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General Two Stroke Talk / 500 thoughts
« on: June 20, 2013, 08:42:52 AM »
You're right, I hadn't thought of the right-hand-drive aspect. For me, though, that's just all-the-more excuse to use a vintage chassis. 
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2
General Two Stroke Talk / 500 thoughts
« on: June 19, 2013, 11:31:10 AM »
If you REALLY want to make everyone mad, you could use an air-cooled engine. I've heard better things about an '83 490 Maico than I have about CR500 or KX500, which is really all I can say as I haven't ridden them myself. If you want something less exotic (but weirdly, harder to find parts for) you could get a CR480 or YZ490. I think Super Hunky had some kind of plan to make a bike like this at one point, but I'm not sure if it ever happened.
Advantages of air-cooled:
- Looks bad-ass (although it would be weird with a modern-styled bike)
- No water pump, hoses, or radiators to fail or leak
- Lower center of gravity and slightly lighter overall weight
- Bike is narrower in front slightly
- The looks on 450F riders' faces after you beat them
Disadvantages of air-cooled:
- Parts availability may be an issue if you deviate from the cult-following models
- Cooling isn't as effective
- Potentially louder
- Possible geometric issues, depending on how big your motor (Maicos have BIG fins) and how strangely-shaped your frame is
- The looks on 450F riders' faces before you beat them
Advantages of air-cooled:
- Looks bad-ass (although it would be weird with a modern-styled bike)
- No water pump, hoses, or radiators to fail or leak
- Lower center of gravity and slightly lighter overall weight
- Bike is narrower in front slightly
- The looks on 450F riders' faces after you beat them
Disadvantages of air-cooled:
- Parts availability may be an issue if you deviate from the cult-following models
- Cooling isn't as effective
- Potentially louder
- Possible geometric issues, depending on how big your motor (Maicos have BIG fins) and how strangely-shaped your frame is
- The looks on 450F riders' faces before you beat them
3
General Two Stroke Talk / Thanks John!!!
« on: July 31, 2012, 11:03:14 PM »
Man, I've been gone for longer than I thought! Everything I remember is now nostalgia!
It's funny, most of the time since I stopped following TSM, I've been knee-deep learning about four-strokes because I want to build up my Dakota. Then I went for a ride last weekend which put my focus back to two-strokes, and it took a while to come to grips with how damned simple everything is. Especially with an air-cooled, drum-brake bike, there's like three moving parts. Very refreshing.
It's funny, most of the time since I stopped following TSM, I've been knee-deep learning about four-strokes because I want to build up my Dakota. Then I went for a ride last weekend which put my focus back to two-strokes, and it took a while to come to grips with how damned simple everything is. Especially with an air-cooled, drum-brake bike, there's like three moving parts. Very refreshing.
4
Non-Moto / Re: Will this Direct injection 2 stroke have the smooth lazy power of a 4 stroke?
« on: June 18, 2011, 08:12:09 PM »
If you want something light, cheap, and easy to repair then I recommend getting an air-cooled Suzuki or Yamaha, preferably the ones before long-travel suspension and reed valves came onto the scene. Those things were indestructible, and they had about as many moving parts as a folding lawn chair. They were very light, too, because they were small. Was the performance up to par? No, not really, especially if you're into racing. But hey, you didn't mention performance as being one of your criteria!
As I've said before, I will welcome DI so long as the benefits outweigh the costs. If it can produce a two-stroke that is okay on emissions, and perhaps provide an increase in performance (unburned hydrocarbons = wasted power) then I think that will be more than enough to offset the increase in purchase price. I'm not convinced that maintenance costs will go up tremendously, because it's my impression that this hasn't been an issue where DI has been tried already. The one concern I have is that parts availability 35 years from now might be a problem, but apparently I'm the only person on the planet who cares about that, so whatever.
Besides, if you're happy with a 2009 YZ250 today, and a fleet of new DI bikes come out that in your opinion aren't as good... just keep the 2009 YZ250! Unless it's made illegal to run that bike in whatever event you're doing, you'll have a damn good machine to rely on.
As I've said before, I will welcome DI so long as the benefits outweigh the costs. If it can produce a two-stroke that is okay on emissions, and perhaps provide an increase in performance (unburned hydrocarbons = wasted power) then I think that will be more than enough to offset the increase in purchase price. I'm not convinced that maintenance costs will go up tremendously, because it's my impression that this hasn't been an issue where DI has been tried already. The one concern I have is that parts availability 35 years from now might be a problem, but apparently I'm the only person on the planet who cares about that, so whatever.
Besides, if you're happy with a 2009 YZ250 today, and a fleet of new DI bikes come out that in your opinion aren't as good... just keep the 2009 YZ250! Unless it's made illegal to run that bike in whatever event you're doing, you'll have a damn good machine to rely on.
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Non-Moto / Re: 6 speed 2T 250?
« on: June 12, 2011, 07:01:41 PM »
My '82 Husky 250CR (and in fact all the evolution-generation Huskies) is a six-speed. If you can get an enduro with lights and things on the bike you might be able to make that street-legal, and then you'll have the ability to have a 360, 390, or even a 430. All of them are good strong motors, and they're built to withstand attack from a howitzer battery and still run.
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Non-Moto / Re: Will this Direct injection 2 stroke have the smooth lazy power of a 4 stroke?
« on: June 12, 2011, 06:50:01 PM »
I say let the four-strokes use forced induction. Then they might actually be able to rival a two-stroke in power per unit displacement, and if that means they're $5000 more expensive and blow up in half the time as now, then it means all the more market demand for two-strokes.
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Photos & Videos / Re: My Kind of Riding
« on: June 08, 2011, 11:32:00 PM »
One thing also to consider when watching the first video I posted here, is that were were gone from camp for about four hours. Even though we both brought a 2-liter bottle of premix to extend our range, we eventually had to turn back and hyper-mile our way back to camp, and when we got there we discovered that the Maico (yes, it is a '77 AW250) had NO gas in the tank. It had gas in the bowl and the fuel line, and that was it. If we'd had more gas it would've been nice to ride a bit harder, but if you push them a bit harder you simply can't get to the places you want to explore. The ride back to camp, trying to burn as little gas as possible, was pretty miserable. I think in the future we'll have to carry a gallon of extra gas. 
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Photos & Videos / Re: My Kind of Riding
« on: June 08, 2011, 02:35:02 AM »
I'm on a roll now. Remember the video that got taken down from copyright? Apparently Bob Seger's record company is more friendly.
On the Road Again
On the Road Again
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Photos & Videos / My Kind of Riding
« on: June 07, 2011, 06:52:01 PM »
I've shown videos of side-by-side riding before, and most of it has been easy cruising on gravel roads, which was obviously pretty boring. Well, that's not what it's all about. This is.
Cowboys and Engines
Cowboys and Engines
10
Open Forum / Re: The final word on KX250's and twostrokes in general.
« on: May 12, 2011, 08:28:20 PM »
The fuel line thing ALMOST makes sense, because when you're really on the pipe on my dad's '81 Maico 250, the petcock doesn't move fuel into the carburetor fast enough to meet the engine's demand for gasoline (the tank and petcock are from a different year bike, though). Of course, the fuel line isn't the problem, but... whatever. I just thought it was an interesting illustration of how much the thing drinks.
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Non-Moto / Re: MX vs ATV alive
« on: May 12, 2011, 08:22:34 PM »
MX Simulator > All
Get good in MXS and your real-world riding will improve, because of how accurate the physics are.
Get good in MXS and your real-world riding will improve, because of how accurate the physics are.
12
Photos & Videos / Re: Spring Ride 2011
« on: May 11, 2011, 11:01:53 PM »
Most of the non-copyrighted music is kind of... meh. Some dude messing around on GarageBand isn't going to touch Ennio Morricone.
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Photos & Videos / Re: Spring Ride 2011
« on: May 10, 2011, 03:54:45 AM »
Alright, it took me forever because of a bunch of different things, but here's the next video. My camera decided it didn't want to record audio (it does that every so-often, I don't know why) so I decided to dub in some music. After much debate, I chose something with a nice, desert "feel."
The Ecstasy of Road
EDIT: I hate copyright. Apparently, watching my video is somehow going to hurt sales of an album released in 1966.
The Ecstasy of Road
EDIT: I hate copyright. Apparently, watching my video is somehow going to hurt sales of an album released in 1966.
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Open Forum / Re: Why Americans are soft.
« on: May 05, 2011, 03:36:33 PM »
Anyone who has a kid in a sport like this, instantly loses their right to complain about violent video games.
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General Two Stroke Talk / Re: Husqvarna TE250 compared to 2 strokes? What is this!!??
« on: May 02, 2011, 04:52:41 PM »
I sense a scientific experiment coming on! How much horsepower does it take to propel a dirt-bike and rider to 100mph? It would be fun to find out, if for no other reason than you'd get to ride a lot of bikes fast as hell. I think, if 37 won't get it to a hundred, it would get it close. I don't know how much power my 250 has but I doubt it's as high as 42, and when it's maxed out in sixth (which is an overdrive, BTW) there's still a lot of pull. If a '72 250WR can do 100, then the TE250 should at least be close.