i dont think its the four strokes doing that by themselves though.
No, it isn't just the 4 stroke, even though the majority of the problem is. Bad marketing schemes, AMA changing rules every year to favor a certain motor design >:-D, other organizations mimicking the rule changes, bad media, bad bike sales, and the fact that people are broke are all contributing factors. The problem is that people want a bike that will last 10 years or more, and when that bike is outdated every year, whats the point? One example of bad media was from today as I was reading a MXA article about the 2012 CRF450R, and all they said was how much they hated the bike and how honda failed to fix certain aspects like a 4 spring clutch, shitty brakes, and how the bike made less horse power up top than the 08 model..
But in the end they said that it was a great bike. Okay, am I missing something? So MXA is okay with blasting the bike, and yet they tell us to go out and buy it with confidence? Its slower than the rest of companies 450's, but hey it can still win with the right rider.