yeah... 4-strokes are better in most cases i think but 2-strokes... its all about the peaky sudden power delivery and man.. the smell of castor oil... livechanging experience

oh and that canada thing, what about mopes? do you have to use 4-stroke 50ccs

Quote from 5haz :

rotary for the win.

You do actually realise that even rotary is a 4-stroke?

I don't care about bikes or anything similar, but I voted for 4-stroke.

Some 2-strokes can sound quite nice, but when I think of 2-stroke I can only imagine annoying 15 year old driving with his slow 50cc Suzuki making annoying sound and annoyingly being in my way in the road. I hate mopeds. And microcars.

well in australia, all karts basically run 2 stokes. 4 stokes are woeful

Quote from arrowkart4 :

well in australia, all karts basically run 2 stokes. 4 stokes are woeful

biland ftw

Quote from BigPeBe :

You do actually realise that even rotary is a 4-stroke?

There is actually one combustion stroke per crankshaft rotation, so a rotary engine is actually a 1 stroke.

But it has 3 walls with the inlet and exhaust valuves IIRC so wouldn't it be a 3 stroke?

Nothing beats the sound of.. SUCK-SQUEEZE-BANG-BLOW ., I've got 3 four stroke engines the largest being 20cc .

Quote from 5haz :

There is actually one combustion stroke per crankshaft rotation, so a rotary engine is actually a 1 stroke.

Nope. 4-stroke means that there are four different "stages", intake, compression, power and exhaust.

Wankel motors are 4-stroke.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine

MYT engine ftw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MBYg1NPzMY

this is mainly why i like 4-strokes...just listen to this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXwQUpz1QyE

If we are talking about the sound of a one cylinder 4 stroke and 2 stroke, the latter wins hands down. C'mon, 4 stroke 1 cylinder sounds like farting

2 strokes can never make a noise like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... Pqt8o&feature=related

4 Stroke:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5MbJ6sL-84

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ27PL7WwM0

4 stroke.

I wonder, is there any 4 stroke car out already? Or concept cars?

I bet that chinese ppl have already done that

lol what

Quote from hazaky :

I wonder, is there any 4 stroke car out already? Or concept cars?

I bet that chinese ppl have already done that

What the..

The last two-stroke car was the Trabant

The only 2-Strokes worth keeping alive is the Banshee 350 and it's powervalve cousin in a motorcycle, and the CR500 from Honda. Those swaps aren't uncommon in various quad frames. But anyway nowadays it's all about the torquey 4-Strokes!

Lotus are/were developing a fuel injected 2-stroke bio-fuel engine. So it may come back.

I'd love a go on a modern 250 GP bike.

Quote from sinbad :

Lotus are/were developing a fuel injected 2-stroke bio-fuel engine. So it may come back.

I'd love a go on a modern 250 GP bike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIG9pWldO8U

Quote from BigPeBe :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIG9pWldO8U

That is way too complicated, I feel for the mechanic that has to repair that mess when it comes apart at 7k rpm.

As far as 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke.

I have driven both 4-stroke and 2-stroke bikes, a 4-stroke ATV, and a 2-stroke snowmobile.

The power band on the 2-strokes, both the bike and snowmobile, was nice. But the 4-strokes are much smoother and cleaner, the power delivery is much less violent. I hated the buzz of my friend's 2-stroke bike, it was like a bee right in the ear, and it smoked like a factory.

Both my bikes are 4-stroke, an 81' 125cc dual sport honda, and a 77' 75cc honda mini crosser. Both of them pull like mad when you get on the throttle. And I have totaly out pulled an equivelent 2-stroke on both of them.

My bike is an 81' but this is pretty much how it sounds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmLBvVy-j_c

My friend's 125cc yamaha 2-stroke has power, but it just isn't as fast off the line, or as quick at top end.


As for 2-strokes being illegal in canada, they arn't. Every chainsaw or small engine power tool today is 2-stroke.

Lawn mowers are 4-stroke because they are designed to be more eco-friendly, and the average joe usualy killed the 2-stroke ones by thinking they could get away with running it without oil.

A chainsaw isn't expected to be used by the average joe, but by a farmer or trained worker who will know how to take care of it.

Time for some shameless self promotion.

Here's my 2 stroke bike

I loved the RS125 because it handled nicely. It looked great and it was a joy to ride in the twisties. With the full arrow system, it sounded nice as well, for a 2 stroke. Was only a 125cc but still was kicking out around 31bhp. The powervalve kicked in at 8000rpm, and boy did you notice!

You have to treat them like babies though. I always allowed it warm up before using any power or high revs, used £14/l Castrol 2 stroke oil, I didn't tend to ride it all that hard, mostly was commuting, but did my fair share of dicking about, and 3140 miles later, it still was running strong. Cold starts were a problem but as would be with any 2 stroke.

Here's my old Z750 (4 stroke)

Sorry it includes me dicking about with trebor901. :hide:

Here's my SV650, also a 4stroke.

Take your pick. The noisy of the 2T was embarrasing around town but on my own was fine. At least I get looks for all the right reasons riding a 4 stroke..

Quote from DragonCommando :

That is way too complicated, I feel for the mechanic that has to repair that mess when it comes apart at 7k rpm.

Complex but not needlessly.
No 4stroke will be pretty if it lunches itself either of course, and presumably they reckon they can improve on classic 2 stroke reliability.

Quote from sinbad :

Complex but not needlessly.
No 4stroke will be pretty if it lunches itself either of course, and presumably they reckon they can improve on classic 2 stroke reliability.

A variable compression system will never make an engine more reliable, the more parts you add to something, the more there is to break.

The valve train in a 4-stroke is about as much as you'd want to add. Any more mechanical parts, like variable cam or intake, is just pointless parts that reduce reliability in the long run. If you take a non-Vtec honda engine and compare it to a Vtec engine of comparable size/power. The Vtec system is garanteed to be less reliable. Honda's engines are pretty good as far as reliability goes, but I would still take the simpler design over the Vtec version.

Every two stroke I've ever used short of chainsaws and small engine power tools has had problems, not so much reliability wise, but overheating is a big problem with 2-strokes. Aircooled 4-strokes have a few cycles to oil cool before the next ignition cycle. 2-strokes fire every up stroke, so they generate alot more heat.

I did have one 2-stroke blow the crank seals, and another fragged on a friend, but the fragging was because he didn't know how to shift.

My XL125s can run twice as long, and twice as hard as my friend's yamaha 2-stroke.(can't remember model) Both bikes are from around the same era, aside from his mono-shock, everything looks very similar even.

The yamaha just seems to overheat on the trails, it starts backfiring and missing and we know its time to let it cool down. My 125 has only done that once, after running it slow in low gears to get through a swamp.