Classic Two Strokes

[Taipan]

So what is the best bang for buck classic stroker?

When I was interested in them a while back, I found the DT 250/400 were a much better bang for your buck than anything RD. Dunno if it's still the same now though?

[Ian]

The trouble is all us old gits will be dropping dead soon then no one will want 2 strokes any more. I really need to either rebuild or sell some soon.

[mangocrazy]

The trouble is all us old gits will be dropping dead soon then no one will want 2 strokes any more. I really need to either rebuild or sell some soon.

It is a very clearly defined demographic - basically anyone in their late teens/early twenties in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. So the youngest 2T fan in those decades will currently be nearing 50 and the oldest will be in their mid 70s. Once that sliding window closes there will be very little market for two strokes of any description.

[Yorick]

The trouble is all us old gits will be dropping dead soon then no one will want 2 strokes any more. I really need to either rebuild or sell some soon.

We all have 2 stroke enduro bikes over here

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

An RD350LC sold on eBay for £4,500 the other day, they're out there if you wait for the dreamers wanting £10k to eventually get fed up and put them in an open auction.

Personally I think it peaked at the LC, after that they introduced power valves and the two strokes became easier to ride and more civilised, culminating into what I think was the pinnacle of development which was the TZR250 V-twin, an incredible bike to own, it out handled a lot of modern stuff and on a tight track like the Dubai Automdrome or Three Sisters in Wigan I could keep up or beat anything.

Hard to work on though and parts are expensive, the LC on the other hand is dead simple and parts are easier to come by, although they also can be expensive.

I prefer the YPVS to the LC, it handles a lot better, but either are about right for a two stroke, the right amount of power and not complicated, modern enduro 2 strokes have about 5 power valves that all open at different times.

I keep looking at 1981 onwards 1T175s but I honestly don't know if I've got the riding ability to keep one in the powerband anymore, I had the YZ125G that they're based on and it was constant gear changing, I used to change down two gears when in the air so that I landed in the right gear.

[Yorick]

An RD350LC sold on eBay for £4,500 the other day, they're out there if you wait for the dreamers wanting £10k to eventually get fed up and put them in an open auction.

Personally I think it peaked at the LC, after that they introduced power valves and the two strokes became easier to ride and more civilised, culminating into what I think was the pinnacle of development which was the TZR250 V-twin, an incredible bike to own, it out handled a lot of modern stuff and on a tight track like the Dubai Automdrome or Three Sisters in Wigan I could keep up or beat anything.

Hard to work on though and parts are expensive, the LC on the other hand is dead simple and parts are easier to come by, although they also can be expensive.

I prefer the YPVS to the LC, it handles a lot better, but either are about right for a two stroke, the right amount of power and not complicated, modern enduro 2 strokes have about 5 power valves that all open at different times.

I keep looking at 1981 onwards 1T175s but I honestly don't know if I've got the riding ability to keep one in the powerband anymore, I had the YZ125G that they're based on and it was constant gear changing, I used to change down two gears when in the air so that I landed in the right gear.

My GasGas doesn't have a powerband. Lovely smooth power.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I used to change down two gears when in the air so that I landed in the right gear.

I think that's likely to send you straight over the bars when you land.

Not on a two stroke 125, it had sod all engine braking, you had to land with the throttle open and the engine revving.

[The Spin Doctor]

Dad asked me what i thought and i suggested let him ride a twist and go to learn the roads without the gears to worry about as a 50cc gears is a lot to deal with just to even get to 30 mph but his response was "if he can ride this thing then he ride anything" I suggested he needs more help and time but it seems dad thinks i have taught him the basics enough for him to develop himself ...i can see him lobbing the bike in the near future just because his dad wont listen

And if he can't ride it, it'll be a trip to the breakers at best and in an ambulance at worst.

I used to hate that attitude.

[The Spin Doctor]

Personally I think motorcycles can be dangerous pieces of equipment to own and if someone isn't capable of managing one then you shouldn't dumb it down to enable it to happen. If the young chap is sufficiently disadvantaged that he can't ride and change gear, then how will he cope with a sudden hazardous situation if one arises? I'd steer him away from bikes rather than giving him a twist and go to make it easier to get into trouble.

I quite agree that there are people who should never go near any form of transport - they're even dangerous on foot...

...but there are cases where someone is actually very good at identifying the issues that crop up on the road and can do the basics like change speed (both hands on a twist and go) and direction (left OR right hand) to cope, but struggles with the left hand / right hand / left foot coordination necessary to change gear on a manual.

Sometimes it seems to be a genuine coordination issue. Don't ask me why, I'm not a neuros or behavioural scientist. It's just what I've observed. In that case, I would suggest sticking with an auto for the time being at least. It may be that when they are more relaxed about the rest of what they are doing, they can be coached to pick up the necessary coordination to shift gears.

Sometimes it seems they have a thought pattern which revolves around understanding WHY before they can DO, and if they've never used a car with a stick shift - an increasing number - they struggle with concept of gears in the first place and change gear but in random places and random direction. In that case, it may need a lot of extra time spent developing a basic understanding of the relationship between gears and road speed.

[Wossname]

Talking to a CBT trainer near us, he had a couple who came to him to get their 16yo daughter through her test and on the road, with her brand new step-thru. She could sit it, start on it, worked out the controls etc, but each time she moved off, she fell over. It turned out that she'd never learned to ride a bike.....

[Mr. Dazzle]

Ex colleague of mine was the same, she decided she wanted to learn to ride an MC but couldn't ride a push bike.

People's thought processes often baffle me, but that one took the cake.

If nothing else it's considerably harder and more expensive to learn the whole balance thing on a motorbike, surely you'd get a fifty quid push iron and crack that nut first.

[Count Steer]

Err...my missus had never ridden a bicycle when she did her training/test.

(The problem came years later when we hired bikes and she kept putting her feet down in order to stop I had to remind her that, although they don't have engines, they do have brakes. ).

[Skub]

Although I haven't owned one for years,I always think the children who didn't learn to ride a bike missed out on a whole rich experience. I still remember vividly,my da running behind me and holding on to the back of my bicycle seat until I got my balance,then letting go. That feeling of exhilaration and freedom was more than likely what addicted me to motorised two wheelers.

My three weans have the same memory and they all loved their bicycles.

[ZRX61]

T500's didn't have folding pegs... as a mate discovered when he dug the right one in at Druids & fell off. Two laps later he did it again.

Edit: Now I think about it, it may have been the next lap.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Although I haven't owned one for years,I always think the children who didn't learn to ride a bike missed out on a whole rich experience. I still remember vividly,my da running behind me and holding on to the back of my bicycle seat until I got my balance,then letting go. That feeling of exhilaration and freedom was more than likely what addicted me to motorised two wheelers.

My three weans have the same memory and they all loved their bicycles.

Baby D doesn't remember not having a bicycle, I asked her

She had a pedal free "balance bike" for her 2nd Birthday and then a pedalled one for her 3rd. She skipped stabilisers, only took her about 10 mins to combine pedalling (learned on a trike at nursery school) and balancing.

It would seem really weird to me for a child to not be able to ride a bike, I honestly didn't believe my (40 something) colleague when she told me she couldn't ride a bike. I thought she was pulling my leg.

[The Spin Doctor]

Talking to a CBT trainer near us, he had a couple who came to him to get their 16yo daughter through her test and on the road, with her brand new step-thru. She could sit it, start on it, worked out the controls etc, but each time she moved off, she fell over. It turned out that she'd never learned to ride a bike.....

If he's done more than 2 or 3 CBTs he'd know that not having ridden a bike is now far more common that having cycling experience.

It really doesn't matter which two wheeler they learn to ride, cycle or motorcycle... the dynamics are the same. In some ways a motorised bicycle is easier as the rider doesn't have to push on the pedals - just let the bike find its own balance.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Genuinely very surprised at that. More than half of trainees can't ride any kind of two wheelers before turning up?

Times are a changing.

[Ian]

Not entirely surprised given the number of scooter riders I see trailing one or both feet.This might explain that

[The Spin Doctor]

Not entirely surprised given the number of scooter riders I see trailing one or both feet.This might explain that

That's just fashion that started about ten years ago. Dunno where it came from. They must go through a shed-loads of cheap trainers.

[The Spin Doctor]

Genuinely very surprised at that. More than half of trainees can't ride any kind of two wheelers before turning up?

Times are a changing.

Pre-teens have their heads stuck in mobile phones. When I topped up the CBT training for my ex's son a few years back, he couldn't actually follow the route his school bus had taken every day since he went to the school aged 11. Five years of doing the same road there and back, and he didn't actually know where it went, and the school was less than three miles away!