Vale the two stroke era

[quattro750]

"We have also agreed that from 2012 the 125cc class will be replaced by Moto3, this has been approved in principle by all the members. The MSMA gave a majority approval and the rest of the members – the FIM, IRTA, and Dorna – have all approved. The basic concept is a 250cc, 4-stroke, one-cylinder engine with a maximum bore of 81mm. The aim is to make this category more competitive and cheaper."

a logical development but saddens my heart to not have that magic racing ring ding any more.

q

[thro]

Sad days indeed. ALso sad due to the fact that there is still 2 stroke development going on with KTM in the dirt world. Also, in outboard engines, and honda had a very clean/efficient 2 stroke endurance motor in the early 00s that never saw the light of day.

I think/hope it is a temporary setback, and that one day they'll be back - though more likely bikes will be electric by then :|

[bomoto]

Yeah political BS for the demise of the little 2 stroke...... Dorna trying to get more manufacturers involved.

LONG LIVE THE TWO STROKE MINIMOTO....... It will be the only one left soon!!!!

[timmy]

LONG LIVE THE TWO STROKE MINIMOTO....... It will be the only one left soon!!!!

Even those are having some 4 stroke development

[Polished_Handles]

2 stroke mini moto lives on well and strong!

[Roger Explosion]

Yeah political BS for the demise of the little 2 stroke...... Dorna trying to get more manufacturers involved.

Yeah. A pox on them for trying to preserve the future of the sport by bringing in more moneys....

[Krusty1]

Damn shame...

I reckon Wayne Rainey summed it up perfectly

"The racing doesn't excite me the way it did. When you hear 250 guys getting on a MotoGP bike and saying this things easier than a 250, I hate to hear that, it doesn't sound right."

That is coming from a legend.

2 x time US Superbike Champ
3 x time 500cc World Champ
2 x time Second Place 500cc World Championship
1 x time Third Place 500cc World Championship

[bomoto]

I reckon Wayne Rainey summed it up perfectly

"The racing doesn't excite me the way it did. When you hear 250 guys getting on a MotoGP bike and saying this things easier than a 250, I hate to hear that, it doesn't sound right."

And Rossi in "faster" the movie:
"Weeth the 500 for first time eez like FU............"

[Neil-51]

With 4 strokes MotoGP licks balls and isn't worth watching. There is often 20 seconds between the top 5 at the end of the race and you have a fair chance of picking the podium after lap 3.

[thro]

I can't believe that people bought the BS about 4 strokes being cheaper.

What the fuck?

Replacing broken parts (i.e., stamping out more copies) on a motor at that level is the cheap part. Its the R&D involved that costs the money - and with 4 strokes there is so many more moving parts that are under stress and need to be refined - they turn nearly twice the RPM for starters, and stress on components goes up exponentially with RPM...

[dirt_infected]

Even from a recreational enduro racer's perspective- thrash a bike in a race situation, and stuff breaks- regardless of 2-stroke or 4. A 2-stroke is a lot cheaper to fix.

Some argue, and I don't know if its true or not, that the 4-stroke killed a lot of privateer MX racers' careers before they took off, simply due to purchase and running costs over a season being too high.

Hope the same doesn't become true for road racing.

[thro]

^^ i can see how that is believable.

The modern 4 stroke race MX motors need rebuilds just as often as the old 2 strokes anyway. They're simply trying to make the same power through RPM rather than firing twice as often.

rebuilding a 4 stroke is a lot more complicated and expensive than a piston and rings for a 2 stroke... :-\

[HK1]

I like to think if GP motorbikes were an wwii fighter. 2 stroke would be a Mustang, and the 4 strokes a p-47 lightning.
maico are still making 700cc! singles. Stick it in a RZ frame, no worries lol
Maico Australia - Flash Intro

[Gangus]

It's a real backturning to such racing heritage!
The 125's are pure cornerspeed.
The 250's were all over it.
The 500's were just tamable by the best! Getting that front wheel down in time to tip her in then come through the corner, back on it with that front twitching, itching to forget aiming for anything but the horizon then asking everything of those carbon brakes to wash off the violence of the powerband to scrape that knee again...
.
.
Hopefully it's not the last hoorah

[thro]

I like to think if GP motorbikes were an wwii fighter. 2 stroke would be a Mustang, and the 4 strokes a p-47 lightning.

2 strokes would be like a Zero, 4 strokes are more like Bf-110...