Little help please, I want a 2-stroke

[OLDSCHOOL-MUSCLE]

Because of fear of sounding like a broken record, I didn't name this thread "2 stroke or 4 stroke", but it's basically another one of those threads, but mainly I have some important questions.

This is for my first bike, and I want it to be street legal. As far as I'm concerned the 4-stroke is a better bike for the road in every way, except I love the sound of a 2-stroke. I have some questions that I'd love to get more info on.

1. Whats the deal with filling up petrol (or gas for you yanks) at the servo? Hows it done?

2. From what I've read a trail bike 2 stroke is supposed to be rebuilt every 25 to 40 hours or riding. How does this apply to the street, maybe in k's. Would it be every 15,000kms? And how would the 4-stroke go in comparison.

3. I've heard the two-stroke is pi$$ easy to rebuild, how much does it roughly cost to do it, also in comparison to a 4-stroke.

4. Could I get some mileage figures both for 2-strokes and 4-strokes.

5. Would anyone in they're right mind buy a 2-stroke if they had even the slightest intention to ride interstate distances.

I have so many questions but I'll leave it at that for now. Oh also, a 125 would have enough power for me yeah? How much faster would a 250 be? Thanks

Oh yeah, and riders details apparantly is important, so:
5foot 10" or 177cm
160 pounds or 70 kg
21 years old

[RoostRider]

In the US you cannot make a new 2 stroke street legal (post 1970's)... not in a legal manner anyways

2 strokes are easier and cheaper to rebuild than 4's... how often depends on how they are built and how they are ridden... some people get YEARS out of a top end

2 strokes get WAY worse mileage than 4 strokes (part of the reason they are not street legal)

no one in their right mind would use a 2 stroke on the interstate... (not the ones you mention anyways)

Your size is adequate for either a 125 or 250

hope that helps

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by OLDSCHOOL-MUSCLE

5. Would anyone in they're right mind buy a 2-stroke if they had even the slightest intention to ride interstate distances.

No. I think that's crazy. I agree with Roostrider, go with a street legal 250cc and up 4 stroke enduro. I've seen many Honda XL650 dual purpose on the freeways and cruising down the interstate, of course weather permitting.

[MagicRat]

I agree with the above posts.
New 2 stroke dual purpose bikes (usually small displacement) are still made for some overseas markets, I don't know if there are any sold in Australia.

Here in Canada, there are lots of used dual purpose bikes available, up to 400cc, used, from the 1970's and '80's. They are often still in good shape because they don't get ridden too much (6 months of cold weather each year , go figure).

Your 12 month riding season may have worn them all out years ago, but have a look on the used bike market.

Most people you spoke to probably only know about 2 stroke motocross bikes, which have short engine lives, are peaky as all hell, a pain in the ass to ride at a constant speed and suck down the fuel like no tomorrow.

These dual purpose bikes had a much milder state of tune, and are much easier to live with than a motocross bike. The gas mileage is worse than a 4 stroke, but better than a motocrosser.

They are quite pleasant to ride down a highway for long distances, often they are smoother and lighter than many 4 strokes and can be less fatiguing to ride. It really depends on the particulr models in question.

As for the sound..............do you like the loud 2 strokes? Decent dual purpose bikes are pretty quiet, which is good because loud 2 strokes get annoying pretty quickly, both for the rider and everyone else within a 1/2 mile radius.

Finally, many dual purpose bikes have an oil injection system, with a seperate oil tank. Just check to oil level every few tankfulls and put ordianry gas in the tank, no mixing required.

If pre mix is prequired, its no big deal to carry a bottle of pre mix in the tank. Just figure out how many liters of gas the tank hold, so when you need to fill up, just do some simple math, work out how much oil is required for a 30:1 to 50:1 mix (whatever the bike manufacturer recommends) , then throw the measured amount of premix oil in the tank FIRST then fill it with gas.