That's a great article! At the bottom of the article theres a box that gives the website that has more info and dyno charts but couldn't get there. I'd love to see the rest of the info and data. Couldn't get to the video either.
As far as the AF500 beating a 450 on a motocross track... let me share this with you guys
Like alot of you, I love the 500 and the smell of two strokes. I add two stroke oil to my lawnmowers to make me feel good while cutting! Always thought the only place for four strokes was in a street bike. I own a ZX1400 also.
That 500AF looks So-o-o-o good. I'm a machinist, I have a few 500 motors, KXRiders.com for help, why not? I found a 08 KX450 with a grenaded motor and started collecting parts to make one. Got the frame rails from JFAB, built a jig to hold the frame while making the cuts and welding. Got my Service Honda pipe. I was ready to launch this project!
THEN, Labor Day weekend, I went to a new MX track in this area that had many table tops and doubles that were right out of 180 degree, second and third gear turns. I picked a guy that was going around the track at a pretty good clip to duck behind and learn the track. He was on a 450. After a few laps it was so obvious the torque and traction the 450 had that I didn't on the 500. I even have a 18" Terraflex 150 on back! I just thought I was hooking up. The 450 would leap across and I would land short, and rebounce on almost everyone of those jumps!
I know it makes a difference the type of track your riding but it was plain as mud!
That was a BIG EYE OPENER for me! Went home, scratched the 500AF project for now and started collection parts for the 450 motor repair!
One might say that he was just faster than me but I could easily reel him back in every time, get back on his butt, then another one of those jumps, land short, bounce in the air again! He would be a half a straight away ahead, reel hime back in. This happened lap after lap. I rode 4 sessions with this guy so I had plenty time to analyze the situation. He came over to talk between sessions about how fast that 500 was!
CAM described it in a similar thread a while back. Four stroke power "tractors" out of the turn while the two stroke is "on top" of the dirt, not hooking up as well as the four stroke.
For those of you that are into Vibration analysis, my description of this 500 - 450 power delivery issue can kinda be compared to vibration harmonics. The 450 has higher ACCELERATION and the 500 has higher VELOCITY!
I know the AF's suspension, frame geometry and handling is superior to the 500 but like we all know, you have to get the power to the ground. Maybe get one of those traction control devices off of the 2011 ZX10 to put on an AF!
I will continue the AF project as soon as I get another 450.
I even stopped calling my four stroke buddies "four stroke faggots"!
Sorry for being so long winded. This thread just caught me a the right time...