Thanks for the info, Paul. I believe you, and that's about what my gut was telling me. Something wasn't right in that test, both machines running good, given reasonably equal riders, the Maico should beat the thumper six ways to Sunday, in acceleration. The Maico must have been VERY worn motorwise! Thanks for posting that, I feel a lot better. Wintrader, would it bother you any, if somebody did a test like the one I posted above, but with say, the Yamaha YZ 250 2stroke against the YZF 250 2stroke, and the test said that the 4stroke out-accelerated the 2stroke? You'd know that something ain't right if that were to happen! That's the way I felt when I read the test they did on the '81 490 Maico against the '03 525 KTM 4stroke. Thanks again to Paul P. for confirming my suspicions!
It disturbs me any time I see a 4stroke out-performing a 2stroke of about the same size, because that simply shouldn't be the case! You, Wintrader, might be content with the 2stroke merely being lighter and less costly to maintain than a 4stroke. Not me. The 2stroke should always out-perform the 4stroke, and by a considerable margin. Sure, a good rider on a 250 2stroke motocrosser can and will beat an average rider on a 250 2stroke around most modern tracks, but that doesn't mean the bike itself could or should, given equal riders. You can also design tracks, very easily, to favor 2stroke or 4stroke type of power, or to favor bikes that turn well over bikes that just turn okay, but are more oriented for handling at higher speeds. Simply add more curves and shorten the straights. Example: If you want to race around my back yard, get an old Honda XR 75 and you'll put any 250 or even 125 to shame! Is that a silly analogy? No more than your analogy of, "if you want straight line performance, buy a dragster. Last time I checked, dragsters don't do well in desert riding overall, but open class 2stroke MX bikes do. In such situations, turning is still important, just not as critical as it would normally be around a 250 MX track. Any desert rider would know this, but I can understand if you might have misconceptions about that type of riding, a lot of people do. Yes, I know, this is primarily about motocross, but even there, acceleration is still important, see JETZcorp's post. On the average track today, a 250 would likely beat a 500 2stroke, but that's due to them setting up the tracks the way they do. They could also be set up to where the straights between turns are much longer, smaller whoops, steeper and longer uphills etc. Just because in fact, tracks are not set up that way, doesn't mean that's how it ought to be, any more than just because the rules say 2strokes cannot be larger than 250s when competing against 450 4strokes, is how it ought to be.
I'm not the only one on this board who loves 500cc or better 2strokes. Many of us are displeased that hardly anyone makes them anymore, and also that there is no longer an open class category in expert MX racing, along with outdoor tracks which allow one to make use of their amazing power much more readily. I would also venture to say that most of those who post here, that love the big-bore 2strokes, ride them off-road more than motocross, but would love the option of having more real, open class motocross tracks available. Just because this currently isn't so in the "real world", doesn't mean it shouldn't be so. That's all I'm saying. Also, a 2stroke 500, should easily out accelerate a 4stroke 500, every time, just as the 2stroke 250s will out accelerate the 4stroke 250s every time, given reasonable traction. When I see a case where this is not happening, I always smell a rat. 2+2 always equals 4, and when it doesn't, something ain't right. Yes, too, I know that one might expect a bike that outdated, to be down on performance compared to any modern bike even if the modern bike is a 4stroke, but that's not the case with folks familiar with the Maico 490 which is, power wise, in the same class as much newer CR500s, if running right. Now Had the guy been testing the '03 525 thumper against my old 1974 Yamaha SC 500, yes. I would expect the KTM to out accelerate the 2stroke in such a case. My brother-in-law's friend, however has an '81 490 Maico and I know what that bike can do, outdated or not. That is why I posted the test, hoping someone like Paul P. would confirm this and set the record straight. Thanks again, Paul.