2 strokes; Noisy smelly unreliable things or the very soul of motorcycling?

[Taipan]

When I got into bikes it was 500Gp 2 stroke animals and Scarmbles were mainly 2 strokes screaming around the track and we all started on 2 stroke mopeds before moving up the 250 2 strokes. So most of my early biking memories were a smokey haze of Castrol R and I have an affection for them. But some of teh guys I got into biking with were glad to see the back of them and move onto 4 strokes. How we laughed at the SuperDream and XS250 riders!

Did you love your 2strokes? Do you still? Or was you glad to move onto the 4 strokes?

[cheb]

Bikes should have two strokes and one seat.

[Gregor]

Love em, but only ever ridden singles.

Did my test on a RXS 100 then first bike after getting my licence was a full power KMX 125 which I kept for 2 years then part ex’d it for a new GS500, what was I thinking, always kept the manual with plans to get another one day.

[Cousin Jack]

2 smokes? Nasty smelly things, lots of noise for very little go. Yes I know they can go really fast on a racetrack, try riding them IRL and they are a PITA.

[KungFooBob]

My first four powered two wheelers were two smokes.

Simple, small capacity learner bikes.

Honda Melody, Kawasaki KC100, Suzuki GP100, Honda NS125R.

Well the NS wasn't that simple, it was watercooled.

[Mr. Dazzle]

They're a thing of the past from my POV, never been "current" for me and therefore a bit outdated and shite.

Plus they always look and smell like they're broken

[Yorick]

I love my 200 BHP GSXR1000 and the noise.

But equally love my 50 BHP GasGas 300 ring a ding ding enduro bike

[mangocrazy]

2 smokes? Nasty smelly things, lots of noise for very little go. Yes I know they can go really fast on a racetrack, try riding them IRL and they are a PITA.

It's easy to forget that development of 2T bikes stopped at least 30 years ago. Had they not been effectively outlawed then, I doubt that 'today's' two strokes would be nasty smelly things - they'd be sophisticated rocket ships. The 2T engine has a number of advantages over a 4T - volumetric efficiency, weight, size and lack of complexity for starters.

There are still a few people developing 2T engines, and they are getting quite staggering outputs from small (c. 350cc) engines. But it's all 'beardy blokes in sheds'. If mainstream time and money had been thrown at their development who knows what we'd have today.

I'd love a truly modern 2T.

[Supermofo]

They're a thing of the past from my POV, never been "current" for me and therefore a bit outdated and shite.

Plus they always look and smell like they're broken

You're around the same age as Bob and I aren't you? Or did you start late?

131kg, 59bhp and 140 mph out of a 250! That's not shite even by today's standards! Plus they smell amazing

[Yorick]

They're a thing of the past from my POV, never been "current" for me and therefore a bit outdated and shite.

Plus they always look and smell like they're broken

You're around the same age as Bob and I aren't you? Or did you start late?

131kg, 59bhp and 140 mph out of a 250! That's not shite even by today's standards! Plus they smell amazing

140 is pushing it a bit. Probably 120 when in race trim.
And we're soon superceded by RGV250 and TZR250 on track.

[KungFooBob]

Yeah, I passed my test at 17 in 1996.

I had a shitter of an RG250 Gamma MK3 that seized solid at 90mph in the fast lane of the M18.

Best smoker was my KDX220R, was a proper tool.

[mangocrazy]

They're a thing of the past from my POV, never been "current" for me and therefore a bit outdated and shite.

Plus they always look and smell like they're broken

You're around the same age as Bob and I aren't you? Or did you start late?

131kg, 59bhp and 140 mph out of a 250! That's not shite even by today's standards! Plus they smell amazing

140 is pushing it a bit. Probably 120 when in race trim.
And we're soon superceded by RGV250 and TZR250 on track.

The KR1-S was by some margin the fastest non-grey import 2T in the UK. It dumped all over any of the officially imported RGVs or TZRs with top speeds in the 130-140 mph region, depending on whether you got a good or average one. I borrowed Superbike magazine's KR1-S for a lap of the TT and it was absolutely fucking mental.

[Supermofo]

I started on 2 strokes, loved em and would love another. 4 strokes are great but there's something visceral in the power delivery of a 2 stroke that's something special.

My first ever ride on a bike. My older brothers MT5


No picture of my dad's KH100 I spent a year on. Then my TZR125 followed by TZR 250





Will have to get proper copies rather than dad's pictures of picture

[KungFooBob]

This...

FB_IMG_1730372711149.jpg (43.49 KiB) Viewed 683 times

Became this...

FB_IMG_1730372720976.jpg (54.93 KiB) Viewed 683 times

[Supermofo]

They're a thing of the past from my POV, never been "current" for me and therefore a bit outdated and shite.

Plus they always look and smell like they're broken

You're around the same age as Bob and I aren't you? Or did you start late?

131kg, 59bhp and 140 mph out of a 250! That's not shite even by today's standards! Plus they smell amazing

140 is pushing it a bit. Probably 120 when in race trim.
And we're soon superceded by RGV250 and TZR250 on track.

As Mango says I think you must be mistaking it for something else.

Kawasaki’s KR-1 and KR-1S are the fastest 250cc production two-stroke race replicas ever built, the former scorching to 131mph in 1989 and the latter topping 140mph in some magazine tests a year or so later. By comparison, Suzuki’s svelte RGV250 models could only manage 125mph and 127mph respectively. Even Aprilia’s exotic RS250s couldn’t get near the Kawasakis’ outright speed, so if you want the fastest 250 there’s still only one place to look.

As well as being considerably faster than anything else in class, both KRs were and still are hugely exciting to ride, although raw and edgy with it. If you want refinement, buy an NSR250 or an RGV250 VJ23. But if you want the most thrilling quarter-litre experience available, only a KR-1 or KR-1S will do.

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/r ... sed-review


Edit: From personal experience my brothers KR1S pissed all over my TZR 250. He also later owned an RGV, again the KR1S was a fair bit quicker.

[Yorick]

You're around the same age as Bob and I aren't you? Or did you start late?

131kg, 59bhp and 140 mph out of a 250! That's not shite even by today's standards! Plus they smell amazing

140 is pushing it a bit. Probably 120 when in race trim.
And we're soon superceded by RGV250 and TZR250 on track.

As Mango says I think you must be mistaking it for something else.

Kawasaki’s KR-1 and KR-1S are the fastest 250cc production two-stroke race replicas ever built, the former scorching to 131mph in 1989 and the latter topping 140mph in some magazine tests a year or so later. By comparison, Suzuki’s svelte RGV250 models could only manage 125mph and 127mph respectively. Even Aprilia’s exotic RS250s couldn’t get near the Kawasakis’ outright speed, so if you want the fastest 250 there’s still only one place to look.

As well as being considerably faster than anything else in class, both KRs were and still are hugely exciting to ride, although raw and edgy with it. If you want refinement, buy an NSR250 or an RGV250 VJ23. But if you want the most thrilling quarter-litre experience available, only a KR-1 or KR-1S will do.

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/r ... sed-review

Nope. I'm going by the racing at the time and since.
They were very well hyped but didn't have the expected track success.
My pal bought a new one in 88 and only kept it a year.

[mangocrazy]

Yorick's a Suzuki and Yamaha fanboi through and through, so could never admit that one of those nasty Kawasakis could be faster...

[Supermofo]

My pal bought a new one in 88 and only kept it a year.

How did he buy one in 88 when they didn't come out until 89?

[mangocrazy]

Edit: From personal experience my brothers KR1S pissed all over my TZR 250. He also later owned an RGV, again the KR1S was a fair bit quicker.

That chimes with my experience. A mate had several RGVs (and still has a very nice one in Schwantz Lucky Strike livery) and none of them were as quick or as fast (there is a difference) as the KR1-S I rode.

[Yorick]

My pal bought a new one in 88 and only kept it a year.

How did he buy one in 88 when they didn't come out until 89?

Folk often got race bikes before road.
I remember the first race day exactly.
He was pissed off that I beat him easily on my YPVS 350.