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These boots are made for wading,
and that’s just what they’ll do,
One of these days those boots are gonna
squelch all over you……At 16, I had a rough time with my 4 mates, one had a FSIE (DX no less) and the others had AP50’s.
Meanwhile I had a Bloody Honda CB50J. I tried to de-reestrict it, but it was not a patch on the strokers…..just had to have um on the brakes, and in corners!I am sorry to say the the AP50 was the one to have……..my god they were thirsty though, and tended to need a rebore with every tank of 2-stroke.
It was the extra gear that beat the FSIE.I think the Yam had a sweeter engine though.
What fun could be had until you could get a RD250, or X7 on L Plates at 17….Fantasic!
– Don’t worry I didnt pick the Superdream at this opportunity!
Happy Days…The Duke’s going lovely with some new rubber on, an AVON STORM….very impressed with the way the bike goes around corner so far.
Not bad in the wet either….that was your daft idea Radar! Breakfast helped though!What sort of bike interests you MCi for you 125?
A road bike, trial bike, cruiser?
One of the [nice] problems these days is the choice…..any preferences?I had a rough time with my 4 mates, one had a FSIE (DX no less) and the other AP50’s.
Meanwhile I had a Bloody Honda CB50J. I tried to dereestrict it, but it was not a patch on the strokers…..just had to have um on the brakes, and corners!I am sorry to say the the AP50 was the one to have……..my god they were thirsty though!
Hey welcome Pigeon, you’ve got me thinkin’ already….see you soon to Talk some more, AAAHH… Casrol… stories!
Welcome Mike, nice to see you here.
Take a good look around, there’s some varied stuff to be found!
And nice to catch up with you the weekend.See you out and about!
Thanks for the breakfast bud! Gix would have enjoyed it!
The little FZ sounds really sweet…..I was expecting a real rattler at 55K, but its smooth, and has a tasty pipe too.
I hope its not a monster muncher!
The Honda 250 in its time, was cheaper, slightly less powerfull but loads lighter than the superdream. The handling was much better though, and could ride around the outside of ’em. Most enjoyable 4 stroke quarter litre I reckon.
The only one that came close is maybe the GSX.Great little bike.
PS, I’m asking Radar to make my next number plate for me…..bellissimo!
Hi Sidevalve, comparisons to a 2 stroke, umm…….
I guess the low revving, tractable Duke could not be more different to the narrow torque band, free spinning 2 strokes I love!
A completely different animal, or should I say Monster?!?!The TDR250 smoker is light, high pitched and free revving twin, and a dream when you keep the engine ‘on song’ in the power band. This power band traditionally is very narrow on 2 strokes, some extreme examples having only 1000 revs to play in. This meant the race bikes had to have many narrowly spaced gears.
The narrow power band of a two stroke is due to the literal ‘tuning’ of the exhaust and inlet tracts, working best at the point where they can get maximum inducted mixture. This has to be coincidental to the resonated reverberated waves back up the exhaust to the port to assist with keeping the mixture from flowing straight across the piston, and out of the exhaust port. These harmonics are what the racers used to spend ages getting the right resonate length of their expansion pipes.
One manufacturer overcame this issue with the adoption of the Yamaha Power Valve System [YPVS], which by the use of Reed induction Valves, and a rotary valve at the exhaust port, broadened the torque band considerably. The reed valves prevented reverse pumping losses of the mixture, like a one way valve.
The rotary YPVS worked by adjusting the ignition timing and exhaust port timing by closing the valve partially at low to medium engine revs. The full power was extracted by fully opening the valve at the point that the induction and exhaust pipes become ‘in tune’ together – again, a calibrated high rev frequency at which the system reverb harmonics produces peak power.When it happens, it’s a proper adrenaline junkie’s heaven! You can’t resist using this all through the gears – all the time!
The engine changes note & pitch, and scolded cat analogy becomes real as the scenery turns blurry!Two strokes are also very smooth, and can be relatively quiet when they are not in the zone. This is all a function of firing twice as many times as your common 4 strokes, so it’s a bit like having a smooth multi.
So I would suggest, good exhaust [pipes are much more critical to a 2 stroke than a 4 stroke like the thumping Duke.The M600 has some very naughty pipes on. Booming away, I had to go for ear plugs yesterday when out with Radar & later Toggsy. The Power of the throbbing V twin is comparatively soft and with a very wide torque band, pulling from a mere 2000 rpm. Modern 4 stroke 600 super sports, such as the Gixxer6 and the like have really taken on the role of the old 2 strokes with high revs, huge power output, but gutless midrange.
By contrast, the Monster is not smooth – far from it. You can feel each ignition pulse catapulting you along, with inevitable gaps just to reinforce the harsh power strokes, and consequently needs a heavy engine to cope with the big bangs.
This destroys transmissions, chains and tyres….but there’s nothing like it for noise and character.If you use this modest power to its optimum by using the torque, these bike can be very swift exiting corners – not being so critical for the correct gear /rev combination of the super sports.
Hell, all this points out to me after all these comparisons, is that I cant live with just one type of bike and engine type….they all have their place, and I love ‘em all !
Vive la differences!
Thanks Phil ER5, I am having a giggle on it….…as for Lex, maybe I should go for an Italian 2 stroke next, just to wind you up a bit!
