Two-Strokes, Corn Fairings and an Update on KTM

As always, the start of 2025 has brought a ton of movement in the moto industry, continuing with this week’s list below:

1. Kawasaki’s working on a two-stroke that’s headed across the pond to England!
2. KTM’s restructuring efforts now included the stepping down of the face of KTM, CEO Stephan Pierer. 
3. Honda’s got big plans to take over half the motorcycle market by 2030… while staying true to their carbon neutralization goals in the next decade. 
4. Honda is also getting more comfy using motorcycle fairings fashioned from non-edible corn.

Let’s take a sniff around this Team Green two-stroke, shall we?

Rumor Has It: Kawasaki’s Working on a Two-Stroke

Social Media Teaser Includes Potential for the Return of the KX™250

It’s been almost 20 years since Kawasaki last came out with a new two-stroke dirt bike – and this year might just be the year for off-roaders to rejoice!

The hullabaloo hit the fan recently when Motorcycle News covered a new tease on social media (via Instagram). To the myriad of comments of riders asking for Kawasaki to “bring back the two-stroke,” Kawasaki is shown to respond thus: 

“We Heard You.”

If Team Green is actually thinking of what we’re thinking they’re thinking of, then this upcoming bike is the first two-stroke dirt bike that Kawi’s put out since 2007 (2006 if it’s the 125), and we’re about to get a higher power-to-weight ratio than your conventional four-stroke engine that has potential to be lighter and cheaper to manufacture than the competing platform. 

Estimations from the public also include the possibilities of “fuel injection, forced induction, or even a camshaft and accompanying valve arrangement to mechanically regulate inlet and exhaust flow.”

Of course, this is all hearsay until Kawasaki is more forthcoming with what they have planned for their return to the two-stroke category. Stay tuned!

You can read more about Kawasaki’s two-stroke teaser here:

• Kawasaki tease the release of a new two-stroke motorcycle

The Legalities: An Update on KTM’s Bankruptcy

CEO Stephan Pierer Steps Down

The European Union’s largest motorcycle maker is currently sorting through a barrage of restructuring strategies; should they succeed, KTM may emerge with minimal scarring.. until then, changes are inevitable. 

The biggest change between today and when we last covered KTM’s financial difficulties includes a new bottom in the Chief Executive chair. Coverage from Motocross Action Magazine tells us that Stefan Pierer has stepped down from his role as KTM CEO, allowing Co-CEO Gottfried Neumeister to step into the role of Chief Executive. 

Prior to this change,  In a recent interview with Cycle World, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer said that the company is “working on a plan to restructure our debt and to improve our profitability.”

Here is the summary of what’s been happening so far (excerpt from Ben Purvis’s article on CycleWorld):

“The company entered its current state, a process called “self-administration” under Austrian law, back in November 2024 after months of concerns as the share price of its parent group, Pierer Mobility AG, took a nosedive during 2023 and 2024. After peaking at over 90 CHF (Swiss francs) per share in 2022 (around $100), Pierer Mobility’s share values dipped below 9 CHF ($10) in November 2024.  … In November, three companies in the Pierer Mobility group filed for self-administration, which allows the existing management to remain in place and gives protection from creditors for 90 days, during which time companies need to draw up a restructuring plan that is approved by a majority of those creditors to fend off bankruptcy. Those companies were KTM AG (the main part of KTM) as well as KTM Components GmbH and KTM F&E GmbH (the R&D arm of KTM).  Since then, another Pierer company, Avocado GmbH, also part of the KTM group and a supplier of software services to the other parts of KTM, has started insolvency proceedings.” – Ben Purvis, “KTM Bankruptcy Update” (Cycle World)

Currently, KTM is in a grey zone state for future doings with MotoGP (beyond their 2026 contract); based on the fine print, KTM would not be able to leave MotoGP before 2026 without penalty, so there’s a strong likelihood that the House of Mattighofen will continue in MotoGP until the end of their contract. 

Purvis also makes mention of an engine freeze that’s slotted for the MotoGP 2026 grid, so it’s also reasonable to assume that KTM would wish to align with that deadline in the face of their own emerging necessities. 

You can read more about KTM’s current financial state and its restructuring plans here: 

• KTM Bankruptcy Update

Industry Insider: Honda Sets Goal to Take Over Half of the Motorcycle Market

New Initiative to Increase Big Red Bikes in the Southeastern Hemisphere

Big Red is dreaming bigger than ever with sights set on India and the Southeastern Hemisphere – and who can blame them? A higher volume of lower-displacement machines means a more accessible pool of bikes for the local markets – and for Honda, this means that 40% of the motorcycle market could be comprised of Honda machines as soon as 2026. 

According to Honda’s recent press release, Honda has a global production capacity of over 20 million motorcycles annually. By the end of the 2025 Financial Year, Big Red is estimating that they will be making 20.2 million motorcycles, which is roughly 40% of the global motorcycle market. For Honda, this means that they could dominate half of the motorcycle market worldwide by 2030 – and that includes electric motorcycles in there, by the way. 

What’s interesting is that these stunning figures are eventually forecasted to plummet, and Honda is the forecaster. Here are the facts in chronological order: 

1. It is 2025, and Honda has hit 20 million units annually; this translates to around 40% of the entire global motorcycle market. 
2. Honda is estimating that they will make up 50% of the global motorcycle market by 2030. 
3. Honda also estimates that they will be making 4 million electric motorcycle units by 2030. 
4. Honda is aiming to be fully carbon-neutral by 2040. 
5. Unless Honda pivots with great alacrity into expansion efforts for EV bike manufacture or turns to alternate methods of two-wheeled answers in the name of carbon neutrality, Honda will lose money in the years between 2030 and 2040. 
6. Pursuant to the above and assuming Honda will hold fast to their 2040 goal, Honda would have to convert the majority of their 50 million-odd motorcycles into electric motorcycles by 2040, or else watch sales drop from 50 million motorcycles per annum to our guess of somewhere under the 20 million unit mark. 

Honda believes that carbon neutrality will help it to stay ahead of the competition and to continue to grow its market share; to this effect, it is assumed that Honda is bolstering their efforts in the Southwestern Hemisphere because lower-displacement, lighter vehicles are easier to convert to electric, thus preserving as much of the market’s accessibility as possible. 

To learn more about Honda’s plans for the coming quarters, check out their EOY Financial statement here:

• Summary of Briefing on Honda Motorcycle Business

How Corny: Honda Uses Corn to Create Sustainable Fairings

Plant-Based Bodywork to Aid in the Brand’s Clean Initiative

Humans have found an alarming number of uses for the yellow-kernelled grain known to many as “corn” – and while many of us might treat it like a vegetable in our culinary adventures, one bike company has decided to convert the stuff into a bio-based polycarbonate resin made by the Mitsubishi Chemical Group that can be used to make motorcycle fairings. 

The fairings are called “Durabio fairings,” and they’re one of the more outlandish ideas that Honda has adopted for themselves (CAKE’s paper-based fairings came close). According to coverage from MCN, Honda has moved forward with plans to start using Durabio fairings on their motorcycles this year, with “corny” bodywork being just one of many ways that Honda has been attempting to repurpose waste. 

Take a look at what Honda’s American Vice President said of Honda’s reclamation methods back in 2023 (courtesy of MCN’s contributions):

“The concept is simple: We will no longer have to dig holes in the ground for finite materials and energy sources or bury spent materials in a hole in the ground at the end of their usable life. That doesn’t change the values that go into our products – clean, safe, and fun vehicles that are high quality and of good value. Even after a vehicle is purchased, by Honda and our dealers maintaining a relationship with successive customers and the vehicle, we aim to reclaim the product at end of life. This will enable us to recycle or reuse every bit of the materials from our vehicles, reprocess them back to raw materials, and reuse those materials in the creation of new products.” – Joseph Jay, Honda America Vice President (MCN)

So, how nice are these corn-based fairings? 

Apparently, they’re top-tier; Nye Davis tells us that one of ‘Durabis characteristics is high transparency, allowing the manufacturing of the stuff to result in a “high standard of finish without the need for a trip to the paint shop – and despite being made out of corn, it won’t degrade into compost either.”

If you’re still wondering about the weirdness of this tech, Nye reminds us that Durabio and recycled plastics already exist on the following Honda models: 

• Africa Twin
• NC750X
• Forza 750
• X-ADV

What do you think? You can read more about Honda’s corn-based fairings here:

• Honda produce bodywork from non-edible corn in a bid to cut emissions

*Media sourced from Top Speed, ADV Pulse, and Honda*