Insane 2-stroke Engine

If you are not a boasting environmentalist freak, then there is a 90% chance that you love 2-stroke engine. Remembering those sound it made and the neck breaking acceleration still brings chills to my spine. Yamaha’s legendary RX100 and RD350 can still bring shame to modern 300cc 4-stroke engine. The acceleration on RD350 was so brutal that some of the bike enthusiasts even said that ‘RD stands for Rapid Death’. Admiring the power generated by 2-stroke engines, we still see manufacturers such as KTM, Husqvarna, Sherco and Kawasaki having a decent roster of two-stroke dirt bikes, which are not road-legal. They are meant to be used on trails or for motocross competitions.

Working Mechanism:

These engines as name suggest completes its power cycle with 2 strokes of piston in only one crankshaft movement. As the two-stroke’s piston rises on compression, its underside pulls a partial vacuum in the crankcase. An intake port of some kind (cylinder wall port, reed valve or rotary disc valve) opens, allowing air to rush into the crankcase through a carburetor. As the piston nears Top Dead Center, a spark fires the compressed mixture. As in a four-stroke, the mixture burns and its chemical energy becomes heat energy, raising the pressure of the burned mixture to hundreds of psi. This pressure drives the piston down the bore, rotating the crankshaft.

Two-stroke engines often have a high power-to-weight ratio, power being available in a narrow range of rotational speeds called the "power band". Compared to four-stroke engines, two-stroke engines have a greatly reduced number of moving parts, and so can be more compact and significantly lighter. Because of its higher power delivery and lighter weight, bike with 2-stroke engine provide insane acceleration. Because of the roaring sound and insane acceleration, 2-stroke engines had always been a dream for many riders. KTM is one of the manufacturers which have always admired its potentiality and simplicity. For keeping 2-stroke engines alive, KTM and Honda are developing a 2-stroke fuel injected engines which would be road legal.