Guy B as a journalist, is entitled to his opinion. And his opinion is all this is. One would have to
look at the amount of corporate advertisement on Vital to get a better understanding.
Personally, I think he is on the wrong side on this. With most of the world's economies in the
dumper, bike sales are way down and will continue to be as prices for the 4ts constantly go up.
The manufacturers are trying to squeeze more profit from each unit to compensate but this a
lose lose proposition. The high initial cost plus the high maintenance and modifications cost
(and many other reasons), are what drove me and many others like me away from 4ts and
back to two strokes. I believe this trend will continue until either the economy recovers in a
big way (not any time soon) or 4ts cost, reliability and fun factor become aligned with 2ts (never
happen).
This 4t "plague" can be blamed on one organization, the AMA and their idiotic loophole that allowed
Yamaha to build and compete with a true works bike with nearly twice the displacement. The other
manufacturers all followed suit eyeing big profits during the artificially propped up economy of the
time, and here we are.
Remember, these are the guys who tried road-racing against two-strokes with eight-valved, oval-pistoned four-strokes in road racing to avoid deviating from their 4T policy. When that didn't work, the rules suddenly got changed.
Not exactly. Honda returned to the GPs in 1979 with the NR500. Thirteen years earlier, Honda dominated
every GP class with four stroke engines so they decided to return with what they knew. After three
years of development, the NR was a bust and Honda switched to the three cylinder two stroke NS engine.
The NS500 went on to dominate GP racing for the next seventeen years with riders like Spencer, Lawson
and Doohan. Notice the rules didn't suddenly get change, the four stroke rule wasn't implemented by the
FIM for another 20 years after Honda's failed NR program.
Honda is an engine company first and foremost. Wether 2 or 4 stroke, they build winners. One doesn't
have to look further than what they did to motocross in 1973 with their first ever two stroke engine.
dogger