Anyone Have anything to say on small 2 stroke bikes?

Con_316

Much to the annoyance of many people i have quite the soft spot for tiny little 2 stroke bikes like kawasaki ar80/ ar 125, Susuki rg80 etc.
I'M well aware that theyre totally impractical for any kind of distances, tend to blow up fair a bit and are not very cool to most people but im just wondering if anyone else out there enjoys messing about with these things or has any constructve input?

I find they can be hillarious fun because theyre so small and light. Really dangerous too actually seeing as you can easily overdo it.
I dont want anyone coming on this thread just to brag about their zx9-r or 'Blade im just lookin for some discussion on small bikes for a change.
FYI i do actually ride "proper" size bikes too. :v:

murphaph

well, the only thing I know about the ar80 is that it's the only bike my mate who's riding years has ever come off Too much fun apparently! I too would like a two stroke for a laugh but haven't got around to it yet...maybe someday an RS125 or summat...

Con_316

I'd concurr with your friend, the only things i've come off of are an old TS100 trail bike. an RG80 and an ar125. IT's sad you know.... i just cant seem to find any of these little gems in working order these days apart from my own Ts100 that i still have.

those things (small two strokes) are hilarious to ride beacuse they're basically too small and light to be safe. You used to be able to buy loads of tuning stuff for an ar125 to bring it up to an actual 35 bhp which is just insane.
I found the remains of an ar80 in a drainage ditch in a clare forest a few weeks ago. the poor thing had been almost stripped bare. obviously stolen but the frame seems ok.
Id say dont bother wuth an rs125 because theyre too tempermental and the engines are ridiculously fragile. Know any little strokers lyin about?

murphaph

Nah sorry, the only 2stroker I know lyin about is being fully restored by a friend of mine, it's a TDR125 (I think) and he's had the frame sand blasted and painted and is in the process of rebuilding it now. Should be a lovely thing when it's finished.

KTRIC

murphaph wrote:

Nah sorry, the only 2stroker I know lyin about is being fully restored by a friend of mine, it's a TDR125 (I think) and he's had the frame sand blasted and painted and is in the process of rebuilding it now. Should be a lovely thing when it's finished.

A restored TDR !!! what year is it ??

murphaph

K-TRIC wrote:

A restored TDR !!! what year is it ??

Dunno, he's doing two bikes at the moment a 1975 yamaha (scrambler type thing, 4T I think though) and this TDR. Why, what year did they start making them?

KTRIC

murphaph wrote:

Dunno, he's doing two bikes at the moment a 1975 yamaha (scrambler type thing, 4T I think though) and this TDR. Why, what year did they start making them?

I though 1988 , it can need that much of a restoration then ??

murphaph

K-TRIC wrote:

I though 1988 , it can need that much of a restoration then ??

Well he just bought a new front headlight fairing on ebay and the bike is in bits, he sent to cylinders off to england to be rebored and nikasil (i think) coated.

madrab

i like the smell of the older 2stroke bikes

Hotblack Desiato

My first bike ten years ago was a wee 1986 Suzuki GP100 stroker.
Better around town than the asthmatic GN125 four-stroke but useless on long trips, and not really designed to accommodate a six-footer
Two strokes over 50cc are thin on the ground these days, they tend to require lots of 'owner involvement' to keep them running once they lose the first flush of youth, are rapidly killed by tuning, and in recent years have been strangled to the point of uselessness by emissions regulations.
Sad though as they have a raw but addictive feel to them which is hard to describe

crazymonkey

I too have a fondness of the little two strokers, I currently have a tzr and nsr 125's in my garage, my first bike was a suzuki ts100 and i would be willing to pay good money to get it back, i have had alot of two strokers over the years from dt's to rg's,,,

Con_316

It's true about all the emissions bullsh*t. modern bikes in general are strangled by restrictive exhausts and emissions related "tuning" as in , they're deliberately tuned down.
I'm not a huge fan of "modern" two strokes apart from the cagiva mito. it's mainly older ones. The one two stroke i will advise anyone to ride is a race tuned yamaha YZ490. Now that's more than a bit scary for anyone mildly sane.
But back to the small strokers, I would like to make a point to the guy who said the bike he rode was too small to carry a six footer that it is the ridiculously light weight and small size of a small two strke bike that makes them so much fun. and the steering on most of them, especially suzuki RG's and Kawasaki AR's (which both have clip ons) is hilariously quick in the hands of someone who's not a 16 year old guy out trying not to come off in front of the local girls (no offence, i was the same once) and so has a bit more time to think about using the tight turning to maximum effect..

Hotblack Desiato

Well my one wasn't exactly sporty, 18" wheels so not too quick steering, and very high handlebars. I was more comfy sitting on the pillion seat could actually sit in such a way that my ar$e was behind the rear axle line, then whack open the throttle and do wheelies without touching the clutch

Con_316

ninja900 wrote:

Well my one wasn't exactly sporty, 18" wheels so not too quick steering, and very high handlebars. I was more comfy sitting on the pillion seat could actually sit in such a way that my ar$e was behind the rear axle line, then whack open the throttle and do wheelies without touching the clutch

Oh no, i bet you didnt look half weird then..........

Ah well i cant say much, i once took my old TS100 trail bike to dingle (FROM LIMERICK, too about 7 hours due to all my gear for camping and the fact it could only do 60mph flat out on a good day when it "felt like it".). While there i ended u pgiving my friend who id gone down to see a lift to the village, a simple enough journey of 6 miles or so, not so simple when she decided to bring her other friend from work though.
we ended up going to town 3-up on the TS at 15 mph due to the weight and the errifying lack of balance with me sitting almost on the tank and the 2 girls behind me.

Hotblack Desiato

Mentalist!

Con_316

HA ha ha we all have to do something crazy or life would be boring. I admit that is not the most sane thing to be doing but why use my useful (but old and extremely rusty) ford sierra which can happily carry loads of gera and five people when i could use my TS100 instead and make everyone think i'm crazy.... which of course im not.. no... really

j@utis

I have honda nsr125. I think it's a good bike for learning, small but looks smart
But yesterday it was a bit windy and I was driving on the motorway with fear that any second I could be blown away...

Con_316

j@utis wrote:

I have honda nsr125. I think it's a good bike for learning, small but looks smart
But yesterday it was a bit windy and I was driving on the motorway with fear that any second I could be blown away...

Yeah Nsr 125 is ok. I like the old ones more than new ones, they're more pure, problem with small bikes is as you said, the wind, especially on fully faired bikes, has you rearing for you life. I Rode my mates new Suzuki intruder 125 home for him because he's only starting out and didnt want start ot going straight out of meskell m/c's onto the dublin road and up that wind swept deathtrap road to birdhill. Scary as hell, id forgotten how useless the steering on cruisers was compared to the stuff ive been on in recent times such as Honda Bros's with clip-ons, CBR 250, Gixxer, little rg80's and ar80's which , given my rather robust/rugged build i just throw around the place and it's great criac, especially the looks i get from people wondering what the hell im at with my 6ft 3" 18stone self ridin a rg80s at full blast (55mph ha ha ha, but scary as fu*k!) through their village or town.

You got your NSR de restricted? if not... DO IT, DO IT NOW! you know you want to:v:

j@utis

yeah, my nsr is deresctriced but it can do only 100km/h (and it's enough for me so far :rolleyes:). there's a problem with power valve, but I don't feel that confident yet to get deep into engine and change that small bit

Con_316

j@utis wrote:

yeah, my nsr is deresctriced but it can do only 100km/h (and it's enough for me so far :rolleyes:). there's a problem with power valve, but I don't feel that confident yet to get deep into engine and change that small bit

W.T.F.? derestricted and doing 100km/h ? what lunacy is this? They can do that speed when still restricted! I think you've a significant problem dude! Rode my Rg80 this mornin for first time in ages, got used to the stupidly quick and light handling then rode my mates's Suzuki 125 Intruder cruiser he just got to learn on about an hour and half ago , nearly died. This thing is one heavy motherfu*ker for a 125! And it is incapable of turning and has about 3inches ground clearance when fully upright so on a very mild corner at about 45 mph and only leanin a little bit i bottomed out the right hand footpeg and exhaust ! holy sh1t! sparks flying! It can do about 115-117 KM/H even wuth my 18 stone self on it which was surprising.
Anyway , i say fix the powervalve and try check why NSR only do 100k's . Derestricted one should do bout 85mph.

PS anyone have any running 2strokes (sports or trail preferred) lyin aroun that they want to sell cheap for project/ fun/ general thrashing:) ?

Akrasia

Con_316 wrote:

I'd concurr with your friend, the only things i've come off of are an old TS100 trail bike. an RG80 and an ar125. IT's sad you know.... i just cant seem to find any of these little gems in working order these days apart from my own Ts100 that i still have.

those things (small two strokes) are hilarious to ride beacuse they're basically too small and light to be safe. You used to be able to buy loads of tuning stuff for an ar125 to bring it up to an actual 35 bhp which is just insane.
I found the remains of an ar80 in a drainage ditch in a clare forest a few weeks ago. the poor thing had been almost stripped bare. obviously stolen but the frame seems ok.
Id say dont bother wuth an rs125 because theyre too tempermental and the engines are ridiculously fragile. Know any little strokers lyin about?

I used to own a Ts100 and it's the only bike I ever dropped as well. Maybe you own the same one I did? seein as we're from around the same area.

2 strokes are mental and really dangerous, and to be honest i don't think they're worth it. I had a beautiful Cagiva Planet 125 which looked amazing but was extremely unreliable and no mechanics would touch it because of the unavailability of parts and the fact that 2 stroke engines are a pain in the ass to work with. I derestricted it and i could never get the jets on the carbs right so it kept running lean and ciesing the piston. When it went it was an absolute rocket, it could take anything up to about 40 miles an hour when the big bikes could accelerate better into the wind and it handled beautifully, but it was so danm unreliable.

Con_316

Akrasia wrote:

I used to own a Ts100 and it's the only bike I ever dropped as well. Maybe you own the same one I did? seein as we're from around the same area.

2 strokes are mental and really dangerous, and to be honest i don't think they're worth it. I had a beautiful Cagiva Planet 125 which looked amazing but was extremely unreliable and no mechanics would touch it because of the unavailability of parts and the fact that 2 stroke engines are a pain in the ass to work with. I derestricted it and i could never get the jets on the carbs right so it kept running lean and ciesing the piston. When it went it was an absolute rocket, it could take anything up to about 40 miles an hour when the big bikes could accelerate better into the wind and it handled beautifully, but it was so danm unreliable.

My ts100 is a '92. It's a black TS100 ERD but i think it might have been a different colour before. It also seems to be a slightly older model than the year it's reg has.
As for the Planet, with that bike you basically had the most horrible tempermental 2 stroke engine ever. Those engines were awful... powerful but stupidly unreliable. the main problem was how little quality control Cagiva udid while building them. The Mito is the same, a shame because they're about the only 125 bike to get 100mph from just de restricting it. Although, that said, I did once have a TZR 125 which was de restricted, had a race exhaust and powervalve and gould get an indicated 115mph (probably only 95-100 if you factor in the inaccuracy of the speedometer's on bikes) but the engine was over revving like mad at that stage. I think it had a rebore done before i got it though

Finch-

j@utis wrote:

yeah, my nsr is deresctriced but it can do only 100km/h (and it's enough for me so far :rolleyes:). there's a problem with power valve, but I don't feel that confident yet to get deep into engine and change that small bit

Its derestricted and it can only do 100kmh? I just bought a brand new 75cc nsr bout 3 months ago and it can do the clock, 120kmh. Pretty sure its restricted.

What sort of problems are u havin with the power valve?

Con_316

Finch- wrote:

Its derestricted and it can only do 100kmh? I just bought a brand new 75cc nsr bout 3 months ago and it can do the clock, 120kmh. Pretty sure its restricted.

What sort of problems are u havin with the power valve?

You dont need to restrict a nsr 75cc to comply with A1 licence requirements as it's not that powerful anyway. It will however probably only be doing about 110 to 115kmh due to innacuracy of the speedo. Still theyre about the easiest 2stroke to live with, which is good.

Yeah, that's pretty odd isnt it that the de restricted 125 NSR is doin 100k only. Yes it's fast enough if it's yer first bike or whatever but those things should do 95 MPH, (dunno what is in kmh but its well over 100) when de restricted.
Out of interest.... Anyone got a small 2 stroke (80 to 250cc, not an mx bike, had my fill of them for a while) lying around? Preferably working? or know of one, around limerick area or close preferably?

@Mods: please do not move this even though it has a line looking for a bike, i'd like it to stay in this 2 stroke thread seeing as it's mainly out of interest to see if there's anything there and also im trying to keep my little 2 stroke thread alive.

batman_oh

ive an almost mint rs250, pretty much restored to new now
sittin in a garage unused!
if that wud be considered small 2 stroke
they are also far far easier to work on than 4 strokes so any garage that says they are complicated must be crap!

Con_316

batman_oh wrote:

ive an almost mint rs250, pretty much restored to new now
sittin in a garage unused!
if that wud be considered small 2 stroke
they are also far far easier to work on than 4 strokes so any garage that says they are complicated must be crap!

Complicated no, a bit hit and miss with the process of getting them to consistantly run properly yes.

Well, the rs250 fits into my little description but they do tend to be a bit on the pricy side for me to buy if you're sellin it. They're lovely bikes to ride though way better than a rs125 which are too tempermental). Fits in to small 2 stroke perfectly though. i rode a race tuned one before and it was mental. great craic.
I think i might just make a general 2 stroke thread soon (or someone else can if they want) because there seems to be quite a bit more interest in 2 strokes than i'd expected to find.

j@utis

Finch- wrote:

Its derestricted and it can only do 100kmh? I just bought a brand new 75cc nsr bout 3 months ago and it can do the clock, 120kmh. Pretty sure its restricted.

What sort of problems are u havin with the power valve?

I suspect that that bloody thing just doesn't open when it's supposed to, so bike doesn't rev more than 7k in 5th/6th. That might be easy to fix... But I'm very new to biking, have very little of understanding how do these machines work and... I'm not even a guy, but a girl, and my housemates give me wry looks when I run around the house with carburettor in my hands :rolleyes:

Pigeon Reaper

Your housemates will get used to the idea of you running around with bike parts. The girl excuse doesn't hold water with me as my Girlfriend fixes my bike. There's a motorbike maintaince course starting in Ballyfermot at the end of the month. It might be worth going to if you want to learn more. I'm wondering if you're loosing some of the vaccum resulting in the powervalve not opening....

PS don't get grease and oil all over the house, the housemates will never get used to that.

Con_316

Pigeon Reaper wrote:

Your housemates will get used to the idea of you running around with bike parts. The girl excuse doesn't hold water with me as my Girlfriend fixes my bike. There's a motorbike maintaince course starting in Ballyfermot at the end of the month. It might be worth going to if you want to learn more. I'm wondering if you're loosing some of the vaccum resulting in the powervalve not opening....

PS don't get grease and oil all over the house, the housemates will never get used to that.

I'd agree with that.

@ OP Try and check if all your gaskets are good and that you're not getting air leaking in through the sparkplug hole or into a gap at the manifold (the inlet one). That could make it not rev as it'll have too much are and not enough fuel. What does it feel/ sound like when you're at 7000 in 5th and 6th? is it goiong reasnoably normally or is it misfiring?

j@utis

2Pigeon Reaper: I thought that power valve was controled by servo motor...

2Con_316: My bike feels nice and smooth in higher gears @7k, but it's complete opposite in 1, 2.

Ok, thanks for vacuum idea guys, gonna check that tomorrow.

CJhaughey

Con_316 wrote:

My ts100 is a '92. It's a black TS100 ERD but i think it might have been a different colour before. It also seems to be a slightly older model than the year it's reg has.

The TS series dates back to the mid 70's so I am not surprised that your machine seems older than the reg;)
I had a TS100ER too, a 94 model wicklow reg. Fantastic little machine reliable as a stone and parts were so cheap, as was insurance and tax.I would get another one if I could get a good one.
I really rate small 2T Bikes especially non powervalved ones.
The biggest problem is that most modern watercooled bikes need full synthetic and most owners try and feed them mineral or Semi syn which gums up the PV quite quickly.
I have a RMX250S which I wouldn't consider a small machine but plenty of fun for bogs and such.