Two Stroke Motocross
Two Stroke Motocross Forum => General Two Stroke Talk => Topic started by: Chris2T on February 20, 2010, 10:06:18 AM
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Browsing the magazine rack at my local Wally World and noticed the cover of MX Action with a "Top 10 most important bikes of the decade" article. Half the bikes are 2 strokes, with lavish praise heaped on them, but most importantly there are some serious digs at the AMA's lopsided rules against 2 strokes. The page for the KTM 150SX is so over the top i wonder if they aren't getting a kickback from KTM or something. I mean they basically say if you ride one you won't want a 250F. Nice!!
Chris
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The boys over at MXA are awesome in my book....
Love them or hate them, they are not afraid to speak about what they see....
... plus most importantly they love two-strokes as well.
The rules are lopsided... they have to be otherwise the "technologically advanced" four-strokes would lose.. it's plain and simple...
What is amazing is how this little slice of the internet (TSM) has grow over the past two years... there are many more two-stroke fans out there than even I first imagined.
2010 is going to be a banner year... there will be more good news as the year progresses!
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The boys over at MXA are awesome in my book....
I used to vehemently dislike MXA. They were incapable of getting any sort of technical article correct, and little details in bike tests like cut&paste jobs from previous years' tests were often blatantly obvious. But in recent years I've really seen a big change in that publication, for the better. The often write excellent articles with information you won't read anywhere else, and I applaud their brazen opposition to the frequent stupidity of AMA Racing. It has definitely become a quality magazine now.
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The dreaded middle years!! ;D ;D
They were the shit in the late 1970's and throughout the 1980's... during the middle to later part of the 1990's they seemed to have lost something... not that I could put my finger on it to explain, but it just wasn't the same. Over the past few years they have made some improvements... although honestly, I don't care for the Question - Answer bike tests... I really enjoyed the commentary prose that they used to do... it was just more enjoyable...
For a while it seemed like they were phoning in the tests and that certain "edge" seemed to be missing... not sure what caused the improvement, just happy that it's gotten better....
Not so sure about the timing, but could it be the addition of John Basher? I really enjoy his writing and he has written a few pro two stroke articles... come to think of it even Jody's writing has improved.
MXA's criticisms and opinions of the AMA and Pro Motocross in general usually mirrors my own. It's a shame they don't have enough clout to instigate the changes that would provide a powerfully positive effect on our sport.
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I think one of those Magazines should hire Super Hunky back. The advertisers will scream and kick their feet, but I believe they, too, would see the light once the sales started going astronomical like they always did when Rick was at the helm. He took Dirt Bike from being nothing but an idea to being the third most rapidly-expanding magazine in America. Then he took Modern Cycle out of its death throws and turned it into a money-maker. Then, when Dirt Bike floundered around in his absence, he brought it back into the limelight. The man simply deserves to be on newsstands. Then maybe we'd start hearing someone talk about land-use, which seems to have been forgotten these days, even as ridable land is being closed left and right (mostly left) here in Oregon.
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this months mxa is ace i get it on line but its so good i may go and buy a copy .I think they v got into 2ts again they can do the mods on the bikes them selves it makes great reading . :)
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And now it's Transworld MX's turn!!! Usually i read this magazine on the way from the mailbox to the trash, but today i noticed a test of the new KTM 150SX. WOW! they raved, and made direct comparison's to the 250F's! And as an added bonus TW had a mini-mx comparo, and the 2 strokes beat the CRF150R, and no one picked it as their favorite. Believe it or not a couple of the testers (none pro's) said they needed to shift the 4 stroke more often than the 2 strokes to keep it in the powerband!!! :P
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Hey Guys,
A while ago, on 2 Stroke Motocross's front page, some guys where were leaving comments in response to one of the articles, I think it was Jody's "Two Stroke Manifesto" in MXA. In the course of those comments, I thought one guy noted the renegade pro 2 stroke stance maintaned by some guys like Jody W, and another guy said something about being so glad to have some voices like Jody's out there to counter the conformist pro 4 stroke, vanilla whitewash of certain "Kool Aid Pusher Fan Boys". When I read that, I thought for SURE that the main "Kool Aid Pusher Fan Boys" must be Transworld Motocross.
Just about everything in that magazine seems to be written to serve it's advertising patrons. A lot of times their point of view on bikes reads sort of like the glossy brochures you can pick up at a dealership. Therefore, Corporately Formulated Kool Aid Buzz-Words like "Technology", "Technologically Advanced", "Advanced Technology", and "New 4 Strokes" are splashed accross it's pages like the costume jewels of some big gay Vegas stage.
I saw that they reviewed the 150 SX and they do say some nice things about it. I take issue with the POSTURE of the article, however. When you read the review of the 2010 RM-Z250, it sounds like an MX magazine reviewing a race bike, with lots of toe-tapping terms like "More Powerul", "Instantaneous Throttle Response", and "Better Handling". I think their review of the 150 SX should have the same kind of beat, but it doesn't. When I read that article, it sound's like they are reviewing something other than a race bike. They say some nice things, "The 150 SX is, without a doubt, incredibly powerful -" but almost every favorable thing they say is immediately followed by some kind of shrugging, negative conterbalance "- for a little two-stroke." And on top of that I wonder how they can even mention saccarine, like the electronically solicited, imitation, sort-of throttle response of the 250 four stroke while never uttering the words "Instantaneous Throttle Response" in describing the KTM 2 stoke.
Also interestingly enough I noticed that in each of the 2 reviews I mention here, there is a reference to the reviewed machine's bigger bother. While talking about the RM-Z 250, they mention that it's EFI system is derived directly from the "Tried and true 450". On the other hand, when talking about the 150 SX, they insinuate it's relationship to "The heavier, light-switchy 250cc".
Let's see now... "Tried and true" = Suzuki 450 four stroke? / "Heavier, light-switchy 250cc" = 250 two stroke? Huh? Seriously???
I have a question, how come everyone seems so reluctant to mention the words heavy, bulky, heavier, or heaviest anywhere near four storkes??? In the dancing puppet show that is motocross media these days, a four stroke's bump-flattening weight is only refferenced indireclty, and favorably as "Stability"... ;D
What kind of backward bizzarro world are we living in when magazines are associating terms like "Instantaneous Throttle Response" with 250 Four Stroke lug-buggies and terms like "Heavier" with 250 Two Strokes??? ;)
I mean jesus man are these guys kidding?
Thanks,
Jim
Check out this comparison. THE BIKE DOES IT'S OWN TALKING HERE!!!!
KTM 144 at Chatteris (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBduf1ydiKQ#)
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I find it amazing that TWA has any substantial reader base at all, beyond pre-pubescent kids. Ever read any of their articles on performance modifications? Rather than providing informative technical analysis, the article will usually read something like "The bike ripped before, but it really rips now!"....
I wouldn't wipe my ass with that rag.
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I find it amazing that TWA has any substantial reader base at all, beyond pre-pubescent kids. Ever read any of their articles on performance modifications? Rather than providing informative technical analysis, the article will usually read something like "The bike ripped before, but it really rips now!"....
I wouldn't wipe my ass with that rag.
as a disclaimer, i'm receiving this magazine only since i made a contribution to my niece's school fund drive, or something. i would NEVER actually pay money for this - it's total trash, i agree.
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the April '10 issue of MXA has so many two stroke articles i almost wept tears of joy when i saw it in the mailbox yesterday. there's even a Husky hop up story about the WR300.
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the April '10 issue of MXA has so many two stroke articles i almost wept tears of joy when i saw it in the mailbox yesterday. there's even a Husky hop up story about the WR300.
If you are a true two-stroke supporter... it would be a good idea to at least buy this issue!!
Absolutely amazing two-stroke tests, hop ups and an editoril (Does the Four-stroke handle better than a Two-stroke?) Care to guess which one handles better??
Take that Nate Adams!! :P :P
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One of the only issues worth reading in a long time.
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If you are a true two-stroke supporter... it would be a good idea to at least buy this issue!!
Absolutely amazing two-stroke tests, hop ups and an editoril (Does the Four-stroke handle better than a Two-stroke?) Care to guess which one handles better??
Take that Nate Adams!! :P :P
Wow, just read the 2T vs 4T handling article. If that final paragraph isn't a slam dunk i don't know what is. Wonder how some young guy who recently got into the sport processes all this? He's told by the manufacturers, by the dealers, by the AMA and probably by his friends that 2strokes are old technology, and then MXA tells him otherwise. Guess it's up to the individual to arrive at his own conclusions, but it's tough when there's so much misinformation out there.
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Sound to me like MXA has come to realize that there's a 2-stroke rebel market out there, and they're moving to capitalize on it.
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If you are a true two-stroke supporter... it would be a good idea to at least buy this issue!!
Absolutely amazing two-stroke tests, hop ups and an editoril (Does the Four-stroke handle better than a Two-stroke?) Care to guess which one handles better??
Take that Nate Adams!! :P :P
Wow, just read the 2T vs 4T handling article. If that final paragraph isn't a slam dunk i don't know what is. Wonder how some young guy who recently got into the sport processes all this? He's told by the manufacturers, by the dealers, by the AMA and probably by his friends that 2strokes are old technology, and then MXA tells him otherwise. Guess it's up to the individual to arrive at his own conclusions, but it's tough when there's so much misinformation out there.
Unfortunately the folks that most need to read this stuff, just won't. On top of that if they did they wouldn't believe it. Why?
That's easy... all their friends say that the four-stroke is better!!
So many of the four-stroke fans avoid talking about the real issues of their machines. The one they stick their heads deepest into the sand with is, "If your four-stroke is so good, why does it need to be twice the displacement of the two-stroke?"
They hem, they haw, they throw up smoke screens, they call names, they say your living in the past... just about anything to avoid looking at the truth.
Kind of sad actually!
That's why we need to slowly and respectfully bring two-strokes back into the fray! Every single person that switches back helps the cause. When the four-strokers see more two-strokes than fours at the race tracks, practice tracks or riding areas.. they will start to question themselves...
We are making headway! 2010 will be the year of the two-stroke!
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That reminds me, that handling article sounds like one that might be worth posting at TSM. Yes? No?