Is it time for a modern-day stroker?

It feels like a lifetime since we last saw a two-stroke road bike taking pride of place in a dealership, but the wait for a resurrection might be closer than we think...

- 

If you want to get a big reaction from bikers on a social media post, there are a few easy wins. Mentioning Valentino Rossi is a great start. Drop in a pic of a wild crash. Or, if you want to cause apoplexy all around, post a positive story about an electric motorbike.

The real gold standard, though, is to mention a bike with a two-stroke engine. Whether it’s a Honda MT-5 or a Yamaha RD500LC, the replies will go into meltdown quicker than a cheap cast piston in my old race-tuned Suzuki RG250 Gamma.

Because everyone loves a stroker. It’s not hard to see the appeal: the engines are light, have great performance for the capacity, sound amazing, and have a whole extra dimension to their appeal - they actually SMELL good. Add in the particular power delivery of a tuned two-stroke - sudden increases in power over a narrow rev range, or the famous ‘power band’ - and you have a unique set of charms.

Which makes a recent Kawasaki post on its UK and USA social channels very interesting indeed. The firm teased a return of the two-stroke, with the sound of a two-stroke engine revving and the words: “We heard you. #2stroke.”

There's absolutely no other official info from the big K at the moment, but Japanese bike magazine Young Machine has speculated that There will be a new two-stroke bike from Kawasaki, and that it will be a road bike rather than a dirt bike like the KTM 300 EXC two-stroke, which has been on sale in recent years. Big if true, as the kids like to say.