Ask the Editors: 2-Stroke ATV Revival?
Will the glory days return?
Your friend speaks the truth- Honda did indeed file for a patent for a unique (modern) 2-stroke engine design back in 2015 but it’s very unlikely it will ever find its way into a production ATV. The reason for this is that the government treats all production quads, even those manufactured for racing, as if they were recreational/ trail machines, claiming their studies demonstrate that’s where most ATVs end up being ridden regardless of how they are marketed.
That being said, there have been 4-strokes (like Suzuki’s LTR-450) that have fallen under governmental scrutiny simply because the POTENTIAL to map them more aggressively existed with modifications such as the Yoshimura Cherry Bomb. Suffice to say, they’re not going to be too lenient on a 2-stroke, regardless of how modern.
Speaking of, this new 2-stroke of Honda’s appears quite unique in that clean air would enter directly into the crankcase through a reed where an upward pointing injector adds a burst of fuel. The fuel and air mix would then be transported up to a valve in the combustion chamber via transfer ports for a dose of spark.
Should a unit see production and somehow be adapted into a four-wheeler chassis, rest assured that we’ll be all over it.
