Here at BikeBound, we’re big fans of two-strokes — the sound, smell, and sometimes scary power bands of these two-wheeled smokers just move our blood. 2022 was a particularly strong year for two-strokes on BikeBound, so we decided to follow up our Best Customs of 2022 with a 2T-only list.
As with our previous Top 10 lists, your visits, likes, and engagement served as votes, so these bikes were selected according to their popularity among our readership. This is the most objective ranking we could achieve.
Without further ado, here’s our list of the Top 10 Two-Strokes of 2022, in alphabetical order by builder:
• Joe Banks: 421cc Banshee Framer
• Black Cycles Australia: KTM 300 EXC
• Nathan Chasseray: Kawasaki KX125
• Simon Cheras: NSR-D Project
• Jake Drummond: Yamaha RD350
• Mark Goulding: Yamaha “RD443LC”
• Langen Motorcycles: The Langen
• SALT Motorcycles: KTM 300
• Smyth Innovations: Yamaha “RD427”
• Tough Tracker: Suzuki GT250
• Honorable Mention: Monsieur Dakar’s “YZ535”
Our feature of Stéphane Peterhansel’s Yamaha “YZ535” Supermoto hit it big, but considering that Team Sonauto Yamaha actually built the bike 33 years ago — in 1989 — we didn’t think it was fair to stack it up against these contemporary builds. Still, it deserves a honorable mention as one of our most popular two-strokes of 2022!
The Latest Two Strokes…
Pure Fun Survivor: Yamaha RD400 Daytona Special - Purists Beware: Tim Coughlin’s 1990s-Style RD400 Road Ripper… In 1979, with the motorcycle world hurtling fast toward four-stroke dominance, Yamaha released the Yamaha RD400F Daytona Special — a lightweight, giant-killing smoker that would be one […]
Five-Cylinder Smoker: 1972 Kawasaki S2 415 - Up for Auction: 1972 Kawasaki S2 415 with Allen Millyard Engine… Allen Millyard has a gift for making the impossible look factory. That has always been part of his magic. Many builders can build a […]
Veloce Ethereal: 500cc Two-Stroke Café Racer - 145-hp 500cc Two-Stroke Ethereal from Veloce Motorcycles… In the modern world, a 500cc two-stroke intended for road use seems almost unthinkable. However, that’s exactly what Oxfordshire-based Veloce Motorcycles is promising with the Ethereal — a […]
Veloce Aperion: 280-BHP 1000cc Two-Stroke Café Racer! - Veloce Motorcycles unveils a 1000cc X8 two-stroke café racer! Built by Oxfordshire-based Veloce Motorcycles, the Aperion is a 1000cc, eight-cylinder, two-stroke naked bike — or perhaps more accurately, an engineering provocation with lights, wheels, and […]
“Is Pepsi Okay?” Suzuki RGV250 Kevin Schwantz Tribute - Nabspeed Moto’s Kevin Schwantz Pepsi RGV Replica… The legendary Kevin Schwantz earned the title of “Wheelie King” at the 1988 Macau Grand Prix, where he shaved an incredible 7 seconds off the outright lap record […]
Back from the Dead: 1973 Wassell Antelope - 1984sc resurrects a circa ’73 Wassell Antelope after 30 years in a basement… Today, Wassell Limited is a leading supplier of classic British motorcycle parts, but the company’s origin story traces back to one man: […]
Seventies Smokeshow: Spondon Kawasaki H1 500 Triple - Tarty Two-Stroke: Manx Road Racer and Toolmaker Builds a 70s-Style Smoker… No street bike is as infamous as the Kawasaki Triple. For the 1969 model year, the original H1 Mach III 500 came howling and […]
Norsaki: Norton Dominator x Kawasaki Two-Stroke Triple! - From Davmomoto: 1955 Norton Dominator Meets 1974 Kawasaki S3 Mach II… Yes, you can believe your eyes. What you see before you is a 1955 Norton Dominator with a featherbed frame mated to a 1974 […]
Project Cobra: ’72 Suzuki T500 Street Tracker - Vic Shield helps a good mate ride again… The Suzuki T500 — known as the Cobra, Titan, or Charger — appeared in 1968, marketed as the “the sports cycle that couldn’t be made.” At the […]
Make Haste Slowly: Yamaha “RD256” Tribute - Big Dream Motorcycles builds a tribute to Canada’s first and only Grand Prix winner… Born in 1939, Michelle (Mike) Duff was destined to become a legend of Canadian motorsports — notably the only Canadian […]
Ronax 500: 500cc Two-Stroke GP Bike…for the Road - The Closest Thing to a 500cc GP Bike You Could Actually Buy… In an era dominated by electronically-managed four-stroke superbikes, the Ronax 500 arrived like a time machine, dragging the raw, violent soul of 1990s […]
Indoor Smoker: 1963 Bultaco Sherpa S Flat Tracker - Two-Stroke Bultaco Flat Tracker from an AMA Hall-of-Famer… In 1959, Francisco “Paco” Bulto introduced the first Bultaco, the 125cc Tralla 101 (“Whiplash”), which proved itself immediately in the Spanish Road Racing Championship. The Bultaco won […]
421cc Two-Stroke “YamaGamma” Hybrid - Smoke Show: Vic Shield’s Dual-Livery 421cc YPVS Smoker… The Yamaha RD350 YPVS — also known as the RZ350 or RD350LC II — remains one of the last and most legendary two-stroke street bikes ever produced. […]
The Seventy: Aermacchi-Harley 250 Tracker - Two-Stroke Italo-American Street Tracker from Fuchs Workshop… Back in 1912, a firm called Nieuport-Macchi was founded to build Nieuport airplanes under license for the Italian military. Sometimes in the 1920s, as production shifted to seaplanes, […]
“Smoke Oil Everyday” – 1983 Yamaha IT175 Resto - Two-Stroke Woods Weapon from a Former Factory MX Race Mechanic… The IT (International Trial) series was Yamaha’s range of two-stroke enduro motorcycles, based largely on the YZ motocrossers but tailored for enduro competition, hare and […]
They still make 2 strokes? Call me surprised. I thought that ended years ago