You know... other than cost and potential crash damage, I really see no reason not to start out with a 4-stroke. A nice little .52 upright in a trainer is really no big deal I think. Maybe the throttle linkage issue could be problematic but not unsolvable.

As for the sound difference from rich to lean, it's pretty evident when a 4-stroke is lean. Use a $19 tach and tuning gets really easy. Your right on about so many people not getting needles set right but I think that also applies to 2-strokes from what I have observed.

Maybe I'm just not seeing the difficulty. I've been workign on small engines since I was a kid, then transitioned into cars, forklifts as I got older. Maybe it comes easier for me because of that, who knows. Still I don't think a 4-stroke is this big mysterious thing like some newcomers seem to think.