# 2 stroke or 4 stroke?



## Dave200516 (Mar 31, 2004)

I know this thread is for four wheeling, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I am looking to puchase a newer dirt bike and am struggling between a 2 stroke 250 or a 4 stroke 450. I have a 2 stroke 125 right now and love it. I am looking at a honda 2 stroke 250 or KTM 4 stroke 450. 
Some questions I had are
-How much does it cost to rebuild the top end of a 4 stroke?
-Does a 450 have that much more power than a 250?
If anyone could give me some pros and cons that would be sweet.

Thanks in advace


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

Dave200516 said:


> I know this thread is for four wheeling, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I am looking to puchase a newer dirt bike and am struggling between a 2 stroke 250 or a 4 stroke 450. I have a 2 stroke 125 right now and love it. I am looking at a honda 2 stroke 250 or KTM 4 stroke 450.
> Some questions I had are
> -How much does it cost to rebuild the top end of a 4 stroke?
> -Does a 450 have that much more power than a 250?
> ...


I can rebuild the top end of a 4 stroke for about 150 bucks. That is new piston, rings, gaskets and honing the cylinder. Now if it needs to be bored out then your talking about 200 dollars for the machine work. 
If it needs valves done now your about 250-300 dollars. 

The main cost of the rebuild is the charge from the machine shop. 

Now if it was me and I was looking at buying a new bike I would go 4 stroke. Why they last longer less maintenance, and will get you better fuel mileage on the trails. Plus you can put around the trails with out having to keep the RPM's up there. 

Now if I was looking for a race bike then no doubt I would go with a 2 stroke.


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## trailwart (Mar 20, 2004)

i have both, i havee honda250r 2 stroke and another with an aftermarket cylinder on it and also a new yamaha 450. the 4 stroke is not cheaper to maintain, there is more maintnance than a 2 stroke. 4 stroke is not cheaper either. if it was a dirtbike i would go 2 stroke, if it was a utility quad, i would go 4 stroke. this whole 4stroke being cheaper and better is not the case with sport machines. the newer 4 stroke motors designed for the sport machines are running on the edge. also most new cylinders have nikasil coating so you cant just bore and slap a piston in, it would need replating. most new 2 strokes have the nikasil also. when you start comparing prices of a rebuild 2stroke vs 4 stroke and just with routine recommended maintnance you will see it costs twice as much to maintain a 4stroke. now just remember, this might not be the case for a low compression ute motor that is very restricted, im talking about the sport end bike and atv motors that run high compression that takes a toll on the crank bearings. here is a little reading for the non believers that have there head stuck so far up there *****$ that they cant see the truth....

http://www.all250r.com/UsefulContent/2strokeVs4strokeMaint.pdf


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## trailwart (Mar 20, 2004)

power delivery is different between a 2stroke and 4 stroke. if the 2 stroke has a powervalve it will help smooth out the power instead of having the power coming on like a light switch. cr 250 i believe has a pv. the 450 4 strokes pull hard right from off idle, they have a wide curve. also it it easier 2 ride a 4 stroke, the power delivery comes on smoother so ther is less rider effort needed to ride the bike. look at some dyno runs and compare the delivery of both bikes your interested in. also dont get caught up on max hp when looking at dyno sheets because most are within 1-2 hp. pay attention to where the power is made, the optimal rpm range you would operate the machine.


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