So I have been riding long enough to remember when 2 strokes where the only game in town. Then 4 strokes got all the technology. But now with Sherco and Beta and rumors of major changes with KTM's I gotta wonder if sometime down the road 2 strokes will rule again. If I have a reliable push button two stroke with DI or whatever. Why would I want a four stroke as it is soooo much more complicated and expensive to fix. Also I thought I read somwwhere that if done right two strokes can be be made to run cleaner than four strokes. Thoughts?
I think even if 2 strokes make a full comeback the cost will just begin to mimic 4 strokes. Pretty soon I'm going to be looking at Ducatis like a value brand lol
We're already seeing it in our club. People are giving up on their 4 stroke bikes for the simplicity and cost savings of a 2 stroke. It's even happening with younger guys who have never owned anything but a 4 stroke. For almost everything we are trying to accomplish, the 4 stroke is an inferior technology.
There already is a resurgance with the offroad crowd. A lot less so in the MX crowd. Until the AMA changes the rules that are massively biased in favor of four strokes (pandering to Honda....I mean the OEM's), we won't see a huge shift back in MX racing, and overall bike sales. There is just too much of a displacement gap.
the problem with people wanting DI and other technology is some of the advantages of having a 2 stroke will pass.... ease of working on it and cost
Im back on a 2 stroke after 10 years. why less cost, easier to maintain, light weight, more reliable(less complicated).....all the right reasons for owning a beater dirtbike
I never really got on the 4 stroke wagon, have had plenty but always prefered 2 strokes in the woods riding I do but have always had a 4 stroke around for the faster more open stuff and DSing. Then I bought a AJP and all of a sudden I am back on a 4 stroke in the woods and loving it. The key is this bike was purpose built for the type of riding I do not a flame throwing SX bike with a 18" rear wheel. I'm actually finding the uber smooth counterbalanced off road tuned motor is so nice to live with and makes 2 strokes now feel like holding onto a paint shaker while riding. I also am enjoying bashing over logs and trail crap without fear of smashing a pipe. Yes I love my 2 strokes but a 4 stroke purpose built for woods riding also has many advantages. For MX the way they lay down power and jump is hard to overcome for a 2 stroke IMHO.
Just a shame electric isnt better mileage as thats where i foresee the future, no gears no pipe. The downside is no sound track but its gunna happen. P.s. Im two strokes all the way till then.
That comparison as I have noted once before, Look at the Ford ecoboost, twin turbo direct injection and I believe variable valve timing. And what direct injection two stroke are you going to put up against that? Even take away the turbo aspect, just variable valve timing and an engine designed for low emissions. Is there any motorcycle available with the stratified charge pretty much taking over in a lot of classes of outdoor power equipment? They have one carb and one butterfly valve with no jets. Or use the top and bottom of a single butterfly horizontal (well they are all position) carb.
To the best of my knowledge DI is effectively limited to under 9000 RPM and isn't great in a single cylinder.
Clean burning two stroke technology has been around in the outboard motor industry for quite a number of years, now. I'm sure that there is some way that technology could be transferred over to motorcycles. Even the CEO of Husqvarna U.S.A. told me back in 2012 (at a press day), that the company had been kicking around designs of direct inject, street legal trail bikes that they were hoping to get approved by C.A.R.B./EPA. Of course, that never happened...but we can still dream.
very high pressure fuel pumps and lots of electronics will ruin the fun worry free nature of the 2 stroke. Will also raise the price. Enjoy what you have.
thats fine with me..i rebuilt my 360 to last, along with doubles of all the plastic! i have lots of swede parts...wondering what my next bike will be?
That would be the best part then you could play whatever sound you wanted. Just like the ecoboost and others with order content speakers. They play a V8 soundtrack to cover the V6 and turbo noise.
Piaggio's 2 stroke scooters are using DI and have done so for at least 5 years. They are using Ralph Sarich technology from Australia. Apparently it will give better fuel economy and more torque to a smoker.
Injection and DI will only make 2 strokes better, just like they have with the cars and trucks we drive every day.
I tend to agree with DI making 2T better, at least in the long haul. Iv'e owned 2T HPDI outboard motors and had extremely good results with them. The last one I bought new and ran it for 7 years without a single hiccup and nearly zero maintenance required. They(Yamaha) have made these very compact, lightweight and reliable. Sounds like a 2T dirt bike to me. I'm hopeful yet skeptical.
rasputin told me that 2016, is the year Euro 4 standards apply to motorcycles and in full force by 2017. This means no more... Crazy lean jetted and skinny piped 2T Euro enduro bikes, to meet street standards. We'll start to see the first DI 2T bikes then. I imagine old school carbed 2T bikes, will still be built and exported to US and other markets, as closed course competition bikes. It will be a gradual shift, not an instant change....
