Stroke of luck four the future
By John Dickinson on 2nd Mar 07
As the trials factories continue to develop their four-strokes we gaze into the crystal ball
''IS trials going all four-stroke and if it is, when?''
This is a question that is asked on a regular basis and I am sorry to say that I don't have the answer. And just at the moment, neither does anyone else! The bottom line is that even the factories don't know what the future holds - even short term. And the smaller ones have every right and every reason to be worried about what may be in store.
As it stands, I can tell you that Honda-Montesa remains the only company that is 100 per cent committed to four-strokes. But it needs stressing that this is not just a decision taken by the company solely relating to trials bikes, Honda is committed to being a 100 per cent four-stroke company right across the board from tiny garden strimmers right through its entire motorised model range.
But this does NOT mean that two-strokes are dead just yet! KTM is just one significant company which is devoting plenty of time and effort to two-stroke development.
But back to the tiny, specialist, trials manufacturers which - Montesa-Honda apart - really do not wish to get lumped with a four-stroke only law, they are working mighty hard just to survive as it is. I have spoken to representatives of several of them in the last couple of weeks and basically, they will continue production of their two-stroke ranges until people no longer buy them.
''The market will decide,'' was the recurring answer. The bottom line at the moment is, firms like Sherco, Beta and Gas Gas would be in deep trouble without their two-strokes. Beta and Sherco are working steadily on their four-stroke bikes while Gas Gas has not yet broken cover with as much as a prototype.
Scorpa is possibly slightly better placed (but who knows) as it is currently working with modified Yamaha engines. In theory at least, sheer volume of numbers should mean that Yam engines ought to be cheaper to buy than manufacturing your own motor in much smaller numbers.
Beta has produced a small number of production four-strokes and is now carefully assessing their use. And Sherco has been methodically developing its 320cc four-stroke following a well-documented troubled introduction in 2005. The signs are that Sherco has genuinely cured its hot-starting and slow-running problems on the 4T but it is going to take things one step at a time. Expect a small production run to evaluate performance, reliability etc in the hands of customers, before gearing up production a notch for 2008. It is certainly NOT rushing into an all four-stroke era, It is covering its bases and if suddenly we are either MADE to ride four-strokes, or we CHOOSE to, then it is at least in the starting blocks.
What some are hoping for is that while pollution laws may eventually prohibit current two-strokes on the street, it will still be legal to produce them for off-road use. Believe me, there are currently several dodges in operation in various European countries regarding avoiding paying tax, or at least paying less tax, on new machines that I expect the proponents to be equally inventive at circumventing any upcoming restrictive laws!
Don't write-off the strokers just yet...
STILL on trials, well it is the trials season - until next week at least - and still on four-strokes, you will no doubt have now gleaned that Toni Bou is the new World Indoor Champ, and on a Montesa 4RT. Apart from the Spanish kid's brilliant riding and run of results the most interesting point to note here is actually the results of his new and long-established team-mates Dougie Lampkin and Takahisa Fujinami.
These two have continued to finish exactly where they have for the last two seasons, usually just off the podium. So despite them having clearly developed the original 4RT a long way forward in two years, it has taken a new team-mate to finally wrest the best out of the four-stroke.
So what do we learn from this? Not too sure - Bou has quite clearly moved the goalposts in the game of skill. He has a technique on big steps that only he knows how it works as yet. But whatever it is that he does, it allows the 4RT to conquer vertical steps previously thought impossible. So does this mean that the four-stroke trials bike is better than we previously thought or does it mean that you need superlative skills in order to make it work.
A bit of both I reckon. What I also suspect - and I have watched Bou practising outdoors a little - is that his technique will be even more effective outdoors...I'd almost put money on it!