Run The Right Oil In Your Two-Stroke Motorcycle Engine

Magical and mystical, two-stroke engines are like the unicorns of the motorcycle world. With as few as three moving parts, they are the ultimate in internal-combustion simplicity, and because they have a power stroke every 360 degrees instead of 720 degrees for a four-stroke engine, they make terrific power for their size. An essential ingredient in keeping these unicorns alive is two-stroke oil. The later two-stroke streetbikes used oil-injection systems that dispensed the right volume of oil to the engine based on throttle position and engine speed, whereas racebikes, including current products from certain bike builders, require premixing oil with the gas. It’s not so very hard to do, and with the benefits of riding a two-stroke, why, there’s no equal! Read on for some top oil choices.

A longtime favorite among competition types, racing castor protects beautifully against high temperatures, stressors, and engine speeds, despite, in the old days, being gummy and coking engine parts with a tough, baked-on residues. Thankfully, Maxima’s modern Castor 927 offers the former and sidesteps the latter by blending castor with synthetics and additives. The result is outstanding protection for your premix two-stroke engine under the toughest conditions. And it smells great!

Lucas Oil is a huge motocross supporter, and that energy shows in the company’s product line. This oil is ideal for two-stroke dirt bikes as well as classic two-stroke streetbikes, where its “smokeless” technology will help you earn friends, not enemies, as you smoke virtually every other vehicle off the line. The semi-synthetic formula helps make this oil a good value, and since Lucas Oil says its recipe mixes with gasoline well at all temperatures, you can also use it in your two-stroke ATV, boat, or snow machine.

For four decades now, Red Line has specialized in creating top-quality engine lubricants such as this two-stroke racing oil. Suitable for use in oil-injection systems as well as premix applications, this synthetic lubricant utilizes premium ester base oils for exceptionally high film strength, even at racing’s high temperatures. Red Line says the oil increases power, offers excellent scuff protection, and burns exceptionally clean, all traits that two-stroke devotees want and need.