As the tone of motocross has turned to the vibrato of the four-stroke, numerous parties have been assigned blame for the fall of the two-stroke. Environmentalists, the EPA, the factories, and the AMA are among the most common targets, because the truth of the two-stroke decline is harder to face.

It’s all too easy to say that environmental lobbyists and the EPA have pushed manufacturers into a corner on emissions, or that the factories have sought to kill the two-stroke by halting development, or that the AMA has made four-strokes mandatory in professional racing through thumper-friendly displacement formulas. It’s much harder to admit that the killer is someone much more familiar.

You.

Well, maybe not you personally--perhaps you’re among the few who have clung to premix--but if not you, then at least your fellow riders are to blame. And if I’m to rely on statistics in telling this, you’re probably not one of the ones who has stuck with two-strokes. Honda’s CRF450R sold twice as many units as the CR250R--in 2002. That was the first year for the 450, and the sales pendulum has continued to swing ever-faster toward valves and cams ever since.

You don’t believe that the consumer is killing the four-stroke? Let’s take a trip back in time 12 years. In 1993, the AMA held the final 500cc national championship. For those who remember them, the 500cc nationals were a thing to behold. Johnson, Ward, Bailey, Glover, Stanton, Bayle and others thrived on the 500cc two-strokes of old, and the races were thrilling. There are few sights comparable to 40 500cc two-strokes blasting up the start with the finest riders in the world aboard. The races brought in substantial crowds, and were the forum of choice for gritty privateers who could outlast the lesser riders who found themselves beaten to a pulp by 40 minutes on an open bike.

But the AMA pulled the plug, as it was long expected they would. Why? Because manufacturer support was dwindling. Yamaha and Suzuki hadn’t fielded a competitive open bike in years, and Kawasaki and Honda had effectively stalled development on their 500cc machines. The reason the manufacturers were no longer interested was because the consumer was no longer interested. Open bike sales had been on the decline for years, especially since Supercross had gained popularity and relegated the 500cc class to a summertime-only affair.

So one of the longest and most revered traditions in motocross died. The idea of the best riders on the most powerful bikes had lost its appeal, largely because the manufacturers saw no reason to prove the prowess of machines that no one was buying. The 500cc machines in each line-up soon received only BNG (Bold New Graphics) updates each year, and now the lone remaining open-class two-stroke, the venerable KX500, is disappearing from the showroom forever to make room for the forthcoming KX-F450. It wasn’t that the open bikes lacked performance or were the target of a conspiracy. They simply fell out of favor with buyers, and that was that.

Fast forward to 2005. The popularity of the two-stroke is fading, and everyone is eager to place blame. But think of this: if we as riders chose to continue with two-strokes, would things be as they are? If we rejected the CRF450R and chose the CR250R, would there be much in the way to stop the two-stroke tradition from going onward? It’s obvious if we kept our interest in open bikes that they would still be here, but is it really that simple for the two-stroke?

You might say that environmentalists would never let the two-stroke live on. They would certainly fight it, but their record of affecting closed-course machinery is nonexistent. After all, the manufacturers have lobbyists, too, and they have been very successful in exempting closed-course machines from scrutiny. At this point, environmentalists have as much a chance of getting a catalytic converter on Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari as they do of regulating your race bike.

It might seem that the AMA would continue to give preference to four-strokes and that would kill the two-stroke. They might give preference, but it’s no secret that the current formulas leave room for two-strokes to be competitive. While it’s now harder for a privateer to create a competitive two-stroke than it is a four-stroke, the hop-up industry and manufacturers would be more than up to the challenge if they saw a brisk demand for two-stroke improvements. And of the three major titles in American motocross last year, two were still won by two-strokes. Untapped potential clearly remains in the two-stroke engine; it’s the demand that is lacking.

Finally it’s said that the manufacturers are eager to replace the two-stroke and it’s no use fighting them. But if the public went on buying two-strokes, the manufacturers that dismissed premix would not be manufacturers for long. The new Yamaha YZs are evidence that the manufacturers have a soft spot for two-strokes, too, but even they cannot persist in producing state-of-the-art two-strokes if no one buys them. The hard truth of the manufacturers predicament is that they will produce what sells--and nothing else.

So again the onus is on our doorstep as consumers. What’s worse is that there are fine reasons to continue buying two-strokes: lower cost, simpler engines, lesser weight. But we have ignored all those in favor of buying the new generation of thumpers, knowing full well that they cost more, weigh more, and will thoroughly drain our wallets when they lose a piston.

Sometimes I sit and look at my 1983 CR480R (see photo above) and wonder about a world that has lost its interest in such a machine. It sits silently as its massive finned cylinder gleams gloss black beneath the garage lights, encompassing the space where 55 horsepower echoes under fire. I’m always taken aback by its blend of power and simplicity, its sheer elegance as a purpose-built monster.

But I can’t sit for long when the CRF450R beside it awaits.


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