2 stroke

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pappaecho

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I thought that all 2 stroke machines, bar strimmers and chainsaws were banned in the EU after Jan 2006 - certainly you are not allowed to buy 2 stroke outboards any more.....
So how come the DIY sheds and Lidl and Aldi are selling cheap 2 stroke generators, compressors and similar?
 
I thought it only applied to marine engines, and even then it only applies to carbureted engines.
 
Popular myth. 2 stroke outboards were not banned, they just had to meet emmission standards that were set for 4 strokes a year previously, and old stock could still be sold legally. No idea where the myth came from tho.
 
The requirement to meet the higher emission controls within the RCD effectively banned at a stroke all curent 2-stroke outboard designs from sale other than existing stock.

Some modern 2-strokes can be made to run close to the 4-stroke limits but these will certainly have to be fuel injected and have the oil metered rather than added to the tank, as motorcycle engines have for some time.

I rushed out and bought myself a new 2-stroke for my dinghy for this reason and because I wanted a light-weight to replace my Yamaha 4. The 3.5's on the market all seem to be made to a twenty(ish) year old design, so it may well be that nothing could be done to improve their performance in this way. The rush to produce a full range of four-strokes certainly suggests this.

It's worth noteing that it's only the EEC that is affected by this, so in theory you could buy new small 2-strokes from the Channel Islands with impugnity, for ever. I'm pretty sure that pacific rim countries will keep buying them, not to mention Africa and America.....
 
[ QUOTE ]
Popular myth

[/ QUOTE ] True but where can one find an authoritative account of what the "regulations" now require
 
[ QUOTE ]
my old Seagull

[/ QUOTE ] Provided it is post 1967 you can almost certainly convert it to run a 25:1 mix. It makes them a lot less messy to handle.

Change of needle for Villiers carbs or jets for Amals. Bings can run on 25: 1 without any alteration.

As skipper stu indicates some/most /many will also run on 16:1 without conversion.

Pre 1968 they had smaller bearings and 25:1 is not recommended.

Full details and parts www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk
 
Interesting point about inboards - apparently Dolphin Engines in Cornwall has been sold to a new owner who intends to recommence production of the 12hp two stroke inboard?
 
I thought they where never really out of production. Newer ones even came with a gearbox
Unfortunately they never produced the saildrive version though!
 
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