General Discussion Forum

With much speculation about the future of 2-stroke engines due to increasingly strict environmental and emission requirements, I like many other riders out there would be greatly disappointed to see these fantastic machines phased out.

I have been reading with interest the advances in 2-stroke technology currently being used and developed for outboard motors. These motors have far less emissions than older 2-stroke engines by using direct injection and other advances in valve technology. Could we see some of this technology in dirtbikes soon? 

Any thoughts on this matter?

I would love to see two strokes stay alive!  Outboard motors are not constrained by weight or size like a motorcycle engine is.  The new engine design may weigh too much or be too large to be feasible in a motorcycle.  Remember, the greatest things about 2-stokes are the power to weight ratio and the simple maintenance.

Even if it is feasible, the engines weight or complexity may suffer to the point where making 2-stroke dirt bikes are no longer advantageous over a 4-stroke.  In that case, they would be better off researching and developing one type of engine instead of dividing their R&D efforts like they are now.

Without knowing more about what they are doing to the outboard engines, I can’t even make an educated guess as to whether it would be feasible for a motorcycle engine.

i personally dont think that 2 strokes will be phased out in the racing part. the two strokes we be around for a while i think in the racing aspect of things. such as on tracks. but i think that the bigger problem is in the trail riding, woods riding part. this is the area that all of the environmentalists are out to get us. the forests are a big concern in this day and age. and so are all of these endangered species and protected species that live in the areas that we trail ride in. so i think that the two strokes are going to suffer in the future in the trail riding areas. the rules will become more strict. then i think the green stickers and the red stickers are going to play a big role in the trail riding of two strokes. i think that the rules for the red stickered two strokes are going to get stricter and stricter on the riding seasons and other rules they are going to have to abide by.

I would love to see the two strokes stay too. they are geat bikes and they are the heritage of motocross. the old bikes were two strokes. and the way we got here today is by the two strokes. they use to be the bad bikes of the old age. everything was won on the old two strokes. they older four strokes were slow and heavy. but then the four strokes started receiving tecnological advances and they started beating the two strokes now and then.

i think it could be possible to impliment new advances to make two strokes more efficient. but like the other guy said, the simplicity of the two strokes would suffer. they would then become as labor entensive as the new four strokes. also by adding all of that extra equipment, it makes the bike heavier. and another problem would be that the engines could possibly suffer in the power part. if you put all of these emissions stuff on the two strokes, it will definately choke the engine down. it wont be as pwerfull. and then the people wont but the two strokes any more because they will all be slower than the new four strokes. then it becomes a huge marketing thing. and then it will be just like the old 500's. there will be no demand for the two strokes and they will suffer in profits. then the companies will not want to mass produce the bikes because there is no econimic value in producing them. so then it just becomes a huge game of making money.

actually with direct injection it doesnt add any more weight to the engine because all it does is replace the the weight of the carburator  

this is a really and i mean really old thread. look at the post dates and yes they actually are a couple pounds heavier. and on a dirtbike a couple pounds is a lot.  
1998 cr125
2002 cr80

ha ha, wow! I didn't see that elko. this thing's 3 years and 3 monthes old!  
2004 Honda CRF250X

2003 Kawasaki KX100

2001 Honda XR100R

2004 KTM 125EXC

Direct-injection is the way to go, but all the big companies like Honda and Yamaha are too lazy to get back into 2-strokes because they already have their great big thumpers. Fuel-injection is cleaner, more power, and more fuel efficient.  
250-thumper