Is there anyone that have used a 2 stroke bike for a long trip?
Example South America ?


If so, I would like to know your experiences.

Thanks

Never used one for that level of trip but I've been using them on and off for up to 5/6/7k mile trips for decades. Got one planned for the summer on a 250 (viral problems notwithstanding)

Not my experience but here's a film of a trans-Sahara trip on 2 strokes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIezR9Wm4MY

In 2001 we met a young Russian couple on the Czech/Slovak border riding a 250 Jawa. They were doing a circumnavigation of the European continent - maybe not as far as South America but a decent distance. They were 2 up with camping gear.

I asked him about reliability and he said the Jawa was very reliable.....but if there was a problem, the bike was so simple he could strip down and rebuild the engine in an afternoon with the tools he carried, they also carried a few spares.

They were a very pleasant and adventurous young couple

Absolutely no reason a two-stroke can't do long trips. Good quality oil is the only issue, and in many parts of the world it's readily available. Even ordinary motor oil will do, though it will be smokier and clog the baffles requiring cleaning more often, but that's it. They're light, reliable, simple and easy to fix. Pick one you like and you'll have a great trip!

I was a Suzuki dealer in the early '70's when two strokes were all there was from them. Bikes like the GT750 were stunningly reliable and long wearing. We stripped one at 100,000 miles, thinking it must be due - nope. All was good. We freshened it up because it was apart, but it could easily have done another 50-100,000.

I raced a TS185J in cross-country / enduros for two seasons - never needed a thing, never failed, just ran and ran.

I also raced a T350J and a T500 in production road racing, both ran a whole season with zero problems, so they ARE reliable.

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Grant Johnson
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
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One of the problems with two strokes these days is that you can't just lay your cash down in a dealers and ride out. There's very little available that isn't compettion orientated. So it has to be a labour of love to seek a used one out - and then you're in the hands of the previous legions of bodgers and thrashers who tart it up and flog it five minutes before it's due to explode.

Also, in an era where anything less than a litre in capacity is written off as a beginners toy bike, two strokes are mostly small engines. Even Grant's GT750 is only a middleweight in today's terms and that's about the biggest of them. Mostly two strokes topped out at around 500cc, with the 'sweet spot' in the 250 /350/400cc area. So you're not going to be 'ruling the roost' in todays traffic. But that's no reason to ignore them. They're still perfectly capable of covering long distances but you just have to work to their strengths - stay off the motorways and go with routes where their light weight and power characteristics work.

I've been touring on them for 50yrs and still own three - a 125 Suzuki, a 250 Yamaha and a 500 Kawasaki. The 125 has been all over Europe many times and the 250 should have been going to Morocco this summer except for the virus. Like Grant I've production raced a couple - a T500 Suzuki and an RD350 and we went to Italy on a T350. I've also been on a number of Eurotrips on a TS100 Suzuki, a DT175 Yamaha and, probably the best tourer of the lot (if you get a good one) an MZ250. I know somebody with over 250,000 miles on his MZ and it just keeps on going.

Two stroke oil - in Europe anyway - isn't a problem as most supermarkets stock it. Further afield it may be an issue but you can substitute a number of car oils, something I've done on many occasions without a problem.

Two strokes are not without their problems - the biggest one being that most of the available ones are now very old tech and parts etc can be tricky + increasingly, emission bans are including them (particularly in Italy) but their light weight (GT750 aside!) and simplicity makes riding them a joy that you rarely get with todays heavyweights. For me the 'adventure' is in the experience more than the destination and for that two strokes are perfect.