Believe what you believe, And I will do so myself.
YZ250s and 250 KTMs Are racing against 250Fs. And they are not wiping out the 4ts. There's an undeniable reality. Raving on about how 2ts will slaughter same capacity 4ts is guaranteed to encourage the powers that be, to keep the rules as they stand now.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of ICE engine we are talking about here. The 4ts are not gutless little foo foo bikes anymore - and there is an enormous amount of development yet to come with them. If anything, because 2ts have stood so still, because the rules made it so advantageous for 4ts, 2ts are perilously close to being much like XRs were , in comparison to CRs,for example, years ago. Even with the application of existing tech, used by snow and marine producers, and even more development of all the various, new ideas for 2ts, I doubt we will ever go back to the domination that 2ts had years ago.
It's a damned sad thing when our most developed 2t is currently represented by the YZ250, and the KTMs we have now.
Just in case people think I might be a 4t 'infiltrator',I love , and , by choice, ride 2ts. I have owned , and still own , quite a few 4ts.
Anything less than equivalency is a cop out, by any side you favour. Another 25cc will not make a 125 competitive with a 250F, nor will another 50cc make a 250 compete on a level footing with a modern 450,at the highest level, even if it has DFI etc. Mind you, for the average bloke, it would be a great thing, much as a 350 4t will be. But a modern , 350/4002t would be, I feel , the ultimate open classer. And the rules this petition is putting forward, would preclude that 350 / 400 , from being developed and made. By accepting / endorsing non equivalency, you're making it less likely that new technology will be applied to 2ts.
Why equivalency could be too much of a shock to manufacturers is beyond me. I sure as hell don't think anyone is going to pull out of their arse a modern 2t on the advent of equivalency. It will take a while for them to be developed, just as modern 4ts took a while to take over. After Doug Henry won the nationals, 2ts won the 250s for a few more years, in both MX and SX. World level open class MX owed its earlier open class domination to a man , Smets, more than the bike. The open classers were allowed to go to 650s very early on. World 250s were not dominated instantly by 4ts, even after the handicap was allowed. Pichon and others did well on 250s against 400/450 4ts. Until Everts destroyed all. And all the companies had their 450s. 2ts will not take over instantly. Just as 4ts didn't, despite the huge advantage allowed them. Even the 250Fs were held off for a while by 125s, until nearly all the Japanese companies had 4ts. Am I the only one that remembers Mitch Payton complaining about the "cheater bikes", at least until he had access to 4ts himself
As I said, I admire you fellows passion and belief in what you are signing for with this petition, but it's not what I think should be petitioned for. Equivalency is the petition that needs to be signed, by as many as possible, and then presented to the AMA. Point out that 250 2ts are not slaughtering the 2504ts when they meet , currently, to assuage peoples / companies fears, with a large amount of signatories showing that people want equal capacity racing, and we have just as much chance getting that, as we have of getting bugger all in return by voluntarily proposing rules that will still disadvantage 2ts, probably to the point of extinction.
Equivalency will encourage development of modern 2ts, which will be better for many riders, in many ways - plus, better for companies when they find there is less rider attrition due to the high costs of 4t racing. They'll sell more bikes, whilst using less raw materials, polluting less (through all points of production and use of the engine) - yes, appeal to number crunchers and environmental concerns - it sure as hell can't hurt our 2t cause. And the cause of Off Road / Road motorcycling in general. That's the way bloody 4ts will be seen off.
