2022 WORLD TWO-STROKE FLASHBACK: REPORTS OF THE TWO-STROKE’S DEATH HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED

BY JODY WEISEL
(Photos by Trevor Nelson, Debbi Tamietti, Mark Riker & Dan Alamangos)

Nothing is going to bring Honda, Kawasaki or Suzuki two-strokes back to life. Face it, they are dead! We’ve wasted 15 years bemoaning their disappearance, begging the AMA for their return and fouling the internet with all sorts of pie-in-the-sky predictions about how much money Honda could make if they just brought the CR250 back. Or, worse yet, dreaming that Suzuki would revive the RM250 in the face of the fact that they have done little or nothing of importance to the RM-Z250 or RM-Z450. Snap out of it!

SO, QUIT WHINING ABOUT WHAT HONDA, KAWASASKI AND SUZUKI DID. THEY DID WHAT THEY HAD TO DO, WHICH WAS LOOK OUT FOR THEIR BOTTOM LINES, WHICH WASN’T TWO-STROKE MOTOCROSS BIKES. WHO KILLED THE TWO-STROKE? THE MAN IN THE MIRROR.

The two-stroke isn’t dead, not even if Honda, Kawasaki or Suzuki continue to ignore them. They still exist. They are around in plentiful enough numbers to satisfy every keyboard commando who thinks he knows what’s best for the motorcycle manufacturers’ bottom line. He bases his business acumen on the fact that he owned a YZ80 once and knows without a doubt that Honda is missing the massive dollars to be made by recycling two-stroke bikes that would not sell 15 years ago when they were new. 

Before the next start, the Cat is knocking the berm down that the riders coming over the double tunnel hump left from the moto before starting.

Back in 1998, brand-new two-stroke Hondas, along with Kawasakis and Suzukis, sat lonely and forgotten on the showroom floors as the Yamaha YZ400 four-strokes flew out the doors. Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki didn’t kill the two-stroke, consumer apathy did. If you  weren’t the one that stuck the knife into the soul of the two-stroke, it was your uncle, father or brother who walked past the CR250, KX250 and RM250 to get a glimpse of the latest four-strokes.

TWO-STROKES, AT LEAST THE RED, GREEN AND YELLOW VERSIONS, WENT OUT OF PRODUCTION BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T FLY OFF THE SHOWROOM FLOORS; INSTEAD, THEY HAD TO BE DISCOUNTED FOR THE DEALER TO GET RID OF THEM.

It’s this simple! If no one bought plastic Crocs shoes, there wouldn’t be any Crocs shoes to buy. That’s how it works. No one is wearing Google glasses because no one bought them. New Coke failed on the marketplace because Coke addicts wanted “real Coke.” The 1957 Edsel, which at the time was called “a Mercury sucking a lemon,” didn’t fail because it wasn’t a good automobile. It failed because car buyers didn’t want an ugly car. And two-strokes, at least the red, green and yellow versions, went out of production because they didn’t fly off the showroom floors; instead, they had to be discounted for the dealer to get rid of them. 

Hollywood actor Pasha Afshar put up $15,000 in purse money for the 125 Pro, Over-30 125 Pro and Over-50 125 Pro classes.

So, quit whining about what Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki did or didn’t do. They did what they had to do, which was look out for their bottom lines by giving consumers what they wanted, which wasn’t two-stroke motocross bikes. Who killed the two-stroke? The man in the mirror.

Zach Osborne (16) shot out of the gate to an early lead in the first Open Pro moto. Later, Zach would settle into a more sedate pace to go 9-9.

WE BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS A MARKET FOR TWO-STROKES, AND IF WE DIDN’T TREAT THEM EQUALLY, THE RIDERS NEW TO THE SPORT WOULDN’T KNOW ABOUT THEM AND EXPERIENCED RIDERS WOULDN’T KNOW WHAT CHANGES HAD OCCURRED.

Open Pro winner Trevor Stewart (75) mows the grass on the edge of the track, and just misses some big rocks and a discarded fire hose.

MXA can’t force anyone to race a two-stroke because this is a free country—for the time being. But, we could and did warn the motocross public that with freedom comes responsibility. And, with responsibility comes punishment, as well as reward. So, the American motocross public got the four-strokes they wanted, and all the R&D, promotions and advertising dollars went into selling four-strokes to an eager audience. People say that MXA helped drive a spike into the two-stroke by writing positive tests about four-stroke motocross bikes, but our job is to write accurate tests of new bikes. In all the hubbub, it is forgotten that we also wrote positive tests on two-strokes, but in the four-stroke fervor of the time, no one wanted to read those two-stroke tests.

MXA brought six smokers to Glen Helen to race in as many classes as possible.

MXA was nothing if not persistent. We continued to test two-strokes every year, often taking criticism for testing YZ125s and YZ250s that hadn’t changed in years. We believed that there was a market for two-strokes, and if we didn’t treat them equally, the riders new to the sport wouldn’t know about them and experienced riders wouldn’t know what changes had occurred to their trusty mounts. We told the marketing men at the “Big Four” that the best-selling bike of the past season wasn’t going to be their latest whiz-bang new four-stroke, but instead thousands of well-used Yamaha YZ250s, but they just choked down their third martini and laughed.

It was not only the truth, but the start of the underground two-stroke revival. It was off the radar for most of the Japanese brands, but it wasn’t a secret to two-stroke fans. Old-school two-strokers were being plucked out of dank corners of garages, traded like cryptocurrency, lavished with upgraded plastic kits, living second and third lives, passed down like family heirlooms and making motocross affordable again—and the thrills are no different on a $1500 two-stroke beater than on a $12,400 CRF450WE.

Mike Alessi’s YZ300 suffered violent head shake at the start of the second Open Pro moto and he ended up cartwheeling through the infield.

DURING THE DARKEST DAYS OF THE PANDEMIC, TWO-STROKE PARTS, PLASTIC, PISTONS AND PIPES WERE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE HORIZON.

During the darkest days of the pandemic, two-stroke parts, plastic, pistons and pipes were the bright lights on the horizon. Then, when the boom hit and the dealerships were emptied out of anything with two wheels, the hardcore walked into their garages and threw the tarps off of their old 2003 RM250s and went riding. Of course, the two-stroke surge went right over the heads of the Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda leadership, but not KTM, Yamaha, Husqvarna, GasGas, Beta, Sherco, TM or any other boutique builder. They knew that the two-stroke was coming back. In fact, KTM was selling more two-stroke dirt bikes than the Japanese brands were selling four-strokes.


Zach Osborne had just been appointed as Husqvarna’s brand ambassador. Husky built him a one-off retro-mod Husqvarna TC300 two-stroke to race. It was the hit of the event.

The World Two-Stroke Championship was started as a way for dedicated two-stroke racers to enjoy their forgotten and ignored machinery. Strangely, the idea of a World Two-Stroke Championship made the four-stroke faithful angry. They mocked the idea, but in 2010 the race came to life, and it has grown every year since. Tracking the growth and interest in two-strokes is easy—just chart the rise of the World Two-Stroke Championship. From its modest start 13 years ago as a replacement for the obsolete World Four-Stroke Championship, which had run since 1976, the World Two-Stroke Championship has grown every year. And in recent years the interest in two-strokes has risen exponentially. This year it exploded with over 800 riders racing at Glen Helen. This is their story of a new world order.

MXA’s Josh Mosiman raced a Pro Circuit GasGas MC125 to second in the 125 Pros and an MC250 to fifth in the Open Pros. He earned $2550 in purse money for his day’s work.

Hollywood actor Pasha Afshar is a man on a mission to bring two-stroke racing back into vogue. He posts thousands of dollars of his own money for his Pasha 125 Open race series and at the World Two-Stroke and World Vet Championships.  

Trevor Stewart’s day job is racing off-road events, but he got to celebrate his 2022 World Two-Stroke win and the $3000 check.

2022 WORLD TWO-STROKE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

OPEN PRO RESULTS
1. Trevor Stewart (Yam)…2-1
2. Justin Hoeft (Hus)…1-2
3. Ryan Surratt (Yam)…4-3
4. Dare Demartile (Bet… 5-4
5. Josh Mosiman (Gas)…6-5
6. Carlen Gardner (Bet)…7-7
7. Bryson Gardner (Bet)..10-6
9. Sean Collier (Yam)…8-8
9. Zach Osborne (Hus)…9-8
10. Ezra Lewis (KTM)…11-10

Justin Hoeft took home $4000 in purse money for a first in the 125 Pros and second in the Open Pros.

PASHA 125 PRO RESULTS
1. Justin Hoeft (KTM)…2-1
2. Josh Mosiman (Gas)…1-3
3. Ryan Surratt (Yam)…3-2
4. Darian Sanayei (KTM)..4-4
5. Dylan Summerlin (Gas)…6-5
6. Carter Dubach (Yam)…5-6
7. Bryce Huffman (KTM)…7-7
8. Seth Nemec (Hus)…9-8
9. Aryton Ward (Yam)…11-91
10. Jason Lutton (Hon)…10-11

Mike Alessi (800) suffered a horrible crash in the second Open Pro moto, but came back an hour later to go 1-1 in the Pasha Over-30 125 Pro class.

PASHA 125 PRO OVER-30 RESULTS
1. Mike Alessi (Yam)…1-1
2. Cody Mackie (KTM)…2-2
3. Dominic Desimone (KTM)…3-3
4. Casey Casper (Hon)…6-4
5. Dustin Pulliam (KTM)…8-6
6. Dennis Stapleton (KTM)…4-7
7. Jason Lutton (Hon)… 7-9
8. Kenny Hernandez (Yam)…8-10
9. Bryce Huffman (KTM)…10-9
10. Michael Brown (Hon)…11-8

Former GP racer Kurt Nicoll is the uncontested King of the Over-50 class. He won the Pasha Over-50 125 Pro class and took home $2000 in purse money.

PASHA 125 PRO OVER-50 RESULTS
1. Kurt Nicoll (KTM)…1-1
2. Pete Murray (Yam)…2-2
3. Ed Foesdish (KTM)…3-4
4. Nick Mairose (KTM)…5-3
5. Kevin Barda (Yam)…4-5
6. Chad Scholz (Gas)…6-6
7. Mike Marshall (Suz) …7-7
8. Roderick Tapia (KTM)…11-8
9. Gary Riekki (Suz)…14-9
10. Brian Raleigh (KTM)… 20-10

This is Husqvarna off-road racer Bobby Garrison on his way to winning the first World Two-Stroke Championship back in 2010.

EVERY WORLD TWO-STROKE CHAMPION (2010–2022)

2010…Bobby Garrison (Hus)
2011…Austin Howell (Yam)
2012…Michael Leib (Hon)
2013…Sean Collier (Yam)
2014…Sean Collier (Yam)
2015…Mike Sleeter (KTM)
2016…Mike Alessi (Suz)
2017…Ryan Surratt (Hon)
2018…Zach Bell (Hus)
2019…Robbie Wageman (Yam)
2020…Mike Alessi (Yam)
2021…Robbie Wageman (Yam)
2022..Trevor Stewart (Yam)

 

 

 

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