With all the discussions about MPH and horsepower going on I thought I would dig through my "archives". And I found a jewel!

3&4 Wheel Action, June 1988. 6 quads at the 1/4 mile asphalt strip (L.A. County). Also these speeds will be the top end of each machine as the article reported all quads were topped out before the end of the quarter.

1. Suzuki 500 Quadracer, 79.20 mph, 15.09 et, 1.938 60 ft time.
2. Yamaha 350 Banshee, 77.05 mph, 15.33 et, 1.902 60 ft time.
3. Kawasaki 250 Tecate 4 74.75 mph, 15.81 et, 2.064 60 ft time.
4. Suzuki 250 Quadracer, 71.48 mph, 16.09 et, 1.947 60 ft time
5. Honda 250 4-trax R, 71.89 mph, 16.42 et, 2.084 60 ft time.
6. Kawasaki 250 Mojave, 57.84 mph, 19.07 et, 2.162 60 ft time.

All machines were bone stock, two riders made four runs on each quad. The best times were obtained by leaving in second gear with exception of the Tecate-4, it worked best in first.

There was a part two of this testing planned to see what difference jetting and bolt on mods would make, but I don't have that issue.


Now, if someone would just test the new crop (Raptors, Cannondales, DS650's)....................

 

That test was done about 14 yrs ago, do the same with the new bikes and lets see what kind of progress we have made.

 

The sport quad sector hasn't really made "progress" per se in terms of speed and horsepower. Those quads in that june 88 issue (which I also have and have used to shut up outrageous claims as well as defend the "lost" level of performance of these sadly defunct quads..except the Banshee)were state of the art in a forgotten era. The Mojave was thrown in as the fastest thumper for comparison's sake. True high performance quads were at their peak that year...the big 4 all had at least one entry and we, back then, gleefully awaited more...like a Yamaha 250 racer as well as other 500s to complete the open class. The sky was the limit! 4 wheeled Motocrossers were here to stay! Then politics and legal issues painfully ended this era as quickly as it began...FOREVER!

My point being, regarding "progress", is that the ATV industry went backwards for many years in terms of speed, power and HP. We went from
F-14 Tomcats back to the WWII Spitfires! What happened to the Stealth Bomber?!?!! 4 strokes just couldn't contend...period! Finally, 4 strokes are actually starting to keep up with these "artifacts"----> THAT'S the "progress". 4 stroke technology has finally come around. They say necessity is the mother of invention. And we see it here. Back then, the 4 stroke was strictly for leisure recreation and workhorses. NEVER, for high performance fun and racing. That woulda been like using Chevettes for NASCAR! We'd have laughed back then to see a thumper next to LT's, 250Rs and Tecates. Now, with bigger engines ofcourse, they can keep up and even pass the buzzbombs. You gotta hand it to these designers. I, for one, am impressed. I never thought it would happen. 4strokes racing along side 2 strokes?!?! We've gone from Mojave to C-dale as the measuring stick for thumpers...WOW! It goes beyond that too. suspension, chassis, fuel system and clutch improvements as well. It would have been hard to believe 14 years ago that 4 strokes could do what they do today. In a way though, it's a bit depressing. Where would brand new 2 strokes be TODAY...14 years of serious R&D and "progress" later??? Now THAT would be impressive!! oh well.

 

Well said "2stroke4ever". When I sold my orginal 89 model Quadzilla late in 1990 I though getting another one would be just a matter of wiating a few months and going into dealer to pick it up. But seemingly overnight the high performance quads were gone. With the exception of the Banshee, Yamaha was the only one to stick it out.
I am truly a fan of two stroke power. I also think its great the DS650's, Raptor's, C-Dale's, and 400ex's are around. Their just not for me. I don't need electic start or reverse, I just want my hands and arms to be sore from trying to hang on!


2stroke4ever - you wouldn't have part two of that article would you?

 

No. I may have had that part 2 at oone time but not anymore.

 

Seems a little like the old muscle cars, we all woke up one day, and they were gone. Now we have little honda civics with nitrous, where's the fun in that, when you could have a 1970 Challenger with a 426 Hemi.
Just like, do you want a 660cc four stroke, or a 500cc two stroke monster.

 

so many people talk about how the 4strokes are weak compared to 2stokes, but the 4 stroke machines are catching up very fast in horsepower, handeling, and weight reduction compared to the old 2strokes. it just takes some time for the manufactoreres to develope lightweight, powerful machines. i know that the manufactoreres should have started doing this the year that they stopped producing 2strokes, but they didn't. i think that in a few years though with the new 4strokes coming out that the older 2strokes may be all but forgotten about in the race scene.
Polarisman3210, the musclecars are not gone, they have simply evolved. you may not be able to buy a 426 hemi anymore, but you can walk into any ford or chevy dealer ship and buy a 300+ horsepower musclecar that out powers, out handles, and out brakes any old muscle car.

 

I will agree with you when you say 4 strokes are getting better and better but I still believe that 4 strokes are weak compared to 2 strokes thats why they have to have a displacement advantage to make up for the weekness.

I also believe that 2 strokes will be replaced by 4 strokes on the race scene because the rule makers will continue to modify the rules so that the 4 strokes will be faster than the 2 strokes so people will make the switch.

I also know the majority of people cannot afford a 4 stroke race quad that has the capabilities to whip up on a two stroke race quad.

I think that on the local scene where their isnt allot of money put into quads that 2 strokes will be around along time.

 

2 stroke technology has been evolving, at a great rate! Just not in quads... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]


I'm talking about GP250 class motorcycles. Take the engine out of one of thsoe mad machines and stick it in one of those new LRD aluminum frames...

The musclecar era and Quadracer era are similar, but different. The car manufacturers may have stopped the big horsepower wars, but kept on making Camaros Vettes and Mustangs, with tons of improvements and even new muscle cars like the Buick GNX and Turbo Trans Am... Even Mopar made the turbo'd Shelby Chargers, Daytonas and so forth... The Quad manufacturers however took out all the racers off the shelves and all we had was the outdated (suspension wise) unchanged Banshee, the 300EX, Mojave and a bunch of utilities... YAY!

And I'd just like to say that we are about to see some great brand new cars from the factory again like the Nissan 350Z, the Dodge SRT-4 and the Ford SVT Cobra... Hopefully the quad manufacturers will follow suit.

 

Truckracer & 2stroke4ever; Thanks for the information about the best years of the atv industry. It's very clear & evident that atvs of the late 80's were the cream of the crop. It would be interesting to conduct a shoot-out between 2strokes of the late eighties vs the 4strokes of today. All out war...who's the best & better than the rest competition. Feelings would be hurt, but then again it would be so much fun.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]