Two stroke vs Four stroke

Comparison between a four stroke 250 and a 2 stroke 250

Ever since four stroke dirt bikes have become competitive with the two strokes people have been arguing which one is faster and just all around better so lets compare them.

what is the horsepower difference?
The first difference between the Yamaha four stroke dirt bike and the two stroke is that the 4 stroke 250 produces 8500 rpm and 36 horsepower. The 2 stroke 250 makes about 46 horsepower at 11,300rpms. That’s a 10 horsepower advantage.
The difference between the KTM 250sx two stroke produces around 49.77 horsepower.

The KTM 250 four strokes make about 35.5 horsepower. So the 2 stroke has 13.22 more horsepower.
So no matter what brand of bike you get the 2 stroke is going to have more horsepower.

Horsepower doesn't matter if you don't have good torque so the torque comparison is:
The KTM 250 four stroke has 19.42 foot pounds of torque at 8600 rpm. While that is good torque the KTM 250 two strokes crushes it with 31.93 foot pounds of torque at 8000 rpm.

The KTM two strokes has way more than the four stroke. But its not the only brand were the 2 stroke has more horsepower the Yamaha 2 stroke has 30.6 foot pounds of torque. The YZ 250 four strokes has about 20.1 foot pounds of torque.

Is there a price difference?
Both the Yamaha 2 stroke and four stroke have the same retail of $7150
The 2012 KTM 250 two stroke is $800 cheaper than the 2012 KTM 250 four stroke. It retails for around $6899 (MSRP). The 2012 KTM 250 four stroke’s price is $7699

The author of dirt bike magazine said "Privateers could compete at a higher level for a lower cost. Even at the National level, engine mods on a two-stroke top out at around $1000—you can't buy the top-end parts for a four-stroke for that amount. "
Conclusion
My conclusion based on my research is that the 2 stroke is a faster bike. It is also cheaper bike. So why would you choose something that is more expensive and slower?

 Motocross action magazine said  "Without pulling any punches, every MXA tester thought that the 250SX two-stroke was a better race bike—lighter, faster, cheaper, better handling and easier to maintain. "

The whip

The most prestigious trick in racing is the whip. I'm going to tell you the way I do the whip and hopefully it will help you.
Picture of Justin Barcia whipping available at http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/PhotoGallerys/Justin-Barcia-unadilla.jpg

When going up the jump your body should be slightly forward on the bike. Being forward on the bike helps in bringing the back of the bike up and around. When approaching the jump let off on the gas. And begin to preload the suspension.


Next, start angling your bike towards the left side of the lip. If you are going to do a right turn your bike is already leaning towards your right foot. When you are at the base of the lip, you’ll want to twist the throttle throttle quick and then let go. This will give you more pop off the lip instead of powering through the lip like you think you would need to do. It is also important to let off the throttle right before the lip and preload the suspension to give you more lift.

Just after you leave the lip of the jump your head and shoulders will choose where your bike is going to go. As with any trick your body and bike will follow where your head and shoulders are aimed.

You should already be starting to look at your landing. There is no throttling here at all.
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Your bike should start to lay over easy now. You should not have to muscle a whip. It is more of a flow kind of thing rather than a muscle thing. Only your hands should be controlling the whip; it should flow the whole way through. Holding onto the bike with your right foot will help ensure you don’t lose the bike. Still, there is no throttle in this section of the jump.

Now you should be focused on your landing. Right when you get ready to land the whip, give it gas which will help straighten the bike up

Andrew Short

Andrew Short won his first career 450 supercross win this weekend in Seattle, Washington. Short, who's from Smithville, Texas, has been racing in the Supercross Class for nearly six years.

Short turned pro in 2000, and by 2001 he had earned a ride with the Motoworld Racing Suzuki support team. The first three years of his pro career were not that good for Andrew

However, the hard worker started earning top twenty results, and in 2002 achieved twelfth overall in the West Coast Supercross Lites class. And fifteenth overall in the MX Lites class.

Andrew ran into another rider's rear wheel as several riders knocked each other off as they were rolling down the start strait.  Andrew high sided and the momentum of his body threw him over the bars and then he got ran over by another rider.

Andrew visited the Asterisk Mobile Medical unit and determined that his shoulder dislocation was unlikely but the pain was too much to continue racing for the night.

Later he wrecked and had to have surgery on both elbows. He also has a broken wrist and will have to have a cast, which will make him miss some races.

Andrew Short is a great rider in my opinion and it’s great to see the number 29 back on top.
Motocycle- U.S.A. said:

One of the most clean-cut riders in this ragtag band of moto racers, Andrew Short is the type of guy you might find at a Les Schwab tire shop. Clean-cut, hard-working, friendly, fast and capable of landing results.that’s why multiple factory teams including Suzuki, Honda and KTM have put faith in this young Colorado native.

"Andrew short. Web 25 Apr. 2012 <http://p.vitalmx.com/photos/users/64/photos/58010/s780_042112seattle_race1509.jpg?1335098619>