Ronax 500 V4 | Two-Stroke Tuesday

Ronax announced a V4 500 GP bike for the streets a decade ago in 2014. Anyone who grew up riding two-stroke motorcycles would relate to just how mind-blowing that news was. But as much of a dream as it was for many, this mind blowing bike has seemingly vanished…

With light switch throttles, up to 200-horsepower and a 115kg weight limit at one stage, there was nothing on the street that related to the 500 GP bike

The reason for me that a Ronax 500 is so amazing is partly due to the many, many nights watching 500 Grand Prix on telly in awe of heroes like Wayne Gardner, Kevin Magee, Mick Doohan, Daryl Beattie, Garry McCoy, Peter Goddard, Mark Willis, Kirk McCarthy, Anthony Gobert, Troy Corser, Simon Crafar and co sliding the uncontrollable brutal 500s around, leaving blue smoke from the tyre and the pipes in a screaming, howling cyclone of high rpm insanity…

The price? Around $100,000 Euros, not including tax.

With light switch throttles, up to 200-horsepower and a 115kg weight limit at one stage, there was nothing on the street that related to the 500 GP bike – much like F1 and cars now. MotoGP bikes have nothing on these beasts…

Imagine owning one of these. Personally we would sell every single bike we have just to have a share in one!

Over the years there have been some specials around – we have our own Costin Engineering 500s that have been featured over the years. The Suter 500 seemed to have vanished but this Ronax 500 is was the real deal and Ronax were taking deposits when we first published this story.

Amazing billet alloy CNC machined crankcases for the two crankshafts. The expansion chambers are pure art.

They were only making 46 of the machines, in tribute to Valentino Rossi I can only assume, with a 30 per cent deposit required to place an order. The price? Around $100,000 Euros, not including tax. So yes, this is a bike that is reserved for the wealthy or those willing to sacrifice part of a house for one!Ronax had been developing two-stroke engines for many years and this exclusive machine has been developed using their vast experience racing. Looking at the Ronax 500, there is no denying it resembles the last generation Honda NSR500 – not a bad thing.

Only 46 Ronax 500s were supposed to be made. We are not sure how many ended up being delivered.

The bodywork is 100 per cent lightweight, extra strong hand made carbon-fibre with the tail unit a single self-supporting sub-frame in itself. The fuel tank is stunning and also carbon-fibre. There are no compromises when it comes to weight saving and performance on this bike…The frame is handmade and of lightweight alloy with fully adjustable steering head and swingarm pivot point and has that fantastic beefy 1990s 500 GP look around the main spars and the steering head stock.

“Brembo monoblock radial-mount GP4-RR calipers with Brembo 320mm rotors and a full Brembo GP spec set-up at the back also”…

Running gear is all top end, as you would expect for a motorcycle worthy of the true 500 grand prix tag. Ohlins 43mm FGR T208 inverted forks, TTX rear shock, forged alloy wheels and ultra expensive forged Brembo monoblock radial-mount GP4-RR calipers with Brembo 320mm rotors and a full Brembo GP spec set-up at the back also. The triple-clamps are stunning billet alloy CNC units, as are the rearsets.

Bore and stroke is 54 x 54.5mm, the same as the YZR and NSR, while the Ronax uses twin counter-rotating crankshafts supported inside CNC billet alloy crankcases…

There are plenty of gorgeous GP handmade alloy parts to drool over. The front dash/fairing mainstay for a start is an absolute work of art. Even small details like the various alloy brackets and the upper fairing supports look very trick and lightweight, making this a true grand prix motorcycle. At 145kg dry it is certainly light by any standards… The airbox itself is incredible, taking in a tuned ram-air system and following the contours of the front of the bike around the stunning, huge handmade dual radiators. Really, this is pure bike porn itself…

The engine is the heart of this beast and is an extremely high tech two-stroke engine. For a start, it is fuel injected, technology that was just not up to scratch back when 500s were the premier class. The EFI is a lot more compact than carburetors, allowing a narrow 80-degree V-angle (NSRs were 112-degree and YZRs 70-degree).

Bore and stroke is 54 x 54.5mm, the same as the YZR and NSR, while the Ronax uses twin counter-rotating crankshafts supported inside CNC billet alloy crankcases that also house a cassette-style gearbox and a wet multi-plate clutch to make the bike more useable on the road.

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Ronax are claiming 160-rear-wheel-horsepower at 11,500rpm for the bike, which is incredible! Amazingly, the bike even has electric start… The exhaust system is steel according to the specifications rather than titanium, however the mufflers are carbon-fibre. There are two riding maps – Rain and Sport.