burning racing fuel. 350 hp out of 2.5 liters ain't too bad.

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Check out wwwroadracingworld.com. They have alot of racing info and sources for contact. Also wwwusgpru.net is an group that that can steer you.

Nope, they're not dying breed. MotoGP decided to extend the 125 class to 2015. Got that source from Carter's dad via usgpru.net's forum. and yes i regularly go there as well as www.gpcmoto.com, www.rs-cycles.com, www.inturace.com/gpsales/gps_forsale.htm, www.canamchallengeseries.com and tz250racing.com.

Just that those quarter liter and an eighth litres are gettin' rarer and rarer. I know Aprilia's pretty much ditching their rs250 bike series (which are "cheap-ass" as compared to tz250 or honda's RS250, unless if youre talking about aprilia's RSV250 which is definitly in league with two said rival companies). I know I'd very much would like to get my hands on KTM125 or Derbi125. But no way in hell would I be able to get KTM, unless if I was a motoGP rider (fat chances). Derbi125... somethings going down for derbiusa. they used to be operating out in the US, but only imported GPR50, and was supposed to import GPR125. Anyhow, I'd like to get my hands on those yammies tz125 bikes. Figure they'd be good learning curve with a 600 class bike, as well.

im already a two strokes dirt-mop-head.

BTW, for that dude who almost got ripped by a guy trying to sell the bike. exactly what made you print the letter via cyclenews magazine ? What happened? pls do elaborate. hope he's not a nigerian, is he? nigeria scams' real bad, esp in motorcycle trades.

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Nah he was a grey market importer out of SoCal. Cycle News called him and told him they were going to print my letter unless he disputed the facts (that he had my money and I had no bike). He decided to return the deposit and I decided to ask CN not to print it.

Thank gawd for GP. I can't even watch MX anymore; it's all four-strokes, U.S. and international.

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Nah he was a grey market importer out of SoCal. Cycle News called him and told him they were going to print my letter unless he disputed the facts (that he had my money and I had no bike). He decided to return the deposit and I decided to ask CN not to print it.

Thank gawd for GP. I can't even watch MX anymore; it's all four-strokes, U.S. and international.

Im under an impression SX's 2-strokes ?

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OK guys, I gotta chime in here. 1st, I grew up riding and racing two stroke dirt bikes. (Raced a YZ125 for 3 years.)

So, before I dig in, you gotta know I LOVED my 2 strokes.

With that said, the main reason MotoGP came about and went to 4 strokes is the rideability and the same goes for dirt bikes. The 4S 1000cc GP's are easier to ride than their 2S 500cc counterparts because of the traction that a 4S delivers. The 2S frequencies are just too high to get useable power to the ground. This is the same reason that the Yamaha M1 (And other bikes) has been re-phased to fire more like a V-twin. The power pulses are just too close together and that causes wheel slide on corner exits. You just can’t get the power to the road.It’s the same for dirt bikes. I’ve ridden the CR250 and the YZ450f back to back on several occasions. The YZ450f is faster out of the turns because it’s getting more useable power to the ground. The CR250 is spinning its tire twice as much and that’s power being thrown out the window.

Also, the perception of speed is different between the 2S and the 4S. The 2S is buzzing so fast, it feels frantic. The 4S feels composed at the same speed. And that translates into confidence and faster laps times.

So, do I love 2 strokes? YEAH! Is a 4 stroke better in many applications? Yeah.

This is one of reasons I just sold my R6 (To Todd Brown) and bought an ’06 GSX R1000. The R6 was/is a superb bike. But, it’s a fair bit of work in the tight stuff. You gotta rev the engine more to get into the power range and you have to shift more often which loads/unloads the suspension twice as often as a bigger displacement bike. This means more drama than need be.

On the GSX, I park it in 1st or 2nd and the torque pulls me out of each turn. I’m able to focus on my enter and exit cues and worry less about traction and suspension loading due to down/up shifting.

Oh yeah, I’ve got my eye on a KTM 450exc with a second set of street wheels.

Then there is the emissions bit. Many states have made or are making 2S’s illegal. For some, it’s just a ban on selling new bikes. Other states are banning them all together.

Selling new 2S bikes in the UK has been banned for three years.

So what is a manufacturer to do? Market the crap out of 4S bikes, force their factory riders to ride them, force their dealers to sell them, etc.

Another note about dirt bikes is land access. In CT, the legislature is considering a ban on ALL off road vehicles. Since NONE of the state owned land is open to dirt bikes and quads, they think it’s a reasonable assumption that everyone that owns one MUST be riding illegally. So banning all of them is OK. But this is whole other thread.

Pretty much same basic principle for supermotards. 2S' just simply insane to use 'em on supermotards -- too much work/fighting with the bikes as opposed to 4S.

Yep, I'm havin' a debate with myself. Id very much would like to get into road racing a bit earlier than possible instead of supermotarding. however, the 2 strokes, esp 125 cc class, is an excellent learning curve for entering and exiting the turn and mainting the throttle during the turn. four strokes can be done that way, but one small mistake, youd be paying for it. with two strokes, not a problem. hence my reasoning to get a 125 pure bred road racing bike. seems the EPA are ok with competition-only bikes. effective 2006, it'll be alot harder to get two strokes bikes, esp the new ones. Id much prefer to stick to 125 road racing alongside 600 road racing just to appreciate the riding skills learned from 125 and the screams of 600.

Land access, dont start. USFS recently shut down the single tracks out at uncompahgre plateau without due process. it's a great trail riding out there. i hope you and i get to go out dirt bike sometimes and take pictures of each other with our sony clies. :)

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Even few-years-old TZ250s are expensive. If you are not set on quarter-liters, look into eighth-liters. Only one cylinder, much cheaper to maintain, and light enough to pick up by yourself and load into your van.

I once tried to buy/import a grey market Suzuki RGV250 Gamma. I got my money back from the guy when he learned Cycle News was going to publish my letter about him. Soon thereafter he left the country and a friend was screwed out of thousands of dollars for his bike.

I got into dirt bikes, specifically two strokes, which are tuned for broad torque. I can just imagine what a road-tuned ring dinger is like when the revs climb and the power valves open up.

Hey yardsale, is this happening to be this guy -- Jeffery Davis or something as posted in www.usgpru.net's forums? The rip-off artist ?

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