Our Favorite Two Strokes of 2015

Vintage two-stroke motorcycles are generally smokey, noisy, and terribly unreliable. A pain to work on but oh-so-fun to ride...unless you need to stop, that is. Front and rear drum brakes as standard equipment don't make for the most confident of braking. But, with very low weight and the increased horsepower of the two-stroke engine, they feel deceptively fast, and the acceleration can be a lot of fun. Here are our favorites that came in the shop this past year:

1970 Yamaha CS3 (the predecessor to the legendary RD series) - 198cc, kick and electric start, and supposedly a top speed of 80mph.

1967 Yamaha YR1 - one of the prettiest bikes we've ever had in the shop, this was a genuine cafe racer, and was designed to do the ton right out of the factory.

1973 Suzuki GT185 - definitely the smoothest-sounding vintage two-stroke we've had, very light and fast. A race between this and the CS3 would be interesting. And did you spot the Yamaha AT3 right behind it?