Making the move to 4strokes

[shawbagga]

ive gotten lazy riding the 125 i just rest my foot on kicker & it fires or just walking pace it bumps. 300 requires a little bit of effort. missus doesnt know it yet(or shes in denial) that theres a beta 250rr(ill push for factory model) in my future next year so ill be able to try these fandangled button start bikes.

honestly the biggest thing for me with estart(& pretty much only time i want it as when riding it doesnt bother me) is when bikes at home on stand. sucks balls having to put a boot on just to start the bastard when youre mucking around doing something on it that requires multiple starts(electrical/jetting/washing it type stuff). 125 get away with in thongs but 300 is a serious OHS issue in thongs & it f#*king hurts every time i think 'she'll be right' & try start it in me double pluggers-im a little slow learning at times & sometimes i figure the pain is worth the 20 seconds it takes to put on a boot . i know that sounds like a pathetic excuse for getting estart but its true. sometimes i just like to start my bike just for the hell of it to smell it or hear it! yeah im weird

ps can someone start a 'blokes only bank' that doesnt do dumb shit like send email or printed statements to my house when im not home, that the missus then opens & questions what the $ in the account if for! youre ruining my savings plan Commonwealth Bank. "honestly darling i was keeping it a secret to surprise you. its for a family holiday or the new furniture for the house you wanted". killing me.

 

[ohmygewd]

ive gotten lazy riding the 125 i just rest my foot on kicker & it fires or just walking pace it bumps. 300 requires a little bit of effort. missus doesnt know it yet(or shes in denial) that theres a beta 250rr(ill push for factory model) in my future next year so ill be able to try these fandangled button start bikes.

honestly the biggest thing for me with estart(& pretty much only time i want it as when riding it doesnt bother me) is when bikes at home on stand. sucks balls having to put a boot on just to start the bastard when youre mucking around doing something on it that requires multiple starts(electrical/jetting/washing it type stuff). 125 get away with in thongs but 300 is a serious OHS issue in thongs & it f#*king hurts every time i think 'she'll be right' & try start it in me double pluggers-im a little slow learning at times & sometimes i figure the pain is worth the 20 seconds it takes to put on a boot . i know that sounds like a pathetic excuse for getting estart but its true. sometimes i just like to start my bike just for the hell of it to smell it or hear it! yeah im weird

ps can someone start a 'blokes only bank' that doesnt do dumb shit like send email or printed statements to my house when im not home, that the missus then opens & questions what the $ in the account if for! youre ruining my savings plan Commonwealth Bank. "honestly darling i was keeping it a secret to surprise you. its for a family holiday or the new furniture for the house you wanted". killing me.

I hear ya!!! If the 300 was an OHS issue, the 360 has seen my shins plenty of times and l even made the stupid mistake of starting the bastard with thongs (flipflops for the rest of the world) as well, l bruised my ankle that badly that l had to off it for 24hrs..so my 250 is like your 125, couple of easy kicks and bang off ya go. However, the berg ain't got a kicker so l might have to get the SX kickstart kit or one of those portable battery - l'll record it when l'm stuck on a hill, the bike is flooded and the battery's drained!!

As for the Beta, l reckon they are the best two stroke bike out there, the starter is a starter no like the KTM crap and they (the 300 at least) are so much nicer to ride, the components are all top notch but the only iffy might be the new Sachs 48mm on the 2016, seriously the euro's must have a hard time putting jap forks on it, they could have gone KYB CC's and they would have been perfect in terms of tuning and parts serviceability.

Blokes bank....Start up an online account like USaver (NAB) and make sure statements are email only, you only get paper here any there for promo junk, l started this account 5 years ago to save up for the missus surprise bday present. I still use this account but only to pay those pesky monthly direct debit bills instead of my main account, so much easier to track and you don't get that monthly surprise where you can only afford a goon bag.
As for a loan, forget the banks and go to ratesetter online for a really low rate (8%), unsecured loan (so long as your working), they call you and no letters sent out as it's all email correspondence...check it out.

 

[shawbagga]

nah dont do loans mate other than mortgage. cash $ for toys if cant afford it up front i wait til i can! email is missus email so thats my main issue, cant be arsed setting up my own.

im not that worried bout sachs really as all ill do is spring it for my weight & be off. dont get too caught up in suspension TBH. what are the 2016 factory models running up front-guessing not zokes?!

yet to see a non kickstart bike flatten a battery or get stuck & have to bump start(sure it has happened though).
i wanna try a 250 & if dont like it ill buy the 300 kit as it works out same if not cheaper than buying the 300 upfront! thinking ill like the 250 as i like the 125/165 revvy style riding but want a bit more grunt for logs/techy stuff. 300 is too much in some instances & it tends to ride you!

anyway good luck with the berger dude

 

[Huskynoobee]

I think with the popularity of the 300 you might get lucky and find yourself a '15 250 race edition. It's hands down the better bang for the buck.

 

[racemx904]

The 250 to me is easier to ride for a whole race where the 300 tends to ride you around near the end....

Zokes went out of biz.... 16' will probably have Sachs although I really wish it was going to have SSS.... but thats not that big of an issue

 

[454x]

The

The 250 to me is easier to ride for a whole race where the 300 tends to ride you around near the end....

Zokes went out of biz.... 16' will probably have Sachs although I really wish it was going to have SSS.... but thats not that big of an issue

The 16 Beta's Race model will have twin chamber Sachs. The RR models will have the much improved open chambers. Sachs have really improved on the 15 and 16 models. The open chambers on my 14 started feeling really good after the 15 hour mark and now at 27 hours I am very happy with them in stock form. An oil change and spring rate change and I suspect I will like them more.

 

[racemx904]

Cool I'd almost rather have open chamber that twin just because they are eaasier to valve myself.... but I'm sure I'll be happy with them.... cant be worse than my 4cs stock

 

[GMP]

Guys, the Beta 300 is not like the KTM. It's smoother, does not vibrate, and does not have the tiring off idle yank. Especially when jetted a little different. Mileage is also very good. Before this bike I rode 250s for years and swore never a 300 again but this bike changed my mind. I'm sure the 250 is great too but don't fear the 300.

I have a set of Sachs forks apart right now from my brother's '14 Beta 300. Very well made, top quality machining and fit/finish. This set was overdue for service and still very clean inside. Valving is a little bit sloppy especially the rebound which I suspect is what some complain about but mistake for a compression problem. '15/'16 dialed this in. I'm anxious to see how their CC fork works out.

 

[shawbagga]

looks like price has gone up around $700 for standard 250/300 betas here in OZ. not too bad as they stayed the same for a coupla years but kinda creeping closer to ktm pricing. what the 350 cost ya OMG?

 

[ohmygewd]

Mine was 2nd hand mate...2013 Berg 350 cost me 7.5k with 64hrs from QLD, majority of Vic bikes wanted at least 9k, even considered one WA but 5.2k KM's were a put off...eqv KTM 6Days started at 8.5k with many not dropping past 9k. Now the std KTM 350's, best l could find for 2012 with 300hrs was 5.5k but the 2013 to 2014 all ranged around 8.5-10K with min 80-120hrs...rip off!!

For all the greatness of the Beta, their resale is shit, l passed up on 2013-2014 300RR around the 8K with around 80-100hrs, a 2014 TE or EXC 300 with same hours still wanted the 9-10K+ mark.

TBH, there isn't much difference in $$ in the 2nd hand market btw a 300 2t vs a 350 4t - almost parity.

 

[ray_ray]

This thread is in regression ... The site owner made a big and worthwhile change a ~yr back by adding a non-Husky folder for all other bikes .. Feel free to use it ...

 

[ohmygewd]

Sorry mate but just responding to a fellow poster Ray_ray and it was posted in the General section so don't get your knickers in a knot.

 

[ray_ray]

 

[shawbagga]

$7500 delivered & rego'd? not bad if so still ok if not. guess you being in vicco you can just rec reg it. 64hrs not much. who wants a bike with 300 hours?! WTF people are dreamers with their prices but someone must be buying these bikes

i have this argument with many people in regards to resale. if youre worried bout it you shouldnt bother buying in the first place. new exc300/350 costs ya what $14000-$15000 ra? my old huskies cost around the $9000-$10000 ra(cheaper when running out but talking 300/310). ktm couple years later with same hours as husky at resale time fetches lets say $8000-$9000, husky fetches say $4000-$5000. depreciation same on both fronts if not in favour of me. not having a crack at you mate but just shits me when people(ktm owners mainly) bang on bout resale. forget to mention they had to remortgage the house in the first place to buy it! beta similar deal. $1500-$2000 cheaper than exc so if you get $1500-$2000 less at resale time whats the difference?!

 

[ohmygewd]

All up with delivery and road reg and rwc will be $8500 (rec reg would have been $8100) so l'm still ahead from all the other 4 bangers l've been looking at equal hours and the bloke l'm getting it off just has many toys like a new merc cla..really nice bloke, well l'll reserve that till l ride the thing in anger .

The most fearsome part in this whole move apart from adjusting is the horror stories of 4 strokes shitting themselves, the amount of oil changes needed , shim adjustments etc etc, l suppose blokes that l've ridden with were on WR450's and they always had problems with but looking at some youtoob vids, the KTM motor looks to be fairly easy...been checking shims and replacing heads, full rebuilds on car's for years but 4 stroke motorbikes just plainly adds that sense of doubt..dunno what it is really.

So 4t owners who've gone from 2t, how meticulous are you on the oil changes ie. religiously 5-10hrs or dependent on the type of riding..l always bang on with using an hour meter so l've figured changing oil every 10hr intervals...sound about right? Being FI, got a filter sock and the owner has a zipty filter on it, clean before every ride?

 

[ray_ray]

All that valve shimming stuff is way-over played from my experiences on my bikes ... Very little of my time has been spent there to date with 3 250s I own ... But you gotta remember valves are not on a 2t so that issue will never exist on them ... You will also never drop a valve on a 2t and destroy an entire engine either for the same reason and yep that is scary. But all this is workable and most likely will only come into big $ cost after several hundred hours of riding, depending on rider and riding...

As far as oil changing, that probably needs to happen often but you might can slide off the every-other ride and every ~10 hrs time limit unless you just hammer your bike mercilessly is what come to believe .... And numerous people here have reported they change oil every other ride and their bike blew up ... New oil is not gonna keep a engine from blowing if it is time to blow. I'm staying with the high RPM time gets your engine, over time ... High RPMs are not an issue with a 2t as far as know ... Without any oil analysis run on my used oil, I have noticed my SS oil filter looks ~dirtier around the 15 hr mark so I try to stay within that number for my changes ... I'm a pretty easy rider lots of the time also ...

 

[lankydoug]

Ray_ray, I agree that high rpm is the main killer of 4t engines, that's why I believe when it comes to 4 strokes either go big or go 2 stroke.

 

[racemx904]

yes 450-501 or go 2 stroke

 

[ohmygewd]

Cheers fella's!!

 

[ray_ray]

I hear you guys on the 450 as being the way to go ... But I just don't like the idea of a low-rpm-torque-monster eating me up all over due a simple throttle or clutch mistake .... Plus the weight that is there ...Just not kind of rider at this stage of my life ... Maybe I'm too old to ride one? Ok and I'll ride a 250cc 2t with no problems ...

The absolute most terrifying low speed crash I ever witnessed was a guy over here whiskey-throttled a 450 coming out of a small set of whoops .. The bike caught traction and instantly jumped straight in the air and did a back flip with such violence and speed, the bars would have chopped off (or at least crushed and broken) any part of his body that was under it and hit. Luckily, it missed the guy ... I asked him later if he knew what happened or what the bike did and he said he had no clue what happened. I told him you do not wanna know what that bike did ...

--

Lanky, this line of thinking on keeping a 250 4t REVed out falls right into the same bucket as the 125cc 2t bikes...meaning most of might know the 125cc bikes need pistons or rings usually before the 250cc 2t bikes due to the fact that they must be REVed so high, so often to produce HP to keep the speed going ... And no big deal changing piston and rings on a 2t bike numerous times. A 4t bike in contrast will need the same piston$ring maintenance and will always have a valve job waiting in the wings at some unknown hour ...