If you could choose......

Dr No

3558891373623107

You mentioned 250s. All is forgiven!

Good point concerning the early 990s. I lamented the loss of the strokers, but there were interesting bikes out tbere.

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Please refrain from calling two stroke motorcycles as "strokers". A "stroker" is/was/ and always will be a 4 stroke .......... it was the name given to any 4 stroke that turned up in the days when 2 strokes were the only thing. To call a two stroke is both lame and derogatory.


 


eg.





A Clews "stroka"


 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=genr9z2he_k


 


 


http://motocrossactionmag.com/Reviews/News/THE-NEWEST-VERSION-OF-THE-CLEWS-STROKA-Remember-Th-1268.aspx


 


 


needless to say back then "strokers" were woeful.


 


But nonetheless the name "stroka" thence "strokers" ( for any other 4 stroke ) is reserved for those big beaty 4 stroke engines and refers to the fact that you could hear every beat/"stroke" of the engine, especially when reference to the usual mosquito hum of the surrounding, and all pervasive 2 strokes.

Whatever, Barry.

Barry is a "stroka"

Dr No

3560851373798014

Whatever, Barry.

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xx CURVE xx

3560911373801415

Barry is a "stroka"

Click to expand...

 


Barry is correct in this, whatever your opinion of him.


 


The key statement from him was


 

"strokers" ( for any other 4 stroke ) is reserved for those big beaty 4 stroke engines and refers to the fact that you could hear every beat/"stroke" of the engine, especially when reference to the usual mosquito hum of the surrounding, and all pervasive 2 strokes.

Click to expand...

But if it makes you both feel better, I'll go back and fix it.

And I'll be careful with my nomenclature around VMX paddocks.

Dr No

3560951373802694

But if it makes you both feel better, I'll go back and fix it.

And I'll be careful with my nomenclature around VMX paddocks.

Click to expand...

Not really a problem TBH, just me & Barry showing our age and being picky!!

yamaka46

3561131373809012

Not really a problem TBH, just me & Barry showing our age and being picky!!

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If "picky" means pedantic ....... yes thats it :lol: :lol: :lol:


 


to be honest back in the day I cannot remember any specific nickname for two strokes, as they were all incumbent, indeed the 4 strokes were such an obscure intrusion that they warranted a description ....... for the fans only really ....... racers merely looked at them with nostalgic interest and a very dubious momentary wonder if any of the "magazine talk" could have been remotely possible ............ and then overtook them/lapped them with ease .......... hence the "hype" of these revisited 4 strokes was seen as just wanking ie. having a stroke ie. "strokers". 


 


Twas the same for road or offroad Dr N.


 


But if you need a nickname for 2 strokes, I will accept the then "newb" titles for 2 strokes as "smokers" or "blue-smokes", though these really only began to be used when 4 strokes had already taken over as the most popular "stroke" in the paddock. And realistically they were only used by those not riding the bikes, ergo the term "newb" ( ie. those outside the fence ).


 


But back in the day ........ 2 strokes were race bikes ....... 4 strokes were what granpa/dad may have had. 4 strokes only became "strokers" because the title fit so well ie. the slow beaty/strokey sound .......... and ......... it was soon found to be a .... ( as we all thought ) to expect a 4 stroke to compete with a 2 stroke ........ ergo you are having ( as Curve has partially correctly pointed out ) a .... ....... a "stroke".

It's 18 deg C here and about 60% humidity. I'm at sealevel.


10.8cc head. Leaded. Non-PJ carb.


Please, sir, help me jet my RS.

Dr No

3561551373859330

 10.8cc head.

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There's your problem, right there... need a bigger head to do all the sums and stuff


 


 


Further... 


 


I'm with Barry, less the pedantry. Old fat blokes rode four strokes. We all had Ts, GTs, RDs, ITs, YZs, RMs, PEs, and all manner of K-prefixed scariness.


 


Living in a place of immense twistiness, the idea of a four-stroke was an anathema. I borrowed my mate Barbara's 400-4 to give it a bit of an overhaul and see if it could be made less sluggardly. It was less than inspiring. When you opened the throttle it made lots of noise and the tacho slowly climbed to six or seven grand while you struggled to fight it round a bend, then had to back off early to wrestle it down from the 100 or 110 km/h you had reached so you could  get the pig turned. Given a long enough run, my KJ125 could keep glued to its back wheel and my T250 had pissed off into the distance wving a wheelie in farewell (and they were hellishly overweight. compared to later efforts).


 


The cops rode 750/4 Hondas that couldn't catch a cold. Taking an already overweight and underpowered piece of Honda nastiness and adding extra batteries, panniers, lights and radio gear, then expecting it to be able to keep sight of, let alone pull up to, any manner of two-stroke road-rocketry was futile.


 


They were the object of much derision until, many years later, the MOT finally bought a couple of GS1000s and kept the gear to a minimum.


 


I can't count the number of times we just blew by a plod and carried on whatever we were doing. They rarely managed a stop and then had little in the way of evidence with which to charge you.


 


A long time before motards, we had guys with road tyres and disk brakes on the IT465s or RM500s - those things were just about unbeatable in an urban setting. Nothing twin-cylinder could match them round a city or suburb, it was only when you got to more open sweepers that you had the least chance. And if it had more strokes than two, you were pretty lucky to be able to see them past the first corner.


 


There were some hot four strokes - chassis-modified Z900s, quick, sorted Guzzis, Dukes and Beemers, but little from Japan was capable of staying with a capable rider on a two-stroke. 


 


When the RG500 came out I thought it was the pinnacle of motorcycle development, little did I know, it heralded the decline of the two-stroke era. There was never going to be anything as good or as beautiful in a two-stroke. They tried with the RZ500, but it wasn't as sharp as the RG. The TZRs were awesome, but without the balls-out performance and when the Italians came along, they were just too expensive and we had all grown up a bit and wanted the low-maintenance and carrying ability of a stroker. Commuting on a rat RZ was no way for the up and coming young executive to behave. 


 


There was nothing like it ever again, for me. The experience of 120kms fill-to-fill on the TZR at full chat through the Northern Wairarapa and Manawatu Gorge, through to Southern Hawke's Bay. Realising when you pull into the gas station that you really couldn't remember anything specific about the last 120 ks, just a blur of shifting, knee-out, punching between the lines of traffic at 170-180 ks, craning your neck to see round the approaching sweeper, heaving on the anchors and the front wheel climbing skywards again to herald you, to cheer you on your way.


 


Bliss.

All a little before my time, BJC. And after those of my dad's (he and his mates rattled around on British twins....). Not to mention that my local area had nothing on the roads you describe...anything useful is a decent ride away....


 


The 3 bikes I have left are all 2-strokes. Though only one is road registerable, and is a scooter (Italjet 180) at that....

Amazing writing in this thread.

BarryMachine

3560481373772684

Please refrain from calling two stroke motorcycles as "strokers". A "stroker" is/was/ and always will be a 4 stroke .......... it was the name given to any 4 stroke that turned up in the days when 2 strokes were the only thing. To call a two stroke is both lame and derogatory.


 


eg.

A Clews "stroka"


 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=genr9z2he_k


 


 


http://motocrossactionmag.com/Reviews/News/THE-NEWEST-VERSION-OF-THE-CLEWS-STROKA-Remember-Th-1268.aspx


 


 


needless to say back then "strokers" were woeful.


 


But nonetheless the name "stroka" thence "strokers" ( for any other 4 stroke ) is reserved for those big beaty 4 stroke engines and refers to the fact that you could hear every beat/"stroke" of the engine, especially when reference to the usual mosquito hum of the surrounding, and all pervasive 2 strokes.

Click to expand...

Absolutely right - it seems the terminololgy has been completely reversed somewhere along the way, but it's so commonplace these days in motorcycling parlance...


 


http://www.classicmechanics.com/articles/2013-02/yamaha-rd400


 


Had one of these - in exactly the same colour scheme with the red speedblocks, one of the reasons I loved the Valencia '05 50th anniversary livery's that Colin and Vale ran. Bar my DT 175, probably the best two stroke I owned but its limitations were only too apparent when most of my mates started appearing (or rather disappearing) on 350 LCs.


 


Does anyone remember the Suzuki X7? Had one Beckett tuned - black with a 7up paint job. My Brother in law and I used to take it up to Santa Pod to blow away the bigger four stroke IL4 road bikes over the standing quarter and also down to the Mallory Wednesday night 'run what you brung'.  We sold it to a .... who fed it on a diet of STP - disbursed the oil in the process and spectacularly siezed it.


 


BJC, I had extended loan of an Stan Stephens Stage 2 tuned RG500 Gamma one summer. When they hit the road it was as though they'd literally been transplanted straight off the GP circuit..which essentially they had - I can't stress enough how radical it was at the time. The fact that he'd had the ...... race tuned was frankly ludicrous, extravagent and utterly unecessary. It very likely made 95 - 100bhp at the rear wheel which sounds tame by today's standards - in the context of the 80's when GP prototypes were producing around 140 - 145 in comparison, it was monstrous. When that armwrenching light switch rotary reed valve induction powerband kicked you in both nads and threatened to dislocate both wrists @ 6 grand, pin it, and the power gradient/output soared almost doubling within 2,000rpm. It actually stopped too. Four pot callipers were unheard of back then - again, lifted straight out of GPs. Whenever I rode it  I don't think I ever had the confidence to remove my hand from covering the clutch lever. It didn't look as good as the RD500 imo, but the Yam simply wasn't in the same league.


 


Eventually sold my soul and bought a GS550 to work as a despatch rider. It all vanished in a haze of blue smoke and memories. The only two stroke I own now is a ......' hedge clipper..still have to get the fuel/oil ratio correct though. 

Great post, Arrabb.

I've played very calmly on a tuned RZ. It wasn't the power that scared me, it was the squishy forks and crap brakes. A Stan Stevens Gamma is something... beyond.

Also landed on my head/face/back attempting to take a DT beyond my skill levels and its fork travel. Great little bike.

Hedge Clipper? 30:1 on Agip Kart.

Arrabbiata1

3561751373880261

Absolutely right - it seems the terminololgy has been completely reversed somewhere along the way, but it's so commonplace these days in motorcycling parlance...


 


http://www.classicmechanics.com/articles/2013-02/yamaha-rd400


 


Had one of these - in exactly the same colour scheme with the red speedblocks, one of the reasons I loved the Valencia '05 50th anniversary livery's that Colin and Vale ran. Bar my DT 175, probably the best two stroke I owned but its limitations were only too apparent when most of my mates started appearing (or rather disappearing) on 350 LCs.


 


Does anyone remember the Suzuki X7? Had one Beckett tuned - black with a 7up paint job. My Brother in law and I used to take it up to Santa Pod to blow away the bigger four stroke IL4 road bikes over the standing quarter and also down to the Mallory Wednesday night 'run what you brung'.  We sold it to a .... who fed it on a diet of STP - disbursed the oil in the process and spectacularly siezed it.


 


BJC, I had extended loan of an Stan Stephens Stage 2 tuned RG500 Gamma one summer. When they hit the road it was as though they'd literally been transplanted straight off the GP circuit..which essentially they had - I can't stress enough how radical it was at the time. The fact that he'd had the ...... race tuned was frankly ludicrous, extravagent and utterly unecessary. It very likely made 95 - 100bhp at the rear wheel which sounds tame by today's standards - in the context of the 80's when GP prototypes were producing around 140 - 145 in comparison, it was monstrous. When that armwrenching light switch rotary reed valve induction powerband kicked you in both nads and threatened to dislocate both wrists @ 6 grand, pin it, and the power gradient/output soared almost doubling within 2,000rpm. It actually stopped too. Four pot callipers were unheard of back then - again, lifted straight out of GPs. Whenever I rode it  I don't think I ever had the confidence to remove my hand from covering the clutch lever. It didn't look as good as the RD500 imo, but the Yam simply wasn't in the same league.


 


Eventually sold my soul and bought a GS550 to work as a despatch rider. It all vanished in a haze of blue smoke and memories. The only two stroke I own now is a ......' hedge clipper..still have to get the fuel/oil ratio correct though. 

Click to expand...

I remember the X7, but I never found one that could keep up with my Stan Stephens tuned RD250LC (actually it had a 275cc big bore kit) :yeah:

I had an X7 for proddie racing. It was a definite step up from the GT, but couldn't match the RDs or LCs. It was light and flickable, but just didn't have the grunt. But... on a twisty urban course it could hold its own and best most 4 strokes. Without any sort of fairing it was buggered above 140km. 


 


After many a dent, I eventually refettled it for non-proddie 250 racing. It was ok, engine-wise, but suffered from a bendy chassis and naff brakes. It was a lot more fun riding my ETZ250 in Euro class.


 


We thought Suzuki was done after the X7 - to our mind they had been left behind by the technological might of the tuning fork team. Then the RG250 and eventually, RG500 reminded us who it was that brought two-strokes to Japan.


 


It wasn't to last.  

Garbin

3562141373911544

I remember the X7, but I never found one that could keep up with my Stan Stephens tuned RD250LC (actually it had a 275cc big bore kit) :yeah:

Click to expand...

I know of an x7 with an rd350lc lump in it.


Getting it ready to race in the classics now.


Will post pics soon

But why? The frame was worse than the RDs. Probably the only saving grace is it was lighter than the RDs. The headstock was made of cheese.

Bump.
First result when googling bombadrone.
We can all use a bit of motohub after work.

@new guys : what's your pick?

Jumkie said:

Im amazed. A thread let alone a post thats actually not 100% hell-o ....... certified lunacy from StupidShit. Jesus H Christ, whatvin dee hell is this world coming too?

Well..the Cagiva is by far the pretties bike ever made on earth. But if I had to pick one mFing bike to have in my garage? .......no contest. Nicky mothatfuckin Hayden's RCV 2006 ........ Perferably with that pretty boy on the seat for good measures.

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Pffft! LOL! I forgot how gay Jumkie was for Hayden. When is that psycho coming back? What is he waiting for?

Ducati 916 Senna for me. Just to look at.