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:
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!
Old Smoker: Suzuki GT550 Restomod-Kickback Contender: Restomod GT550 from Jeremy Missin… By the time Suzuki’s GT series of two-stroke triples landed on the scene, Kawasaki had already cemented a reputation for producing unbelievably fast and feisty “widowmaker” triples. The […]
1000cc Widowmaker: Kawasaki H2 Mach IV 1000-4-120-bhp 1000cc 4-cylinder Widowmaker from Allen Millyard… Introduced in late 1971, the Kawasaki H2 Mach IV 750 was the fastest-accelerating, scariest production machine money could buy. The 748cc air-cooled two-stroke triple-cylinder engine made 74 brake […]
Top 10 Two-Stroke Customs of 2024-Here at BikeBound, we’re big fans of two-strokes — the sound, smell, and sometimes scary powerbands of two-wheeled smokers is hard to beat. We have to say that 2024 was one of the strongest years […]
Holy Smoke: Suzuki GT750 Street Tracker-“Intoxicating in the best kind of way…” In the late 1960s, Japanese motorcycles were quickly evolving from utilitarian transportation into sporting machines that put a premium on performance and acceleration. Honda introduced the CB750 — […]
The Last Resurrection: Futuristic Suzuki A100 Café Racer-#1 Cafe Racer at Kustomfest : Father/Son Duo’s Show-Stopping Custom… Introduced in 1966, the Suzuki A100 was a 98cc two-stroke single-cylinder commuter with a rotary-valve intake and an output of ~10 horsepower. As bikes this […]
The Silver Bullet: Suzuki GT250-A Two-Stroke Bullet from Vintage Sykles… In 1971, Suzuki introduced the GT250 Hustler to their GT (Grand Touring) series of two-strokes. The company had taken a slightly different tack with its street bikes, favoring reliability […]
Giant-Slayer: 500cc Yamaha RD350 YPVS Restomod-Bolt Motor Co. builds a 500cc weapon… The Yamaha RD350 is one of the most iconic sporting motorcycles ever produced. The original air-cooled 350cc two-stroke parallel-twin was produced from 1973-1975, and the RD quickly became […]
Two-Stroke V3: The “Tait Triple”-As Seen at Kickback: Bob Tait’s Two-Stroke V3 Triple… Born in 1935 in Birmingham, England, Bob Tait was an engineer and toolmaker who worked his way up to Chief of Design at Norgren Engineering […]
V4 Two-Stroke: Yamaha “RZ500RR” Restomod-350-lb, 100+hp RZV500R from Championship Cycles… In 1984, Yamaha unveiled the world’s first two-stroke V4 production motorcycle, the RD500LC — a 500cc road-going replica of the YZR500 that King Kenny Roberts rode to the 1983 […]
Resurrecting a Legend: Kawasaki H1 Mach III Custom-Basket Case to Asphalt Warrior: 1971 Kawasaki H1B… In the annals of motorcycledom, few street-going machines have earned a more notorious reputation than the original Kawasaki H1 Mach III, a 500cc two-stroke triple developed for […]
The Mojavian: Aermacchi-Harley Baja 100 Scrambler-Desert Rattler: 70s-Style Two-Stroke Scrambler from Utopeia Moto… Back in 1960, Harley-Davidson bought a controlling interest in Italian firm Aermacchi, a former aircraft manufacturer that turned to producing motorcycles after World War II. The Italian […]
Chem Trails: Yamaha RD400 Street Tracker-A Smokin’ Two-Stroke Tracker from DubStyle Designs… There are workshops who turn out a kaleidoscopic range of custom bikes, always experimenting with a style or era or make they haven’t yet explored, often at […]
HOMEWRECKER: Supercharged Kawasaki KX100 Land Speed Racer-Supercharged Salt Racer from Casey Anderson… If you love custom motorcycles, we highly recommend a pilgrimage to Bonneville Speedway at some point in your two-wheeled life. Each year, the vast Bonneville Salt Flats west of […]
A-SPEC: Liquid-cooled Yamaha RD400 Café Racer-Armen Spec: Yamaha RD400(LC) from Armen Manougian… One of the bikes that stood out most to us at the 2024 Handbuilt Show was this stunning Yamaha RD400 from our new friend Armen Manougian — a […]
One Mile: Yamaha YZ125 Tarmac Tracker-Fast as Lightning: “One Mile” YZ125 Supermoto from Class Act Cycles… From 1974 to the end of the two-stroke pro motocross era, the Yamaha YZ125 was a mainstay of the 125cc MX Lites class, taking […]
They still make 2 strokes? Call me surprised. I thought that ended years ago