[MyKa]

I played with dirt-bikes as a kid and I'm getting back into it but it appears that almost all the bikes are now 4-strokes. Whats the deal?

Also, I'm looking to build a tard. Suggestions on bike? If I could I would love to make a 2-stroke YZ 250 but I doubt 2-strokes can be made legal. Am I Wrong - any 2-stroke tards out there?

btw, "this is for my wife." hehe, you know how that goes.

 

[skohlscheen]

2 stroke dirtbikes, in general, have fallen out of favor due to emission laws. But they are still in use. Yamaha just came out with an aluminum frames YZ250 2 stroke that's supposed to be quite good. 125 2 strokes are being killed by 250 4 strokes in racing, so that seems to be influencing the public buying trend. The 'new' 4 strokes are more like a cylinder from a F1 car. Very high tech, and very powerful for their size(hence the 250 4t killing 125 2t)

Racing motards are almost exclusivly 4 strokes because the engine braking and power delivery are more suited to the style.

Road legal, well if you can get it plated by the state than anything goes I guess.

 

[MyKa]

ahh. Ok, What would be a good 4-stroke bike to start with to turn into a street legal tard? My dad has a 4-stroke 350 endro kaw(at least that's what we used to call them). It's just like these bikes I've seen called motards but they have off road/on road tires rather than the sport bike looking race tires.

I was thinking of something along the lines of a newer bike, 450 or so....

 

[skohlscheen]

Motard, to me, means 17 inch tires with bigger brakes and lowered suspension to ride on pavement and dirt. With some leway for dual-sports, but they won't be as fast :smile:

Street legal I would say a minimum of 400 four stroke. YZF426f, YZF450f, WR426f, WR450f, EXC400, EXC450, EXC525, TE450, TE510, TE610, XR600, XR650, DR-Z400 etc. For the street I'd want a wider ratio transmission, and more gears, than what usually comes on strict dirtbikes(CRF, YZF, etc) so a WR, a TE, or an EXC would be first on my list. In other words dual sport based bikes. The XR and DR-Z, in that order, would be the most simple to maintain. All the rest are more high strung and will require more care and feeding. The XR is a stone axe reliable motor and it's been around for a dogs age.

Now there are a few manufacturer models that are motards first. But they are from KTM(model names like SMC), Husky( model name SMR) and Husaberg. Great bikes, but I understand if European models scare those not familiar with them. The KTMs would be the best for factory support(parts and # of dealers) followed by Husky.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Following a good deal of researching my own soon to be purchased dirtbike/motard/dirt sampler. :808922-fiddy:

 

[MonsterJ]

Micah,

I'll add my two cents.... I picked up a left over 04 KTM 450EXC Factory Dualsport from motorcyclebrokers.com Its the same 450EXC sold here in the states but has the switch block and turn sigs of the Euro bikes. It's great to have the wide ratio 6 speed and e-start. I had to throw $800 at the KTM hardparts catalog for a set of black supermoto wheels with cush drive (which is a smokin' deal for a set of supermoto wheels with a 5in rear), and another $800 on a 320mm Galfer wave rotor, stainless line, Brembo 4 pad/pot caliper, and Brembo radial pump. You can get by on a cheaper brake set up... but I wanted something that I can race and take to track days.

If you want to use a newer 450 four stroke I would definately start with a WR or EXC (or even a CRFX tho reliability is so-so with the crf). The bikes already have a wide ration tranny and lighting coil. It doesn't take much to bolt a dualsport kit and go carving on the street.

As far as tires go, there's more and more coming available for use in supermoto... it just depends on what you want. I just picked up a set of Michelin Powers for mine. Here's some of the more popular, more offroad oriented tires...

Avon Distanzia

Avon rain

Pirelli MT90

HTH! :waytogo:

 

[MyKa]

haha, thanks guys! this is looking like it might be allot of fun to build!

As a teenager, one of the bikes my dad, me and uncle went thru was a XR 350. I rebuilt it serveral times and I'm talking all the way down to bare bones.

I totally forgot about that bike till reading you guys post. Think I have a idea which bike I'm going to go after. :808922-fiddy: (<---hey, it looked like that too! :smile

Thanks again! :waytogo: