Best 2-Stroke Quads of All Time

The all-time best smokers.

These days it’s getting increasing more difficult to even buy a 450cc pure sport ATV for trails or racing, a very sad fact when you consider that a little over a decade ago there were 12 of them from which to choose.

What’s even crazier is this isn’t the first time this pattern’s happened in the ATV industry. A decade prior to that saw the rapid decline of the stock race quad as well.

The difference is that the race quads of the 80s were 2-stroke, kick-start-only affairs with rugged simplicity borrowed directly from their motorcycle racing counterparts.

These days the 2-stroke is dinosaur-level extinct, but your ATV Connection editors are digging through the archives to remind the world of the way things used to be.

Yamaha Blaster

The Blaster is one of the more simplistic 2-strokes in this list; developed to offer snappy performance for trail riders, the 300 pound, 17-horse power 195cc single-cylinder air-cooled 2-Stroke has been responsible for introducing countless riders to the sport throughout its incredibly long lifespan.

It was available from 1988-2006, receiving only a single fairly modest update to its aesthetic and brakes for model year 2002. Stone reliable, fairly quiet and capable of hitting 55mph bone-stock, the Blaster is one of those machines with an aftermarket that could fill countless catalogs and legions of devotees even to this day.

Kawasaki Tecate-4

You could spend your whole life around ATVs and never encounter the elusive Teacate-4 (KFX250). This is due in part to the fact that Kawasaki only ever released the machine for 1987 and 88. It was commonly chided at the time for boasting too much engine performance for its fairly stubby geometry and, thanks to so limited a production run, didn’t have a catalog of aftermarket love many of the other major players of the time enjoyed to correct the shortcomings from the factory.

These days spotting one in any condition is rare but its most notable feature is the hideaway headlamp taken straight out of Ferrari’s playbook at the time.

Suzuki Quadracer(s)

Suzuki went about the 2-stroke performance quad game a little differently than the rest. Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda all created race quads as predecessors to their 2-stroke, race ready 3-wheelers (Tri-Z 250, Teacte-3, and ATC250R respectively).

Suzuki skipped the whole 3-wheeler thing and entered the market with the first of the 250cc race quads in 1985: The liquid-cooled Quadracer LT250R.

The LT250R was a successful machine for both model year 85 and 86 so for 1987, Suzuki decided the time had come to supplement the line with another Quadracer – this time stuffing a 499.5cc liquid cooled open-class 2-stroke into its famous yellow and blue motif – the LT500R, or as it’s commonly known “Quadzilla”.

The LT500R, with its out of the box top speed of 82mph, was available from 1987-1990 and remained the fastest production quad for many years. The race-class ready LT250R continued production through 1992.

Yamaha Banshee

Like the Blaster, Yamaha wasn’t really concerned with fitting neatly into any production race class when they developed the liquid cooled, 350cc twin-cylinder Banshee. Instead, the opposite effect happened – race classes were then created to accommodate Yamaha’s successful machine.

Also like the Blaster, the Banshee enjoyed a ridiculously long life, being available in the US from 1987 until 2006 (some regions keeping it on the line until as recently as 2012).

Owing its life to Yamaha’s RZ350 street bike (yes, there was a time when even road bikes were 2-strokes), the Banshee took the cafe racer’s performance and set it free in a low, wide, off-road chassis. What resulted, because of its wide spread of power, was a machine that immediately caught the attention of the desert rider crowd.

It only received a single moderate revision across its lifecycle in the form of moving to A-Arms (from J-Arm front suspension) starting in model year 1991.

Because of its popularity and long unchanged lifespan, the Banshee is another machine with an incredible aftermarket. It is one of those quads that can serve a dozen different purposes, depending on the rider’s needs. The demand for the Banshee has never really gone away and, in fact, sees prices continue to rise of the secondary market even now. It has hordes of dedicated fans and remains one of the most recognized ATVs on the planet.

Honda TRX250R

At last, we come to the #1 entry in our list, the legendary Honda 250R. Anyone with even the slightest interest in the performance segment of the sport owes a debt of gratitude to this ATV whether they realize it or not. Why? Because when Suzuki (the last major OEM to pull the plug) ended production of the LT250R in 1992, ATV racers could no longer go to the dealership and buy a new race quad. What they ended up doing for many, many years was starting with a Honda 250R engine and chassis and relying heavily upon the healthy aftermarket to build what were essentially custom machines to compete upon.

In stock trim the Honda 250R wasn’t even out for very long; 1986-1989 but Honda managed to get a lot right in the quad’s design. Unlike the Kawasaki and Suzuki 250s, Honda understood that it was going to be cornering stability and a usable, meaty powerband that would give them the edge on the racetrack.

So successful was the design that Honda themselves would revisit the geometry back in 99 when developing their TRX400EX, one of a handful of performance oriented 4-strokes credited with revitalizing the sport and race quad market.

These days finding a stock 250R is becoming increasing difficult, and, the few available command ever-increasing prices. However, the 250R retains well-earned legendary status as the most influential sport quads ever built.