First post, I'll get it over with

79vwrabbit · #1 (**permalink**) 04-16-2008

The little blurb at the top of my screen is getting annoying-keeps telling me I haven't posted yet. So here goes...

I've been into two strokes for quite awhile. First one was a little Yamaha Razz, and my collection's been getting bigger & bigger. I got most of my education over at MacDizzy. I check those forums daily. I visit these forums though because they're a little more casual. Some of the trash talk is funny, and it's good to be in the company of other people who love 2strokes and despise the "modern" 4strokes.

I grew up on a farm, riding go-karts, golf-carts, bicycles, & mopeds all over creation. Parents never let me have a quad though, and I always wanted one. That's kind of funny now because we had a lot of room to ride, but nothing to really take advantage of it. Nonetheless, we got big into motorcycles when I was in high school-the old 70's Japanese ones-my uncles practically handed them to us since they didn't ride anymore. The old Yamaha xs650's are excellent bikes, by the way-easy to work on and very economical. Right now I'm still riding my trusty 1980 xs400. Easy on gas, and it still makes some power when I want it. It's nice for putting around town, but 5500 RPM at 60mph in 6th gear doesn't make it a very nice cruising bike. I'd like to get a new CBR1000 or GSXR1000 when I have more $$.

Only recently got into quads though. First one was a little Blaster "project." I bought a rolling frame of ebay, and I pretty much built an engine from parts off ebay too. It was a good crash-course on these engines-they're very similar to motorcycle engines. I still have a lot of admiration for the Blaster, but we outgrew it pretty quickly.

Now I'm currently an engineering student at Purdue. I'm on co-op this semester, so I have a little time & money. But I bought an '88 TRX250R about two months ago. Most of my money and time has gone into that. I spent a small fortune on porting tools to do my own work. Was able to justify it because I've always got an engine project going. Plus I hate having race shops do sub-par work on my engines; if you want it done right, you've got to do it yourself. After I graduate I'd like to get a job building engines for Cummins or Cat, or maybe work at the Honda 4wheeler plant!

I should mention that I'm also doing some port work on the Blaster. When I get that back together, I'm making my brother ride that while I plan to ride my R. The other project I'm working on is an older 1985 Honda Spree moped. Supposedly the Spree was Honda's best-selling scooter of all time, or maybe it WAS the best-selling scooter of all time (I can't remember). I spent some serious time porting that engine and rebuilding it. It's almost completely back together. The Spree will be reliable as a rock, even though it looks pretty rough w/o sidecovers. Even though I ride motorcycles & quads, I still think mopeds have their place. They're great for stop & go like at the town garage sales. Or just lazily cruising the back roads with your buddies on a Sunday afternoon.

Anyway, I'm still working on my R engine. I'm cutting & epoxying it to parameters I developed with 2stroke software, and I'm learning a lot. I've got it set up on the kitchen table in my apartment w/ the porting equipment, and it's not a pretty sight right now. I hope to have it done and the 4wheeler back together by the time my co-op gets over so me and my brother can hit the Badlands before summer school starts. I'm confident I'll be able to smoke some 4strokes on my "outdated" TRX. Won't mention anything about Banshee's as I understand there are a lot of loyal YFZ riders here. Sadly, I won't be able to make it to Silver Lake in May, but we're dying to get up there this year. If there's another E2S trip next year about the same time, I'm sure my brother and I will be there!