I am definitely showing my age now however it does not seem that long ago that 250cc two-strokes ruled the off-road world. In motocross, when all the capacities came together at the Motocross of Nations you would generally see a 250cc two-stroke ridden by Stefan Everts or Ricky Carmichael out front. The same went for the World Enduro Championship as it was pretty standard to see Juha Salminen or Stefan Merriman setting the fastest times aboard their 250cc smokers.
Growing up watching this I jumped onto a 250cc two-stroke as soon as I was strong enough and used it to win my first Australian Four-Day Enduro outright. Fast forward from 2002 until now and I’d almost argue that the 250cc is all but dead. You just don’t see that many of them these days. That’s based on what I see while out trailriding and coaching.
But just when I thought
