Craig.

Awesome mate!

I'm jealous mate! I would actually love to get my hands on one of those CRE500s that Honda bought out a few years back. There is one on bikepoint.com at the moment but the guy wants $9K for it. For those who don't know, the CRE 500 is a CR500 motocross bike with an ADR plate, lights, horn and blinkers. Not what you could class as a road bike, these babies are road registerable so that you can compete in Enduro events. The absolute Godzilla of Enduro machines and one scary bit of gear to try and ride!

Yeah what Darren said! The thing I like about 2 strokes is that they are real easy to work on. A basic tool set, an owners manual and some mechanical aptitude and you can pretty much do anything. Look after it though and it's just pistons and rings. Personally I really like the way a 2 stroke delivers it's power. The new breed of 4 strokes get there power to the ground better than a 2 stroke due to their linear power delivery. The 2 stroke is more fun though IMO, strictly from a mad bastards point of view of course. Its tyre shredding where the 4 banger hooks up and drives. Not as quick on a motocross track but the smile factor alone is enough to make up for it unless you are actually racing of course! A lot of guys riding the new high revving 4 bangers rely on their dealers to maintain them because there is a little bit more to them. You can also require more specialized tools to do the maintenance, so there is more outlay there too. They are often more expensive to purchase than a 2 banger initially and parts can be costly ( can you say titianuim valves everyone)!

Watched it. The bike with the longest wheelbase wins! No suprises there but it has no relevance to your 2 vs 4 stroke statement. Oh and I dare say that a good rider on a well set up bike will always beat an average one regardless of whether it is a 2 or 4 banger.

Yeah I am sure on the right track ( one that suits a motard bike) I would have trouble keeping up. A bit like an XR6T would have trouble keeping up with a kart on a go kart track. I was eluding to the fact that a WR type bike isn't much good for longer trips though, the type done on a road bike. Try doing 600-700klm days on it two up and let me know how it goes. Pretty sure that in a straight line or a full size track ( like an Eastern Creek,Phillip Island, QLD raceway) my 150RWHP, 1000cc inline 4 would win too. Its all horses for courses though right and the motard has to be a ball to ride! Just not any good for the type of riding I like to do.

I have a road bike for that mate. Its a Yamaha too and what you say about the heads runs true for it as well. I only have to do valve clearances every 40,000klm. The longest interval of any bike that I know of. WRs and XRs aren't exactly at home on the road either BTW. Good for going to the shop for milk and a paper but that's about as far as I would want to go on one. As for grunt, the old 2 strokes deliver their power much differently to a 4 banger but they are anything but gutless once you get them running properly rather than how they leave the shops to pass the emmisions laws.

No worries mate. No shame in not being able to handle a 2 strokes power!!! To each their own. Once you get that WR450, have fun spending every second weekend pulling the dam thing apart to do valve clearances and replace valves, timing chains, etc. In the mean time I'll be out riding!!

that's when it's time to move on to a KTM EXC 300. 2 strokes rule!

Nice choice. The old Xrs don't go like the modern day 4 bangers ( WRs, etc) but they are bullet proof and a good choice if you haven't been on a bike for a while. Bikes like the WRs can cost a lot to run and are very high maintenance.

Again, this option will cost you more in the long run. You would be better off borrowing money for an XRT. The interest paid on the difference would still be cheaper than the cost involved in trying to mod an N/A down the track. You may also run into poblems like insurance availability, even registration depending on the state you live in, due to the level of modification from standard, even though Ford has released the same thing from the factory. It really will work out a lot cheaper and easier in the long run if you hang off until you can afford it. Save your money and buy a stock XR6T with a 6sp manual. If you can't afford it now, bide you time and wait a few months. The prices will start to drop once the new model comes out. Rome wasn't built in a day. You will get there eventually.

In the long run it will cost more to buy the MkI and then convert it to a six speed rather than buy the MkII straight up. Save for another month or two and get the T56 equipped ute straight off the bat.

Please add me to your list for a set. Cheers, Craig.

The Alpine Way right over the top from Bairnsdale to Bright isn't a bad run at the right time of the year. Loved it on a bike and I am sure it would be good in a car too!

Thanks mate! I understand that your insurance company covered you in that instance, but it might be more of an oversight on there behalf that they paid out, or the fact that they were able to track down the guy at fault to re coupe the costs involved. I am wondering if their willingness to cover you would have been the same in a single vehicle collision or one in which you were at fault. Just a thought!

So if I get drunk tonight and wipe my car out, I am covered according to you. It's against the law to drive over 0.05 but I have full comprehensive so I am covered regardless of the laws, right?

Mate you are missing the point. A house can go up in value in 12 months more than you can earn in a year. So getting in as soon as possible means that you effectively save heaps of money in real terms. It is an appreciating asset, as is a managed fund. A car on the other hand is a depreciating asset. You lose money hand over foot. Spending large amounts of money on a depreciating asset when you don't own any appreciating ones is foolish. Nothing to do with jealousy mate! Just guys who have been there and made that mistake trying to impart there knowledge on those yet to make the same mistake. Sounds like if you can pay off a car plus have enough put aside for a house deposit, you are probably living at home with mum and dad. Nothing worng with that at this stage of your life, but its not always going to be that easy to save. You will struggle to save a deposit to get into the housing market later on when you have left home, have a wife and a couple of kids and other expenses. Keep in mind that house prices have and are rising a lot faster than wages, so it will only get harder from here on in, unless you are going straight from uni to a $200,000 a year job. Performance cars on the other hand are like a big black hole where all of your money dissapears. You lose value as soon as you turn the key, plus you never get back that money that you spent on modifications. Sure, there are some exceptions but you could be waiting 30 years for a car to become a collectors item. Where are you going to live in the mean time, a cardboard box? Superroo is speaking from experience when he says put the money into a managed fund, then buy the house first then get the nice car. You will be financially better off in 10-20 years time which means you will be able to buy the latest and greatest car then!

Mate! Who you calling a Mexican. I live 1600klm north of you now, YOU MEXICAN!

I believe it was 1988 or '89. I got my licence in Melbourne back in Sept '89 and just missed out on the power to weight ratio thing as well as having to be on P plates for 3 years instead of 2. I was one of the first generation to have the red background with the white P on my P plates. The power to weight ratio thing was originally introduced at that time.

You need to go and develop yourself a palate my friend. Cascade Premium heavy rocks! Probably the best Aussie made beer made actually. Makes the others you have mentioned that you do like taste like pig swill, which is fine if that's what you like!

Gary, there must be a similar product over there for LSD equiped cars. It might be worth getting the specifications of the right oil and then contacting the local Castrol or Shell oil distributors to see if they have a product similar. I have had some success doing this with oil for my bike after an American tuner recommeded a product that is just not availalbe here. Took me a couple of emails sent off to the service dept of one or two oil manufacturers and I had an idential product with a different name. Might be worth a try mate!

Headsex seems to have a good name on the board here. There is also busines called Nizpro, which you may have heard of . While not as well known as headsex, the guys at Nizpro seem to have a bit of an idea of what to do to get the best out of a T. If I were back in Melbourne I would use them. Mackay is a little bit of a drive from Melbourne but I would still consider using them! :roll:

Both spelled and spelt can be used according to the Oxford Concise Australian Dictionary. Feel free to check if you wish! Of course it is also an ancient grain crop. You can still buy spelt at some health food stores. You stand corrected! BTW I also spelt education incorrectly (on purpose I wrote edumacation), but as I was pointing out, this isn't really the place to proof read, nor should I be called out for such mistakes on a forum like this. It is only a little more formal than txting/smsing after all.

Too true. To "exclaim" (verb) is spelt with the I but once we go to exclamation (noun) or exclamatory (adjective) the I is lost. BTW, you missed the fact that I also initially left out a question mark. Just making sure you are awake my friend! I took the time to change it eventually, although I see that you have the original version in your post. How did you miss that? I suppose none of us are perfect, even if we do have a high standard of edumacachun. Then again this is not really the place to be proof reading each post either. I will save that for my thesis. Sorry for the thread hijack. Please continue!

Great comment considering you haven't used a single comma or full stop. Also, was your first sentence meant to be a statement or a question? It read like a statement but you used a question mark instead of an exclaimation mark. Your grammar also is lacking so maybe you guys could get a discount on a two for one deal for the "full course in grammar" that you recommended. People in glass houses.......