Interview with Rick Sieman, founding fathers of motojournalism (Dirt Bike)

[2smoker]

The old guy is bitching about 4 stroke bikes and the AMA. Friggin awesome interview!
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thestevematthesshow
Click on
The Steve Matthes Show - Rick "Super Hunky" Sieman
Also start listening to it at 42:20.

 

[Chris2T]

The old guy is bitching about 4 stroke bikes and the AMA. Friggin awesome interview!
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thestevematthesshow
Click on
The Steve Matthes Show - Rick "Super Hunky" Sieman
Also start listening to it at 42:20.

 

Wow, he expresses a lot of the frustration that we feel, and dishes some real dirt on the AMA and modern 4 strokes. I especially liked the part where he describes the rebuild interval on a typical 450f - 15 hours for a pro, 30 hours for a casual rider. They've really become unaffordable, and you can feel his frustration. I think he gets a bit carried away with belittling the way the young riders dress, i think that's a generational thing more than anything, but everything else was right on.

[2smoker]

The old guy is bitching about 4 stroke bikes and the AMA. Friggin awesome interview!
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thestevematthesshow
Click on
The Steve Matthes Show - Rick "Super Hunky" Sieman
Also start listening to it at 42:20.

 

Wow, he expresses a lot of the frustration that we feel, and dishes some real dirt on the AMA and modern 4 strokes. I especially liked the part where he describes the rebuild interval on a typical 450f - 15 hours for a pro, 30 hours for a casual rider. They've really become unaffordable, and you can feel his frustration. I think he gets a bit carried away with belittling the way the young riders dress, i think that's a generational thing more than anything, but everything else was right on.

You are spot on my friend! I like when he asked : When was the last time you saw a 5 years four stroke at the track racing? hahaah so true! Junk! They ruined the sport! Take a 4 stroke chassis, with good suspension, good brakes.. with a blown up engine that is such a piece of crap, put a cr500 , yz 250 2 stroke engine and you got a wonderful bike!!!!!! I love this old dude!

[Hondacrrider]

actually, to tell you the truth, I see a few 5-6 year old 250f's around my trails, yes, they were trail ridden, so, not too much stress was put on the engine, but, 250f's can last a long time, if maintained properly

[rooster]

  Sooo..... Hondacrrider, what you are saying is if you don't ride a 4t real hard, do alot of maintenance and don't race them they can last a long time.  I am not bagging on you guy, just thought it was funny when I read it.  Sometimes we can answer our own questions when we read what we really said........

Super Hunky has been there to see it all, from the introduction of american dirt biking...........seen all, tried all and evaluated it all.....................he has history and knows from where he speaks........listen to the old guys.  Been there, tried that, brought the t-shirt..........................Rooster

[JohnN]

Super Hunky is freaking awesome!! Yes he is preaching to the choir on this site, but after having lived so much since the beginning and hearing all those stories about how the manufacturers brought lawyers when he stated a truth, just amazing!!

Hondacrrider, you are correct... if you don't push the bikes too much, don't ride them that much and do the maintenance regularly yes the bikes can last... if you're lucky.

I know that there are many on this site that do not race motocross, that just fine, but when you go to the track and see what the competitive racers are doing you see a completely different story. So many racers complain about the cost of having to rebuild low hour bikes. Many more decide to quit because it's too expensive. I know of quite a few promising racers that have dropped out of racing because they hate the four-strokes so much!

The only way to make a difference is to support those that choose to race the two-strokes. Even by going to the local mx track and cheering on all the racers that race two-strokes. Bring a picnic, some cold drinks and a sheet painted with "Two Strokes Rule" and cheer for those on two-strokes. That will do as much as anything else you could do to bring them back.

Have fun, take pictures... send them in. They'll be posted on the main site.

[Chris2T]

One thing comes to mind - can you imagine if a 500cc 2 stroke was tuned to the point that its top end only lasted 15-30 hours and cost $3,000 to rebuild? the magazines would be ALL OVER it! Of course, that special engine would probably be putting out over 80hp ;-)

[Cable Stretcher]

The same engine thats in my cr, when Robbie was on it was getting a new head gasket every 6 hours and a new piston every 20, and every 2 or three pistons = full rebuild.  I have ridden a 09 crf450 that was putting down 68hp and its hard to compare the hp but I will say my 2t is alot more fun to ride.

[Hondacrrider]

Sooo..... Hondacrrider, what you are saying is if you don't ride a 4t real hard, do alot of maintenance and don't race them they can last a long time.  I am not bagging on you guy, just thought it was funny when I read it.  Sometimes we can answer our own questions when we read what we really said........

Super Hunky has been there to see it all, from the introduction of american dirt biking...........seen all, tried all and evaluated it all.....................he has history and knows from where he speaks........listen to the old guys.  Been there, tried that, brought the t-shirt..........................Rooster

Yes, but, I do think, that if you maintain your stuff, it will last long, a lot of kids just don't maintain stuff, while i do agree that four strokes do blow up a lot even with proper maintenance. i am in no way supporting four strokes, just bringing another side to the story, because I hate it when people only look at things from one viewpoint, like the magazines do

[JohnN]

Just to be clear... there are four-strokes that are stone reliable, the Honda XR400 being one of them.



You coud ride this bike for years with minimal maintenance, barely changing the oil or cleaning the filter and it would keep on keeping on.

The problems started when they introduced the modern four-strokes that rev higher than the two-strokes. The piston, crank, cam, and valves are moving so fast that it's inevitable that there will be a problem at some point.

Sure if you just "chug" around on one of the modern bikes and do regular maintenance that the bike could last a while. The problem becomes, when will it let go? There is no doubt, you will at some point reach the time when everything comes to a screeching halt. What do you do then?

Two options. A very expensive rebuild. Or park the bike.

Both of these options are bad for the sport in general and the rider in particular.

Don't get me wrong, two strokes can and do have problems as well. They do require maintenance to run the best they can. There is one huge difference. There are two-strokes that are 10 years, 20 years and more that are still running with a minimum of rebuilds. I'm not so sure that you see many 5 to 10 year old modern four-strokes all that much.

I know where I would rather invest my money!

[Chris2T]

Don't get me wrong, two strokes can and do have problems as well. They do require maintenance to run the best they can. There is one huge difference. There are two-strokes that are 10 years, 20 years and more that are still running with a minimum of rebuilds. I'm not so sure that you see many 5 to 10 year old modern four-strokes all that much.

I know where I would rather invest my money!

The mx 4 strokes are being sold as "race-ready". Not "take it easy on the trails" ready. the engines are being asked to perform in an unnatural way and the maintenance intervals and costs clearly reveal this. the 2 stroke is an inherant race engine and is far more suited to the kind of demands that modern motocross places on it.

[admiral]

i'm actually amazed that modern 4t MX bikes are as durable as they currently are. the best one durability wise was the '98-'99 YZ400. of course it weight over 250#. i expected them to grenade more often then it turned out they did. yeah there not CR500/XR600 durable but when 250F's came on the scene i thought to myself "that thing is gonna last two races max". turns out i was way wrong, it lasts four races.

[JohnN]

This is what can and probably will happen to a competitively raced four-stroke... all I see is lot's of money flushed down the drain.



Here is MXA's take on four-stroke rebuilds... as you can see the intervals are different from different sources.

http://www.motocrossactionmag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=A63B3B4C8C8347E58BE66FB4DF2EA14F

22 minutes? Holy Crap!!

[Cable Stretcher]

This is exactly what he is talking about, 7-8k for a bike and then you need to spend 3k+ on making it rideable.  So your looking a 11k just to get started and if you ride 4 hours a weekend 3 weekends a month your looking at rebuilding your bike every other month.  What was once a fun relitively inexpensive sport for your working class is now a CEO's play ground.

http://motocrossactionmag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=05F79203D8C44A628F7D54E421E857C8