Good Luck Devin!!

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3. Yentl Martens to Compete at Lierop MX GP on a Two Stroke!

There really is a movement towards two-strokes at the local level.

The weekend we were in Okeechobee Fl. I was going to post all the Two Stroke bikes at the event, but there were to many for me to take pictures of. At the start of the 250 practice I counted 17 ! I didn’t count the 450 class.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how many Two Strokes were at each of the races. With my son Jake racing, I ran out of time. I told all of them about the Two Stroke Motocross.com web site and Project Two 50.

A few had heard about Two-Stroke.com. You would think they all had been to the web site by the stories they told me.  Most told me it was more fun to ride the two-stroke and cheaper to maintain.

On the weekend of April 18, 2010 we were at Dade City Mx for the 5th race in the Florida Motocross series. There were racers preparing for and attempting to qualify for Loretta Lynn’s.

Anthony Zaffino 18yrs old 2009 MC250 Gas Gas!

Anthony has been to Loretta’s on his Gas Gas (what a great motorcycle!). He’s a very good rider. He ran in the Youth 16-24 class and took first place and some of the riders were on 450’s.

There were more girls and women on two strokes, but I didn’t catch up with them. I’ll try to do so as the season goes on. What I wanted to show was that Two-strokes are making a come back. More and more are being raced successfully! In Florida we have a very competitive Girls class. I’d love to publish some stories on the girls in the near future, so stay tuned.

Brinsley Dyess 15yrs old 2005 YZ250

Brinsley’s dad is Dean Dyess he runs the Florida Motocross Series. She was on a kx250F but said she likes the YZ250 Two Stroke better.Brinsley is one of the fastest girls in the state of Florida and has done well at Loretta’s the last couple of years.

I just wanted to share some observations. I wanted to show everyone that real people are racing two strokes. Well, to my surprise there are many of them out there.

What you guys don’t know is how many riders I’ve missed taking pics of (maybe more than I’ve gotten). The other thing is when I’ve talked to the riders… is their reasons for riding two strokes. Most didn’t know about this web site but had the same reasons we’ve been talking about for the last couple years.

Maybe because of the economy many have complained of the cost of buying and maintaining a four stroke,and that the choice was stop racing or race a two stroke. But with the rule change of 250 vs. 250 the racers are flocking to the two stroke to be competitive.

But the latest comments I’ve been hearing and hearing a lot is the two stroke is more fun to race and it’s the younger riders that have been saying it.

I think its a good sign for motocross and two strokes. The economy has hit us hard in Florida and our attendance at the races is way down and has me a little worried. I’ve talked to some of the parents that we started with and asked what happened to some of them and they say they couldn’t afford to race anymore! Some of the ones hanging in are doing it with the help of the two stroke, and its helped us hang in there also.

250 C Class at least 8 bikes were two strokes!

Alex Sardina 34 yrs old 2007 YZ 250

John Sardina (Alex's Son) 16 Yrs old 2007 YZ 125

Raymond Johnson 13 yrs old 2003 RM125

Raymond Johnson now has two 2003 RM 250's

Daniel and Jerry Cook, Daniel is 15yrs old, Dad Jerry is 53. 2003 CR125.

Ty Kontrath 40 yrs old 2006 RM125

Adam Pankoke 14yrs old 2008 YZ125

Alex Spade 18 yrs old 2009 KTM SX250

Ben Dickson 15yrs old 2006 YZ125

Bob Tiesler 50 yrs old 2007-CR250

Bobby Harner 16 yrs old Winner of the 2009 Sportsman Award 2007 RM 125

Bryan Hood 20yrs old 2003 YZ250

Cody Lammer 16 yrs old 2006 YZ125

Danny Baxley 52 yrs old 1983 CR480

Danny Fat Boy Baxley 52yrs old 1981 CR450

Drew Stocker 17yrs 2005 YZ250

Jacob Truax 16 yrs old 2001 CR125

Jason Gillespie 24 yrs old 2004 CR250

Jeff Burrows - 2009 KTM

Jon Osborn 50yrs old 2004 KTM SX250

Kody Goss 15yrs old 2007 RM250. By the way Kody won the 250 and 450 C classes.

Kurt Lucas 17yrs old 2007 YZ250

Kyle Bangerter 13yrs old 2007 CR250

Marcelo Faga 2003 RM125. Marcelo rents bikes to race and he said this one was rented for Sunday!

Mark Derose 20yrs old 2001-CR250

Mary Weeks 13 yrs old 2007 CR125

Matt Karwat 14 yrs old 2006 RM125

Nick Taylor 19yrs old 2009 YZ250

Patric Flynn 14 yrs old 2006 RM125

Shane Kehoe 17yrs old 2009 YZ250

Terry Joell 55yrs old 2007 YZ125

Tim Dickson 15yrs old 2005 YZ125 By the way he has an identical twin!

Troy Downs 36 yrs old YZ250

Related posts:

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2. 2011 Yamaha Two-Stroke Line-up?
3. RM model two strokes – Available in England!

I purchased a new 2009 Yamaha yz250 from Colorado Powersports, I chose a 2 stroke due to there  reliability and low maintenance  cost and a Yamaha because  in my opinion the best of the 2 strokes still being made. And here it what I did to the bike.

Enduro engineering evolution hand guards and roost shields
MSR heavy duty aluminum skid plate
Works connection radiator braces
MSR a o f clutch perch
Cycra front disk guard
Renthal  RC  high bend fat bars
GPR v1 steering stabilizer
Boyesen shokout flex grip system
Renthal sprockets 13/51
Renthal r1 gold chain
Tm Designworks chain guide
F M F gnarly pipe- for technical woods riding/racing
F M F turbine core 2 spark arrestor muffler
Pro circuit works pipe-for higher speed hare scrambles/mx riding and racing
V force 3 reed valve system
IMS zip ty edition 3.2 gallon tank
Motion pro lite loc rim locks
SDG seat
Sunline sl-1 foot pegs
Works connection aluminum rear caliper guard-anodized red
MX bonz reversible axle blocks
Works connection master cylinder caps-
MX bonz oil fill cap
S F B 9 0z flywheel weight
STR fork bleeders
Custom suspension re valve by Jim Sumner at airborne MX suspension

I chose the IMS Zip ty edition tank because it hold 1.1 more gallons of fuel but retains the same width as the stock tank and doesn’t have the raised lip in front of the seat that can interfere with forward body positioning. The 9 oz flywheel weight makes the bike less prone to stalling on slow technical obstacles and even in tight corners at the track and felt it didn’t hurt the top end power or revs much or at all.

I like the FMF gnarly pipe for tight technical riding because it gives the bike more low end grunt and torque but does sacrifice top end and revs so for higher speed riding and racing like hare scrambles and MX. I like the Pro Circuit works pipe because it mimicks the great stock power band but adds a bit of power and revs slightly longer.

The V Force 3 reed valve added a good amount of mid range power and throttle response and didn’t sacrifice the power anywhere else. I went from the stock 50 tooth rear sprocket to a 51 because it seemed to tighten up the shifting just enough to make the power more usable without hurting the top speed of the bike.

The bike seemed a little twitchy at high speeds and I didn’t want to change the offset of the triple clamps and lose the great steering response of the bike so the GPR stabilizer was a must and works flawlessly.

The biggest modification was the suspension and Jim at airborne MX suspension set it up perfect for me .the stock spring rate was right on for my weight and ability but he managed to set it up so it works great for me at the track as well as the woods with nothing more than a click or two on the compression.

I choose not to modify the motor in fear of hurting reliability so I run OEM Yamaha top ends and a Wiseco crankshafts because I know I can depend on them not to fail and leave me pushing. Woods riding in the Rocky Mountains can be very hazardous to a bike so items like hand guards, skid plates and radiator braces are mandatory. The Enduro engineering hand guards are in my opinion are the best ones out there. There super strong and protective, they fit great and have never failed me. The MSR heavy duty skid plate is bulletproof and can take whatever I can throw at it and despite having to slightly modify the works connection radiator braces to work with the bigger tank they work great.

The Sunline sl-1 foot pegs are wider than stock and due to there concave shape allow for a better feel and more precise foot positioning. The most underrated aftermarket part the I find to be mandatory is the Boyesen shokout grip system. It gives you the ability to chose from three different rubber absorbers within the grip housing depending on how much or how little flex you choose. I have used this same unit on my last 4 bikes and couldn’t ride without it.

The MSR a o f perch is a very high quality unit that uses a CR bend clutch lever and pull ratio and uses a bearing in the lever for a smoother pull and works great. after destroying many aftermarket heavy duty aluminum chain guides I decided to try  one from TM Design works.  The guide looks great and its totally functional and due to its strong yet flexible plastic construction I am yet to destroy it.

It has taken me over a year to build my YZ just the way I wanted it and I’m more and more impressed with it every time I ride it. Id like to give a shout out to Shannon and Zak at Colorado Powersports for always getting me what I need and there continuous race support and Jim at airborne MX suspension for his great work and continuous support.

I hope to see more 2 strokes like mine make a comeback and less loud 4 strokes digging trenches that I have to jump over.

Related posts:

1. ‘08 RM-Z450 verses an ‘08 RM-250 – Rich’s Story
2. Yamaha 2009 YZ250 Two Stroke
3. Jesse’s 2006 Kawasaki K125 Rebuild

This is my first day back on a 2stroke after a 3 year layoff. I was racing in the Belgium Amateur Championships MX1-MX3 class.

It was on a deep sand track, just the way I like it. Normally I ride a Suzuki 450 four-stroke but I changed to this bike for the first time this year to ride a Suzuki 250 2stroke. It is a stock bike with only a PPS exhaust which brings great performance to the stock RM250.

I had had no training on the 250 2stroke, but I felt confident to ride the bike.

In the training (practice) it was going well, I had no problems against the 450 four-strokes and thanks to the WP-suspension my riding was going super smooth. I was looking forward to the 1st race.

In the first race I had a mid-pack start and rode a smooth tempo up to 3th place. I put a wheel in on the other only 2 stroke rider Vincent Genot on his KTM. When I passed him, I was trying as hard as I could to catch the 2nd place Suzuki 450f rider Roel Guerts, After a multiple lap battle with him, I moved into second place. I did not have enough time to catch the leader Jan Lauryssen, so I finished 2nd and was very happy with myself.

The second race I had a really good reaction at the start and was leading the field, but I mis-shifted my bike and 3 other riders passed me. By the 5th lap I was back in 2nd and was trying to close the gap between me and leader Jan Lauryssen, the Suzuki 4stroke rider. At the end of the race, I was getting close to his wheel, but I could not find a place to pass him. I finished a very close second place.

I look back with a big happy smile about my 2010 2 stroke weekend .

Podium standing:
1) Jan Lauryssen (Suzuki RMZ 450)
2) Mike Vanderstraeten (Suzuki RM 250)
3) Roel Guerts (Suzuki RMZ 450)
and other 2stroke rider Vincent Genot finished 4th overall on his KTM 250 2stroke.

I hope to impress the folks at Maico international with this report. I have raced the European Championships and International races but due to sponsorship problems I had to go back to the amateur championships. I had contacted Maico in the beginning of the year and they said they would contact me in August to test the Maico MMX 700. I would kill to ride for Maico for the 2011 MX season at several  International races and maybe some MX3  World Championships. Maybe you could put a good word for me with the Maico people.

There are a few pictures I am including with this report. Two are very nice where you can see that I took advantage in the deep sand. The more lightweight 2 stroke allowed me to jump farther than the 4 strokes!

Thank you for allowing me to write this report for your website.

Best Regards
Mike Vanderstraeten

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1. 2 Stroke World Championships – Glen Helen April 11, 2010
2. Used, Abused and Approved
3. Round 6 – DEP British Two-Stroke Championship

This story is about my son “Lalo.”  Lalo got his first motorcycle when he was 12…a 1980 XR200.  He picked-up riding naturally, but complained that the XR was too slow.  For his 14th b-day we gave him my old 2000 YZ125.  After some “relearning” what a clutch was really for, he began to really rip on his 2-smoker.  He did so well, that last year we got him a 1995 CR250.  Here is where we begin……

Cross Creek Motorcycle Park, Bastrop Texas,  August 2009

Lalo had decided to try-out his “new” 95 CR250 on the day track at Cross Creek.   The track was not very busy with about 15 or so 4 strokes roaring around.  Lalo waited until the group of “leaders” had passed and he zipped out onto the track.

About 30 minutes later Lalo rode up and said the guys on the 4-strokes forced him off the track.   I went up to the track and found a group of riders, men in their mid to late 20’s, all riding CFR450’s and other big bore 4-strokes.  I asked them why they ran my boy off the track and they said they thought he would get “hurt,” but didn’t mean any harm.

Now, Lalo only had a roost protector, gloves, boots, jeans and a tee-shirt…..very “redneck” looking.  I told them, if they would just get out of his way, it would be alright.  They laughed.  Since the track was not busy due to the raging 105 degree heat,  I told the “boys” that they could try to keep up with my son, but not unless they ditch those 4-strokes and get a man’s bike anyway.  A few laughed, but most scowled back at me.  One of the “younger” looking boys piped up that Lalo’s “old wore-out” 2-smoker would not keep up.  The seed was then sewn.

I bet the young man that he could not hang with Lalo for 2 laps, and if he did, he could have $15 (entry fee) and I would buy him a six-pack.  He accepted.

The young man got his KX450F up to the gate beside Lalo while we attempted to wait patiently while he started his bike.  5 min. later we were ready.   Lalo took the holeshot to the first corner, but was getting used to the bike and was passed right away.  For the rest of the first lap Lalo stayed right behind him.  On the second lap, Lalo decided to open the “old” CR up a bit.   Lalo finished a full 10 SECONDS ahead of that kiddo.  Afterwards, the young man was mortally embarrassed and asked if Lalo’s bike was a “factory” bike.  I told him:  “Compared to a 4-stroke, it might as well be..”

The only sad part to this story is that none of those young riders had ever ridden a 4-stroke!  They were a product of marketing…thinking 4-strokes were it.

Follow-up    Cross Creek Motorcycle Park, May 2010

This past weekend we were riding at Cross Creek and we ran across the same bunch of fella’s.  And would you believe it……3 of them had gone out and bought 2 smokers!  Real truth in motocross.  Making believers wherever we ride.

Tom P.

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“That was the bike the majority of us wanted to ride. I know I did when I was 10 years old sitting in the stands of the SX races or the uphill at Washougal .”

“Needless to say it was possibly the most fun I had the whole break. Granted the four strokes have gotten  a lot better the past few years. Still the thing was Amazing  and Unbelievably easy to ride. I rode it and rode it and rode it some more, Partially just so I could listen to it!”

“I want to thank Mitch Big time for letting me do it.”

Jake Weimer :the Jake Weimer column
Transworld Motocross June 2010

West Coast SX champ and East vs West Vegas shootout champ.

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2. Two Stroke Reader Comments
3. The King Speaks…

After 6 yrs of 4 stroke racing 250f and 450, I’ve reentered the wonderful world of the 2 stroke. Its not as I remember, but better!!

Being a mx tech, I’ve built up a new yz 250, pretty trick nothing spared and I’ve had 2 practice rides on this bike before the week end race, just to get all the suspension and jetting sorted etc. and to everyone’s great surprise, I raced 2 classes, the Open and the unlimited.

My first round lap times where around 1 second slower than on the 250f, but by the end of the night when the track was rougher even, my lap times where almost 2 seconds faster than on the 250f and close to 3 seconds faster than the 450. The track is a reasonable tight circuit and 3rd gear wide open is the fastest it gets.

But with this I’m extreamly happy to stick it to the 4 bangers. I believe I can still shave a little more time of these times, with more seat time. But in the end, what I’m saying is that I’m happy I made the move back! Not only my racing is quicker, but having more fun doing it!

Yes I may have got a little more tyred, but gotta be fit to race mx regardless, so an extra hour or so at the gym should cover that!! Yes I’m 26yrs old so before getting onto a 4 stroke in 04, I did ride / race 2 strokes for 5 yrs prior, so I guess I can say that I adapted to the different ride style pretty quick, this definatly isnt a option for every one. But one I’m happy I’ve made, also love the comments in the pits, ( how does that dude get such good placings, hes on a 2 stroke ) its like a big shock to people.

They think the 2 stroke is the devil and impossibile to ride. Yes for some I guess it is, but makes me wanna just go faster. Can’t be lazy or lacking talent on these beasts!

Love it! Peace!

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2. Motorcycle USA 250cc MX Shootout
3. Brian Shuckhart – Two Stroke Hero!

My name is Jesse Miller and I live in BC Canada. This winter I saw my Kx125 and I decided to give it a face lift. My courses at school were really easy and I had a lot of free time that I didn’t want to go to waste playing video games. So I decided to start disassembling my well used 2006 Kx125.

Piece by piece I took it apart, and worked my way down to the frame and removed the motor. I washed the frame and would have liked to powder coat it but my parents said they weren’t going to help fund the rebuild. So instead I decided to just use grip tape. The motor was rebuilt recently by myself so I didn’t pull it apart but I cleaned out the power valve and shined up the cases.

By now I had decided I wanted to build a pro circuit bike so I paid close attention to detail. I took apart the shock linkage and ran it through the solvent tank before greasing and torquing all the bolts.

The electrical was dirty and messy so It needed to be cleaned and neatly zip tied/taped out of the way. There were some parts I noticed that needed to be replaced when I disassembled the bike, so I put the rebuild on pause and worked to earn enough money to put the order in on Motosport.com.

Next up was the carburetor. I polished the exterior, cleaned the jets and replaced all the carburetor lines. The throttle also needed some attention so I disassembled the throttle and put it through the solvent tank. The throttle cable was fraying so I replaced that with a new one from Kawasaki.

When I installed the throttle tube I positioned it slightly away from the end of the handle bar so that the throttle would have a nice snap to it when released. To finish things off I put my favourite Renthal tapered dual compound grips and some Kawasaki grip donuts.

Next up was the brake pedal. I took a file and sharpened the teeth for better grip. I polished the pedal and cut out pieces of grip tape to fit on the arm of the pedal for extra grip. The radiator hoses were developing small cracks so I replaced them with blue silicon hoses like pro circuit uses. I also added Pro circuit temp strips for looks and to monitor the engine, rear shock, and radiator temperature.

The Drivetrain needed to be completely replaced because of a problem last season so I ordered a Renthal 13t front and 50t rear sprocket along with a Renthal R1 works chain. I needed a new chain guide too so I replaced it with a new stock Kawasaki guide. I also ordered Pro circuit axle blocks for looks.

Last but not least I replaced the plastics and graphics. Pro circuit runs all black with the exception of a green front fender and numberplate. So I decided to do that but I used the new Kx250f plastic design for the front fender and numberplate. I ordered the 2009 pro circuit team graphic kit, seat cover, and backgrounds from N-style.

This project has been keeping me pretty busy as almost every part on the bike went through my parts washer at some time. I am really happy with the end product and I hope to put in a order at pro circuit for all the parts that are not on there like triple clamps, works pipe, linkage arm, and several smaller parts to make it complete.

Some of the parts on the bike include;

* Pro circuit platinum pipe & R304 shorty silencer
* Pro circuit clutch perch
* Pro circuit radiator hoses & temperature stickers
* Pro circuit front brake cable guide
* Pro circuit axle blocks
* Pro circuit heat shield
* Pro circuit flow thru foot pegs
* N-style 2009 pro circuit graphic kit and seat cover
* N-style 2009 pro circuit numberplate backgrounds
* Renthal twinwall handlebars
* Renthal oversize bar clamps and dual tapered grips
* Renthal sprockets & R1 Chain
* Braking front wave brake disc
* Hinson clutch basket
* NGK BR9EIX iridium spark plug
* Vforce 3 reed valve
* Maxima formula k2 mix oil 40:1
* Maxima MTL fluid 80wt
* Sunline levers
* UFO plastics

Thanks to my sponsors Holeshot motorsports, Utopia Optics, N-style, and Mx prints for their support.

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1. Justin Carter – YZ250 Hop-Up
2. Yamaha 2009 YZ250 Two Stroke
3. Chuck Sun – Service Kawasaki 500AF Adventure

From his sponsor I received the news that Yentel Martens is given a start for the Valkenswaard MX-GP this weekend.

This means a 100% increase of competing two-strokes in the MX1 GP’s; first we had only Cedric Soubeyras (by the way: scoring FOUR times Championship-points in 4 heats), and now he will be joined by young belgian Yentel Martens.

Arie

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1. Strong Results for Two-Strokes in MX-GP’s
2. Yentl Martens to Compete at Lierop MX GP on a Two Stroke!
3. FIM UEM 125 2t European Championship News

Enjoy!

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