Pay Less for More Power

Let me give you some empirical "cost of power" data to ponder upon for a while. . .

Ten years ago the meanest motocross machine (excluding the ominous 500) was known as a 250 cubic centimeter (cc) two-stroke, which had an average MSRP of $5,500. A typical 250cc two-stroke put out around 45 horsepower. That’s equal to a cost of $122.22 per one horsepower, and .18 horsepower per cc.

Ten years later – today – the dominant motocross motorcycle is the 450cc four-stroke, which replaced the 250cc two-stroke. The average MSRP today for a 450cc bike is $8,000. The average output is around 52 horsepower. That’s equal to a cost of $153.85 per one horsepower, and .12 horsepower per cc.

Now, it may seem unfair to the two-stroke to compare it to a bike that has 200 more cc’s. If that’s the case, let’s compare a 250cc two-stroke to a 250cc four-stroke.

The 250cc four-stroke’s average MSRP is around $7,000, and averages about 36 horsepower. That’s equal to a cost of $194.44 per one horsepower, and .14 horsepower per cc.

When compared to a 10-year-old 250cc two-stroke, the 250cc four-stroke has 22% less horsepower per cc, but costs $72.22 more per one horsepower. A 450cc four-stroke makes 33% less horsepower per cc and costs $31.63 more per one horsepower than a ten-year-old 250cc two-stroke.

Neither four-stroke sounds like a winner in comparison to a two-stroke.