First bike - 2 stroke or 4 stroke

[nzldth]

Hey Everyone,

First time to the site,

I am currently looking for my first bike and wondering what people recommend for a starter bike.....

Ive read the CBR vs ZXR threads and these seem to be the bikes of preferance but what do you guys think of NSR vs RGV? The 2 strokes seem slightly cheaper 2-3K vs 4-5K for the 4 strokes.....

Question...pay less for 2 stroke or pay more for 4 stroke?

Cheers guys

[nsrpaul]

nsr /rgv as a first bike , dont do it , high maintanance , cost heaps for gas , oil and you wont live very long unless you are a super fast learner

[Coyote]

4 stroke is the best place to start as they're smoother and not quite as powerful as the 2 strokes, but you could still get away with learning on a 2 stroke so long as you took it easy (to begin with)

The import RGVs and NSRs are all restricted to about 45hp so they won't feel more powerful than the CBR/ZXR, but you can derestrict them to get about 58-60hp. One of them might be a good first bike as you can derestrict them when you feel you want to step up in power

All the bikes are great, if a bit expensive for their age

[gamgee]

you'll be rebuilding a 2 stroke engine pretty much every 1.5-2 years though so you have to take that into account of your pricing, i picked up my vt250f for $1400 22000km on the clock runs like a dream, and looks good, also keeps up with the cbr/zxr/fzr gang on paper, haven't tested that on the road, see the pic in my profile, so long as your patient there is always a bargain to be had

[sels1]

Welcome aboard the site. Test ride a few and by what like the most.

[crazylittleshit]

4 stroke a two stroke's are very unprodictable.....(don't care if this is spelt right)

[curious george]

4 stroke a two stroke's are very unprodictable.....(don't care if this is spelt right)

Haven't a f.ing clue what you're on about... Perhaps this?
2 strokes mucho fun, pain in the ass compared to a 4 stroke though.

[Flyingpony]

Go 4-stroke. Longer life, easier to look after, cheaper to run - especially fuel.

Don't forget to budget in protection gear like helmet, gloves, jacket, pants and boots. Most forget about that, myself included.

[SARGE]

Hey Everyone,

First time to the site,

I am currently looking for my first bike and wondering what people recommend for a starter bike.....

Ive read the CBR vs ZXR threads and these seem to be the bikes of preferance but what do you guys think of NSR vs RGV? The 2 strokes seem slightly cheaper 2-3K vs 4-5K for the 4 strokes.....

Question...pay less for 2 stroke or pay more for 4 stroke?

Cheers guys

with a 2 stroke.. you pretty much have to ride them like you hate them.. because they burn oil AS WELL As fuel.. you will gum them up if you nana them about for long.. spark plugs foul.. etc.. makes them a bit of a hassle.. rebuilding them quite often is also needed ( rings mostly but sometimes full piston replacement ( nature of the beast im afraid..)

2 strokers have quite a " light-Switch" type power band.. nothing until you are up in the Rev range ,,, then all of a sudden WHAMO!!.. toss you off the back of the bike..also.. 2 strokes do not have much Engine braking.. ( buttoning off the throttle on a 4 stroke slows the bke down.. not so on a 2 stroker..) the speed you enter a curve is the speed you stay at in the curve without braking ..


great fun, but quite a learning curve..
stick with a 4 stroker

[awesker]

Cant really be bothered typing, so Ill paste something from another forum I read a while back.

http://www.cr-x.org/cbr250/forum/top...Terms=2,stroke

Note: Second post is the shit you want to know

[Spaz]

A mate of mine bought an RGV250 for his first bike. He couldn't see past the hp and jumped in.
It may only be a problem for the RGV, but I was told before I bought it he would need to thrash it, or ride along the motorway for at least 20 minutes at a near constant 100km/h, every 40 k's or so to heat the engine to it's optimal temperature. He didn't, as he was getting his bearings for riding, did 150k's, fouled a plug and kissed the deck because of it's sudden loss of power.

There are two sides to a 2 stroke I found, one is like a 125 and then the other side kicks in at the top end of the rev range, the power comes on so strong, so suddenly it wouldn't make learning easy. I would not want to hit the power band in the middle of a corner that's for sure. The guy who sold us the RGV was scared it would come out from underneath him if he hit the power band through a corner (Mate though that was attractive at the time).

On top of that, depending on how many k's you do, you'll have to get the power valves checked, carbs balanced and any other problem that arises cured at least every 6 to 12 months, about $500 for that, as I was told. That is if you ride it in the fashion it's supposed to be. If you don't, you'll foul a few plugs.

That’s my experience with RGV's. NSR's may be different, but I have little to believe that is the case.

[Dadpole]

Some people give the impression that a 2 stroke needs constant rebuilds. You can get good mileage before work is required. The up side to a 2 stroke is that pistons, rings etc are cheap, and with a manual and handful of tools you can do the work yourself.

[Racey Rider]

Try a 98 RG 150 (not the RGV150). Cost - $1500 - $2000 privately. Look good. Great fun. Good proformance for what they are. Top speed 180km/h. May need to change piston rings at about 25 - 30 000km, but its not hard to do. and you've just saved $2000 over a 4/ 250 anyway.
Spend the saved money on riding gear and good tyres.
Winner!

... until you come up aginst a Kawasaki KR150 that is,, and then it's all over rover.

[nzldth]

Cant really be bothered typing, so Ill paste something from another forum I read a while back.

http://www.cr-x.org/cbr250/forum/top...Terms=2,stroke

Note: Second post is the shit you want to know

Cheers awesker for the post, explained everything i needed to know,

Sounds like 2-stroke engines are similar to turbocharged cars in terms of the power band coming on strong up in the revs. Sounds like it could be unforgiving if ya hit the power band mid-cornering! Also with the need to give it a good thrash to keep the internals happy, a newbie could be a little hesitant...dont want to get to overconfident to soon! :P

From what im hearing a 4 stroke is the way to go in terms of drivability esp for someone getting their bearings on a bike along with reduced work in terms of maintainance.....

Will keep my eyes peeled for a nice second had 4 stroker - if anyone knows of ZXR's or CBR's for sale let me know.....

Cheers

[Beemer]

Try a 98 RG 150 (not the RGV150). Cost - $1500 - $2000 privately. Look good. Great fun. Good performance for what they are. Top speed 180km/h.

Top speed when going downhill with a VERY strong tail wind perhaps! I had one of these and even at Manfeild you didn't see 180 on the speedo - and the speedos were notorious for over-reading anyway! When you thought you were doing 120 you were lucky to be doing 105!

They are awesome little bikes though, a hell of a lot of fun and they are great in the twisty stuff.