2 or 4 stroke? (newbie here obviously)

[Ockerstrom]

New on here, so Hi everyone.

Also new to wanting a Trials bike (though far from new to riding motorcycles, 43 years since I bought my first bike, and currently still have bikes #18 and #20 in the garage.. sold #16 last night).

So two stroke or four?

I'd lean to four stroke personally, and I'm not looking to do serious competition trials.. maybe "observed trials" I think it is called.

Open to suggestions though.

And also anywhere around Sydney I could go to try out bikes and see what goes on before I buy one would be good, if that option exists?

Please make all the other suggestions appropriate to my "dumb questions" status on the forum.

Cheers,
Ock.

[Dirt_drifter]

I'm new to trials but not new to dirt bikes. Biggest downside I've noticed with the two stroke and trials is exhaust fumes. You come home smelling like muffler packing!

[dragster1964]

As to the riding area in Sydney, I would go to Pacific Pk at Sth Maroota on the Hawkesbury Rvr and talk to people there. The Aussie titles are being held there in August so are Trials friendly. Check the calendar on here to see when there is an event on there and all your questions may get answered.

[The Hell Team]

Any weekend, especially Sundays you will find plenty of Trialsriders up at Pacific Park. All friendly and willing to help new riders. it's a great place to start.

[jml]

To be honest I'm biased to 2T so take what I say with a grain of salt.

There is still a minor weight penalty for the 4T bikes (~3-7 Kg) but it's really not that much in the scheme of things. I currently ride a 2T and the fueling does get annoying at times as you cannot just grab fuel from the station to top up. I try to remain fairly accurate with my ratios to ensure I don't foul up my plug, this isn't too much of an issue with correct preparation and keeping a bit of mixed fuel on hand. If you're going to work on the bike yourself you need to weigh up how comfortable you are with working on a 4 stroke and doing valve shims. I really do like the simplicity of the 2T engine and being able to do a complete rebuild with a few parts and a spare few minutes, as opposed to having to deal with cam chains, valves and timing. Although I can only assume these is not very often for a 4T. I also agree with that on a 2T you do end up getting a real stink as generally you don't move fast enough to escape your own and other bikes fumes.

Not many 4T bikes are at our club, but I've seen a few at other clubs and they seem to go alright in all classes. I would try and see if you can get some test rides lined up to see how you like the different bikes.

Have you had a chance to ride either a 2T or 4T? If you haven't check out http://www.trialsacademy.com.au/course-dates.html I whole totally recommend this for anyone new to the sport. Such an awesome day! They have 2T's you can rent as part of the course so it would give you some great seat time (well standing time) on at least a 2T giving you a solid comparison for the 4-stroke when you find someone willing to lend you a ride

[Ockerstrom]

Any weekend, especially Sundays you will find plenty of Trialsriders up at Pacific Park. All friendly and willing to help new riders. it's a great place to start.

They will be closed over Easter though won't they? (closed public holidays from memory).

I had a look at your sale page as well, anything else in stock/coming in other than what is showing on the 2nd hand page?

And thanks for the reply.

[Stout]

As already said by others, arranging some test rides is definitely to go as it is going to come down to what you prefer and are more comfortable with.

Test riding still may not answer your question conclusively though. Last time I bought a trials bike, I rode a 2T and a 4T (of different makes) back to back,switching from one to the other repeatedly and had a lot of trouble picking any real difference in response, handling or anything that would make much difference to my riding. In the end I just went with the 2T because it was the newer bike of the two.

Another practical consideration, depending on whether you're planning to buy new or secondhand and how long you're willing to wait for the right bike, is that there are a lot more 2Ts around than 4Ts, so second hand ones come up a lot more often.

While I'm throwing free advice out there, I'd recommend you try to test ride some of the smaller capacity bikes (200, 250) and don't feel the need to get a 280 or 300. In most cases, more power on tap doesn't make trials easier.

[Ockerstrom]

Thanks for the reply Stout.

So if 2T is more common, it means I will have to actually check specs on individual bikes I may be interested in.

I'm looking at 250 max and I'm only going to be doing it for fun, so I don't really need a full on competition bike.

My ADV bikes have come down from 1150 cc down to a DR650 and a KLE500 in the garage at the moment, my road bikes over the years have been between 100cc 2T Yamaha right up to a 1500cc Goldwing (20 bikes over the years...so far )

A couple of people on ADVrider and another forum I'm on have suggested I look for an older bike, specifically a TY250, so I will do some research on them.

Apparently with the older bikes I can run in the "observed trials" sector, which is supposedly less competitive (I really am totally new to anything trials related ), and for a while at least, I'd be happy to just go and ride courses without actually having to join comps.

Keep the info and suggestions coming guys (though I know most of you will have seen the same questions from other newbs as well, searching through thousands of posts on forum pages is actually difficult to find info pertinent to one person's specific options they have in mind), all help is appreciated.

I'm looking through the for sale section as well, but if anyone is thinking of selling something that may suit me, or has a friend contemplating selling... please PM with info.
I'm guessing up to $3,000 should see me getting something suitable as a starter bike (have a pocket full of cash ready to spend at the moment... shhhh, don't tell my Mrs. I have money

[jml]

While I'm throwing free advice out there, I'd recommend you try to test ride some of the smaller capacity bikes (200, 250) and don't feel the need to get a 280 or 300. In most cases, more power on tap doesn't make trials easier.

That's a really good point, I started 5 months ago and I'm on a 125cc 2T bike and I'm 105Kg (slowly losing weight) and it hauls me just fine. Needs a little bit more revs but the weight of the modern trials bike coupled with a 2T means they have plenty of power for the task. So I'd advise against doing the 1:1 comparison between what you ride now and what you ride in trials, I've heard people say "do they go any higher than 300cc" once you get out onto the sections you do realise that the only thing limiting factor is the rider and not the bike.

A couple of people on ADVrider and another forum I'm on have suggested I look for an older bike, specifically a TY250, so I will do some research on them.

Will you be riding in club events, or just riding around at your own pace?

[Ockerstrom]

JML, I know bigger is often not "better" , that's why my ADV bikes have been getting progressively smaller as I've moved from road oriented touring to more dirt and trail detours on my rides.

My DR650 is set up with a 30 litre fuel tank, luggage, and a lot of other upgrades... and it is far more capable and easier to ride than my R1150GS was.
The Wee-Strom I just sold was really good for some offroad-ish stuff, but the DR is a lot lighter, so less stressed about falling off and having to pick it up if I'm riding alone.

I figure I will probably just ride at my own pace on whatever tracks/trials courses I can get access to for about six months, hopefully I will find some riding mates who are prepared to give me some "personal training" to help me gain some skills.

Then from there I will look at doing some form of professional skills training program perhaps, and then if I've got enough talent I might look at some low to intermediate level of Club competition events.