another what to get????

[Shibby!]

So how much more time and money to operate for a season?

If riden hard, a big bore 4-stroke will require a rebuild usually around 60-100 hours. Count on it being in the thousands of dollars if you are paying others to do it.

All dirt bikes are a lot of work. I usually work on my bike nearly as much as I ride. So If I go for a 4 hour ride, I probably work on it for 3 hours.

Finally, there is a reason 4-strokes are so cheap used.

 

[Les Meat]

Does that mean all these 4 stroke quads are expensive to run?

I haven't read anyone talking about how labour intensive they are.

 

[Shibby!]

Does that mean all these 4 stroke quads are expensive to run?

I haven't read anyone talking about how labour intensive they are.

It also is derived from how well they are maintained. I can strech my dirt bike rebuild for 10 years, but the overhaul cost will be overwhelming and it would end up being a paperweight.

I'm not sure about Kwads because my general dislike for them, but they may be detuned and therefore less labour intensive.

People don't understand most dirt bikes are highly tuned engines designed to be riden hard, raced, and rebuilt often. They don't last forever.

That being said, if well cared for and maintained properly you can easily extend maintenance intervals, however when things require the wrench, 4-strokes are generally more expensive as everybody has been saying.

When Yamaha developed the YZF to the point of being a good bike, a huge swing of riders went 4-stroke, now after owning 4-strokes again, many are coming back to 2-strokes for their less expensive/major costs, rideability, and fun facter.

You can buy whatever you want. I have fun on 450's and 250F's, but just by how they ride and how much I like 2-strokes, I don't think I'd ever buy one until forced to. I hope that day never comes.

 

[-LadyDirt-]

I'm sure that day will come soon enough with all the tree huggers complaining about it, thats why i'll be riding a 2 stroke until i'm forced to buy a 4-stroke.

 

[Shibby!]

I'm sure that day will come soon enough with all the tree huggers complaining about it, thats why i'll be riding a 2 stroke until i'm forced to buy a 4-stroke.

Luckly we have technology trickling down. Outboard boat motors and some snowmobile motors have becomes quite efficient and no doubt will end up on dirt bikes sooner or later.

Things like fuel injection and oil injection. The whole CAT thing in europe seems to be flopping. Well, it'll pass emisions, but it doesn't run well so people just go with aftermarket pipes.

 

[clint/KTM/16]

Holy I can't beleive how much your guys' 2 strokes run so good! i have 3 buddies who had 2 strokes and they were the biggest pieces if chit ever. nothing but trouble and my 4 stroke was def easier to maintain lol

 

[-LadyDirt-]

Holy I can't beleive how much your guys' 2 strokes run so good! i have 3 buddies who had 2 strokes and they were the biggest pieces if chit ever. nothing but trouble and my 4 stroke was def easier to maintain lol

That just sounds like a case of not taking care of them properly. If not maintained well and taken care of, not having someone with enough knowledge and experience working on them..no doubt they probably won't run well. But this can be the case with any bike, 2 stroke or 4 stroke. There are also some particular years/models of certain bikes from my understanding (again, 2 and 4 strokes), that were known to be a little crappier then other years/models but so far, both my 2 strokes run like tops, no problems, they are regularily maintained, I have a dirtbike mechanic that has been racing and working on bikes for 25 years to make sur ethey are in tip top shape. I also have quite a few friends with 2 strokes all of which are pretty anal about taking care of their bikes and rarely have problems... good thing with a 2 stroke though is that when problems occur they are usually pretty minor and cheap to fix!

 

[clint/KTM/16]

That just sounds like a case of not taking care of them properly. If not maintained well and taken care of, not having someone with enough knowledge and experience working on them..no doubt they probably won't run well. But this can be the case with any bike, 2 stroke or 4 stroke. There are also some particular years/models of certain bikes from my understanding (again, 2 and 4 strokes), that were known to be a little crappier then other years/models but so far, both my 2 strokes run like tops, no problems, they are regularily maintained, I have a dirtbike mechanic that has been racing and working on bikes for 25 years to make sur ethey are in tip top shape. I also have quite a few friends with 2 strokes all of which are pretty anal about taking care of their bikes and rarely have problems... good thing with a 2 stroke though is that when problems occur they are usually pretty minor and cheap to fix!

probably my one buddy is fixing his for the 4th time ( brand new top end and crank) and he bought it last year.lol and yeah when rebuilding a 4 stroke it does break the bank pretty hard. not labour because i just do it myself but the parts are alot more expensive. i just got thinking and i have 3 of the 4 bikes were kx 85's hahaha.

 

[rpt247]

true that! thats why i bought a 450 had a kx250 for yrs loved it a few of my buddies have crf250r's. Fun bikes but didn't have the pull or snap i had then i rode a crf450x with a few mods and loved it. I was going to get the yz450 but with the tight gearbox and my lack of really ever riding on a track i went with the wr. With a few mods and you pretty much have the same yz engine on a bike set up for trails and so far I've been all smiles.

As far as maintenance goes i checked the valves they're with in spec and its an 07, oil changes are no big deal take ten mins every couple months or so depending on riding.

Just get a bike you feel most comfortable on and if you want alot of power get a 450

 

[j_w10]

Well Ladys and Gents, I have to say that i agree but i also disagree, I have ridin both 2 stroke and 4 and who ever said that a 4 stroke is more to maitain i call bs. yes they are alot more expensive to rebuild for example if you look at my 06 crf 450r that i have a piston alone is worth around 500 bucks. now if we look at my buddies 03 kx 125 the whole top end including piston wrist pin bearing and gasket set is around 180 bucks. big difference yes, but it was already said IT DEPENDS ON HOW HARD YOU RIDE! for the average rider like me who is not on the rev limiter every second the bike is running i have no problems on the 4 stroke especially with the 450 cause i dont have to rev it right out to get it to go were i want it to. i bought it brand new this is the third season on it and i check the valves once a season and they havnt gone out of spec yet. with the 125 i had it was a new top end every year almost. now lets do the math 180 every year for three years is 540. a little time to check valves = 0. now as for the oil thing the trannys on these bikes both get changed on the same intervals and take the same oil so same price 10-15 bucks a litre. (i run 10-40 syn) THE SAME. now for the pain in the ars part you all talk about. 2 stroke oil 10-15 bucks a litre for syn ams oil and YOU HAVE TO PRE MIX IT IN THE GAS. that to me is a pain. Oil for the engine on my bike same as tranny not quite a litre to fill and 10-15 bucks for a filter and an extra 10 mins to change when do the tranny oil? (its only 4 more bolts that r very accesable to get the filter out and on more to drop the oil little more of a pain but then you dont have to pre mix fuel) more cost maybe 40 bucks a season extra maybe a little more depends on how much you ride and how much you can get filters for. as for the rest of the bike all the seals and tires and bars and levers and and and and cost the same wether 2 stroke or 4. now im pretty mechanically incline and do all wrenching myself so it dosnt include labor cost just trying to say that for me it acually has cost less to run 4 strokes then it was to run 2 and this is my second 450 that i have owned. i chose the 450 because it dosnt rev as high as the 250 and the 450s are not as finicky with the valves from what i have been told especially if you get a newer model for example looking at the 05 crf 450r compared to the 06 thye took the head off the crf 450x and put it on the 450r because the valves didnt go out of spec as much and cooled better then on r model. they got the whole hot start problem fixed as most bike have an atomatic decompression and the valve adjustment thing gets better every year. Now if you are riding hard, a guy i know used to race at the pro level in the 125 class every weekend he had to replace the top end and/or the clutch. now rides a 450 just the clutch a cuple times a year ( he no longer races) and has to put a couple valve shims under the lifters a few time a year ( the shims cost a few bucks a piece and some time) and the top end has gone a couple years now with no problems or piston replacment. but on the other hand i have talked to other racers that race the 250f's and they have had problems with the valves pulling the seats out of the head which is a couple grand to fix. but this was also on a hoped up motor running higher compresion piped ported and all the other tweaks and fancys running race fuel and on the rev limiter all the time. The other thing that was said it DEPEND ON YOUR RIDING STYLE. 4 strokes have way more bottom end grunt so you can leave the clutch engaged in a climb and it will tractor up any hill you want rarley having to slip the clucth, on a two stroke you have to slip the clutch constantly to keep it on the pipe to keep it in the power band. That equals more clutch replacment and more expensive in my books but some like one better then the other. So it all comes down i geuss to HOW WELL YOU MANTAIN YOUR BIKE. if you look after it they will last if you dont you end up with an expensive paper wieght. And dont kid yourself they both expensive wether your buying 2 or 4 this sport is a money pit that you keep throwing money into and dont get any return out of. on a side note the cool thing about a 450 if you decide to get one there is always the option of putting a 2 moto kit on and riding it year round :d. Anyways sorry for the rant im not tryin to say that one is better then the other just this is one guy just tryin to say dont let that be the deciding factor that one is more expensive then the other to mantain, get on both of them ride them both first and c wich you like better by the way they make power and handle cause they are two very differnt beasts, then buy one. And if you can replace the top end on a 2 stroke bike then you can defenetly adjust the valves on a 4 stroke, the owners monual that came with my bike has step by step instructions on how to do it with charts for the valve shims read it take your time the first time you do it its really not as hard as you think. and lady dirt i heard a rumor that yammi has a 2 stroke motor for there bikes that has better emmisions then the 4 stroke dont know much about it yet but im geussing fuel injection that will allow you to mix leaner on oil so i dont think you will have to give up on riding them if you dont want to. hope this novel helps well talk to you later.

 

[leonard]

I tried 3x to read the last message and kept getting lost in the big wall of text.

your message seemed to be quite knowledable and informative but next time id use sentances and paragraphs.

I dont really care about spelling or punctuation. just paragraphs help break up the run on's i swear i lost track of where i was reading atleast 5x.

just saying.

 

[j_w10]

sorry boss never did very well in english ill try to break it up next time and keep it shorter

 

[clint/KTM/16]

I tried 3x to read the last message and kept getting lost in the big wall of text.

your message seemed to be quite knowledable and informative but next time id use sentances and paragraphs.

I dont really care about spelling or punctuation. just paragraphs help break up the run on's i swear i lost track of where i was reading atleast 5x.

just saying.

i just copied and pasted it in Microsoft word and double spaced it. lol. i think it's a good rant