The sad demise of the 2 stroke motorcycle.

[Toph]

Where have the strokers gone?? :-/

I was brought up on 2 strokes, I started to ride in the seventies, fs1e's, AP50's ,Puch Grand Prixs, Garrelli Tiger Cross, there was the Suzuki RGV'S The iconic RD Yams, Suzuki GT range.. including the big daddy "kettle"the GT750..There were loads of strokers.. the smell of them, the sound they made,.. heady stuff.


Now even the Grand prixs are 2 stroke free.

Is it coz they're not "eco-friendly"?
I for one really miss 'em.. but there doesn't seem to be many in production these days. apart from those scoots the kids ride! lol...and a few offroaders)

bring back the blue-hue I say!! 8-) 8-) 8-)

[redken1]

Oh such fond memories - punk music and the smell of two stroke oil does it for me every time 8-)

[wheelers]

back in the day we used to help out with 4 stroke mx when all the rest were on 2 smokes. modern 4's were a pain to start when hot, California/USA deemed 2 smokes non desireable for the atmosphere. the major manufacturers upped their game and 4's evolved. killed our club races as everyone was on 4/s. now its got to the state riders want to go back to 2/s as pistons were 2 to 2 1/2 times dearer to replace on rebuilds.
motoGP or its predecessor heeded California's warnings and started dropping the 2 stroke classes 500, 250 and 125 is due now.
its so bad now when the Chinese scooters are being produced as 4 strokes which are allways running out of adjustment, must be dearer to produce with the extra parts yet can still be bought new cheap!!

[Wes]

Yes it is a shame, and it would be nice to see a few more around, they still race at Aberdare park 8-)

[Conehead]

I started on a DT50, Used a ton of oil but the fun I had was excellent. 8-) 8-)

[db]

Im doing my best to keep them going, I've got 4 at the mo, but allways looking for more ;D

[Jon_W]

On the wish list.... want a big stroker.

[bigpete]

A mate of mine had a suzuki rg500, the one with the 4 exhaust pipes!! lovely bike but a good one would be expensive today.

[wiltshire builders]

It's Honda's fault.
They were the ones who championed the 4 strokes, the FIA banned 2 stroke engines being developed for formula 1, super charged 2 strokes were banned in bike racing to make it more competitive, then the green police got in on the act.

The truth is, with modern technology it's possible to make a very eco friendly 2 stroke engine that is good on both economy and emissions but still have the reliability of a 4. The trouble is all the major maunufacturers are geared up to produce 4 strokes now so 2 strokes would be too costly.

[QB1]

Yep I did the 2 stroke thing (shows my age ) had a Suzuki GT50K and a lovely little RGV250.

I remember my Aunty showing great concern one day when following me that my bike was smoking and smelt ''funny'' ;D ;D