There’s a New Eight-Cylinder Two-Stroke Motorcycle Coming. And It Promises Nearly 300 HP
We seldom hear about new 2-stroke motorcycles, but we've never heard about one producing 280 hp until now.
As reported on by the crew at Motorcycle News recently, there's a new 2-stroke in town. That's not something you hear very often, well, unless you count the latest news from Kawasaki. But a new street-legal 2-stroke is news I thought had been resigned to the past, and for it to make nearly 300 hp is news I never thought I'd see.
The machine is called the Aperion and comes courtesy of Oxfordshire startup Veloce Motorcycles. It features a 1000cc eight-cylinder 2-stroke powerplant, with a claimed 280 hp. Now, to be fair, the example the company displayed at the Bike Shed Moto Show in London last month wasn't running, but Veloce says it has a running demo bike and plans to deliver the Aperion to customers in 2027.
Powering the Aperion are eight Rotax/Aprilia RS125 cylinders with forged pistons, which have been arranged in two separate V4 crankcases around a central transmission casing. Because these are 2-stroke cylinders, each needs its own expansion chamber, which needs to be a specific volume and length with accurate cones to optimize power production and delivery. fitting eight expansion cylinders into a naked motorcycle without making the bike unridable is a feat of engineering.
All Things 2-Stroke
At its heart, the Aperion is an old-school carbureted 2-stroke motorcycle, but its existence has been made possible by modern technology. To turn eight expansion chambers into a compact work of art, Veloce used the latest 3D printing technology. The company laser-sintered the pipes from metal powder, directly from a CAD program.
Getting the expansion chambers right isn't just important for the power delivery; it contributes to the overall feeling of the bike, because the engine doubles as the main frame. It has front and rear subframes, made from welded steel tube 'birdcage' style trellises. To the rear, there's a savage aluminum single-sided swingarm, which is a rarity on a new model these days, barring the Norton Manx R.
The rest of the bike, from the brakes to the suspension, is fairly conventional, well, apart from the rear suspension, which works with a tie-rod and single shock mounted under the front of the engine. If you want to own this feat of engineering, and what is likely the most powerful 2-stroke motorcycle ever built, you'll have to part with £78,000 ($103,041). Even then, there will only be a limited run of 24 bikes, and they'll be sold on a motorcycle single vehicle approval (MSVA) basis.
If you got all excited about owning a modern 2-smoker but deflated when you heard the price tag, you still might be in luck. Veloce is also planning on producing a second model called the Ethereal, which will feature a V4 500cc 2-stroke engine producing around 145 hp. The Etheral will be sold at a slightly lower price point, and Veloce plans to produce more than 24 models, although details are still scarce.
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