Does anyone else miss 2 stroke sports bikes?
Discussion
I've owned countless 'strokers' and certainly miss bikes like my Suzuki RG500, Yamaha RD500 and Aprilia RS250. There was talk a while ago that modern technology and oil could make 2 strokes viable again. A tough ask i suppose.
I love the simplicity and light weight of a good 2 stroke motor. Having raced a TZ350 water cooled way back when, i never felt 4 strokes seemed right on the track until their development gave us much more compact and powerful engines. Just look at the current R1 motor for example. Incredible power, reliability and efficiency.
Talk of a new 2 stroke seems to have gone again, maybe the pollution thing just cannot be solved but i'd love another stroker. There was batch of road legal sports bikes based on a TZ750 engine made 5 years ago or so which all sold out quickly, in Germany i believe.
Many of us could enjoy one of them on road or especially track. 750cc, 150 bhp, 140 kgs. The lucky few who bought one will be having a load of fun methinks. They were expensive though, £55,000 i seem to recall.
(But then some people spend 250,000 on optional extras alone on a Bugatti Chiron).
I love the simplicity and light weight of a good 2 stroke motor. Having raced a TZ350 water cooled way back when, i never felt 4 strokes seemed right on the track until their development gave us much more compact and powerful engines. Just look at the current R1 motor for example. Incredible power, reliability and efficiency.
Talk of a new 2 stroke seems to have gone again, maybe the pollution thing just cannot be solved but i'd love another stroker. There was batch of road legal sports bikes based on a TZ750 engine made 5 years ago or so which all sold out quickly, in Germany i believe.
Many of us could enjoy one of them on road or especially track. 750cc, 150 bhp, 140 kgs. The lucky few who bought one will be having a load of fun methinks. They were expensive though, £55,000 i seem to recall.
(But then some people spend 250,000 on optional extras alone on a Bugatti Chiron).
A Kawasaki S3 (400) or Honda NSR400 sounds very nice indeed, 3 cylinder two-strokes are certainly not objectionable to listen to unless they have crap exhausts.
They certainly sound 100 times better than the Harley that pulled away from the bike meet i went to this morning. Absolutely deafening via straight through exhausts and a fearsome racket at idle even. Just an unreal amount of decibels for the sake of it. V twins can sound incredible but done right. I loved the sound of my 900 Ducati Hailwood Replica way back when and also my 899 Panigale had a sweet and purposeful noise.
Many 2-strokes sound great. the 3s and 4s being the best.
They certainly sound 100 times better than the Harley that pulled away from the bike meet i went to this morning. Absolutely deafening via straight through exhausts and a fearsome racket at idle even. Just an unreal amount of decibels for the sake of it. V twins can sound incredible but done right. I loved the sound of my 900 Ducati Hailwood Replica way back when and also my 899 Panigale had a sweet and purposeful noise.
Many 2-strokes sound great. the 3s and 4s being the best.
Seems a lot of you miss the strokers then.
I'm looking at a Kawasaki KR1S (if anyone remembers them) on Sunday. A bike that always had reliability troubles but nothing that can't be very much reduced with modern thinking. The late Bill White of Beeline Racing rebuilt my late brother's KR1S to be not just more powerful but it didn't break anywhere near as often.
IIRC the KR1S was the only standard road 250cc bike to break into the 12s for a standing quarter and the only one i know of to top a genuine 140 mph through the speed traps. 53 bhp was stunning for a 250 as standard but Bill had a fairly inexpensive tune that made the bike fly with 65 bhp. Admittedly that figure needed also a set of expansion chambers and good ones at that.
The later Aprilia RS 250 was the more reliable bike, but for me the KR1S will always be the wild child 250, the wayward son of the first H1 500 Widow Maker.
I'm looking at a Kawasaki KR1S (if anyone remembers them) on Sunday. A bike that always had reliability troubles but nothing that can't be very much reduced with modern thinking. The late Bill White of Beeline Racing rebuilt my late brother's KR1S to be not just more powerful but it didn't break anywhere near as often.
IIRC the KR1S was the only standard road 250cc bike to break into the 12s for a standing quarter and the only one i know of to top a genuine 140 mph through the speed traps. 53 bhp was stunning for a 250 as standard but Bill had a fairly inexpensive tune that made the bike fly with 65 bhp. Admittedly that figure needed also a set of expansion chambers and good ones at that.
The later Aprilia RS 250 was the more reliable bike, but for me the KR1S will always be the wild child 250, the wayward son of the first H1 500 Widow Maker.
The Americans have been getting 100 bhp out of the Yamaha 350 LC engine for some time for off-road vehicles, that's incredible really. I believe they are enlarged to achieve that, maybe 460cc, i am not too sure, but to kick out the same as a 2002 Suzuki 1400 is pretty amazing in my book.
It's just a shame the inherent advantages a 2 stroke has cannot be honed into a viable street bike or even car.
I am very jealous of the select few who bought one of the Yamaha TZ750-based street legal bikes i mentioned earlier. 150 bhp and 140 kgs and 4 expansion chambers singing would be HEAVEN.
It's just a shame the inherent advantages a 2 stroke has cannot be honed into a viable street bike or even car.
I am very jealous of the select few who bought one of the Yamaha TZ750-based street legal bikes i mentioned earlier. 150 bhp and 140 kgs and 4 expansion chambers singing would be HEAVEN.
lazybike said:
Grindle said:
lazybike said:
Bill tuned my Lc's when I was racing them, he was a good fella, how he put up with a load of skint teenagers pestering him all the time I'll never know 
Was he at the Woodford place when you knew him or in central London?Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff