Retro Ride: Langen 250

If you want a brand-new, road legal two-stroke, there aren’t that many places you can go to. The Langen 250 is one of the few but it will cost you around £30-£35,000…

WORDS: STEVE COOPER     PICS: GARY CHAPMAN

The bike you see before you may not be an ‘old’ classic, but it is a 250 stroker and we’re rather partial to them here at CMM. Now factor in that it’s a bespoke build using an engine that’s effectively hand-built and limited to a run of just one hundred and it’s built in Britain. And it also just so happens to be completely and utterly road legal.

What we have here are the passion and dreams of one man. Christofer Ratcliffe made metal with his small team of experts. To use his words: “The beating heart of the Langen is an intoxicating 250cc two-stroke born as a side project in the Ferrari factory. The first version of the V-twin was realised in 2014 by Vincenzo Mattia as a brutal GP race engine delivering 95bhp. The patented fuel-injection and ECU-controlled lubrication system have enabled Langen and Vins (the manufacturer) to develop the pure-bred V-twin into a durable, controllable engine which meets modern emissions regulations. The well-mannered power delivery allows a predictable ride with endless, addictive torque on tap. Take the needle upwards of 9000rpm for an experience like nothing else on the road.”

Chris’ description sums up that motor perfectly, and if it’s not art it’s bloody damn close! Looking at the details, there’s true genius in the way the metal has been machined and crafted. It could all have been left as ‘as received’ or summarily finished but no, there’s massive attention to detail everywhere you look. And take a peek at that power unit – yes, it’s a V-twin but both cylinders are in the forward plain, cheekily point up at the sky and towards the Tarmac. Sitting in that ‘V’ are carbon-fibre air ducts that bring in the vital O2. More of the black stuff acts as the belly pan whilst cleverly also hosting the electrical kit and battery – more attention to detail with some ingenious packaging.

At this point you might very well be scratching your head thinking: “How can you build a modern two-stroke and get it road legal given it’s a ‘new build’ and on a 23 plate?” A perfectly reasonable question and one that, amazingly, the oft-maligned DVLA and its associates actually facilitate. SVE/SVA (Single Vehicle Exemption/Assessment) is now known as IVA – Individual Vehicle Assessment – and allows the Langen team to steer their bikes through the myriad of rules and regulations essentially on a one-off or small batch basis. In 2024 Chris even discovered a way of being able to register the 250 in the USA, which will doubtless be good news to American fans of the stink wheels format.

Back to the bike, the frame and swingarm are works of art crafted in 7020 aluminium tube and finished with satin bronze Cerakote that somehow manages to look striking and minimalist at the same time. By contrast, there’s a yellow metal-cum-gold patination going on that is replicated across the entire machine – yokes, headlight, frame fixings, shock absorber remote reservoirs, tailpiece and chain. Studying the bike and the finish of the fittings, they combine to give the look of the genuinenspecial refined to the nth degree.

And those spoked wheels – it would have been oh, so easy to fit some high-end exotica made from hideously expensive magnesium alloys or race-spec carbon-fibre. However, what we have are a pair of gorgeous gold anodised rims with classical wire spokes. The hub end houses the nipples and the spokes’ outer ends locate in the sides of wheel rims allowing tubeless tyres to be fitted. And these are modern Dunlop, TT100 style obviously, once again harking back to an earlier time.

Some might contend if you’re going to have a cutting-edge, 21st century motor, why not have the best, leading-edge, suspension? A fair point, but then such an approach would argue against the retro look of the Langen. Therefore, the front-end gets some conventionally orientated Ohlins forks complete with a low friction black coating. No, it doesn’t run a mono-shock arrangement as such a device could have received excessive heat from the upper cylinder and head – this being the one apparent drawback of the motor’s layout. Instead a pair of remote reservoir K-Tech shock absorbers with customised damping mount off the top of the swingarm and the rear upper frame rail. The bike is all about exquisite detailing so, as you might expect, the chain is tensioned by a pair of deliciously sculpted eccentric adjusters at the rear axle.

Floating discs by Brembo with HEL radial calipers and hoses up front and an underslung unit at the rear complete the brake set up, and as discovered during the road test these are both predictable and very effective. You’d seriously have to be going for it if you felt these anchors weren’t fit for purpose.

Approaching the bike, it’s like nothing else I’ve ridden and the fact that it’s worth a cool £35,000 is just a little bit daunting. Especially so when you’re normal spheres of reference are the antediluvian 70s shonkers I normally squander my own money on.

Bikes like this require some TLC and one of the rituals here is allowing the motor to get up to temperature. If such practices aren’t adhered to there’s a genuine risk of a cold seizure and we won’t be getting replacement pistons and rings for this stink wheels off eBay on an overnight delivery any time soon!

With necessities dispensed with it’s into the saddle and hands on the bars time. Despite its radical profile the Langen fits older riders like muggins here – result! No silly anatomical joint angles, no contortions, no arthritic negotiations; the design team obviously knows its target market well.

First gear selected, clutch feathered and throttle duly opened. Suddenly and from nowhere there’s a Home Alone/Macaulay Culkin line popping up in my head: “This is it now don’t get scared!” Ridiculous quite possibly, but the bike does belong to a very good mate and his generosity and benevolence only go so far. Yes, it is fully insured for numpty here to ride it, but the last bike I rode anything approaching this sort of money was a 1970s MV Agusta!

First gear is high as befits the bike’s intentions and it takes a while to get the clutch/throttle balance just right. The steering lock is a little restrictive but once you’re aware of it you make the relevant adjustments. It needs at least 4500rpm revs to take off but once underway everything makes immediate sense – another example of how well thought out the bike is.

The motor is amazingly quiet but not the exhausts – there’s a genuine vibe of the good old days in a rudimentary paddock going on here. The bike in camera is still running in so we can’t push it too hard but the potential is definitely there. What’s more the handling is immensely flattering and bike is stupidly easy to ride.

Despite its super-trick looks, unorthodox detailing and equipment the Langen is blissfully predictable and the fuelling uniform without a hint of jerkiness, catching or hesitation. Now that might sound kind obvious/a given/a forgone conclusion in the knowledge that we’ve had fuel-injected motorcycles since Kawasaki launched the Z1000H back in 1980 (pedants will now be shouting 1969 Munch Mammoth). However, remember this is a two-stroke that fires every revolution unlike the big lazy Zed. It’s also one highly-tuned engine so getting all the various components to talk to each other seamlessly is a major achievement. That it feels like a beautifully carburetted motor is, I believe, one of the team’s most significant achievements.

The more I familiarise myself with bike, the better it gets… don’t overthink it and the ride is absolutely intuitive. There’s no falling into corners, no reluctance to roll predictably into a bend, it really is a sublime experience. And those HEL brakes, you really couldn’t ask for better anchors.

The Langen encourages you to go faster and faster and I for one don’t have the riding skills to find its limits. This is very close to a GP bike on the road in all but name but in different set of threads along with all the goods on display… and none the worse for it. Looking back at my scribblings of the day I’d noted it was insanely easy to ride, handled in a direct and very purposeful manner, but not in a threatening way. That soundtrack is one you’re constantly aware of and will always egg you on to dance on the gear lever.

Negatives? If I was looking for an issue then the gearbox can be reluctant to drop into neutral when stationary but this example is still box fresh so things will doubtless improve with use. Oh, and the two rear shocks can just about touch the backs of your calves but only if you have the balls of your feet on the pegs; the rest of the time it’s not a problem. That’s honestly all the nit-picking I can think of.

If you wanted something that was a contemporary take on an RGV250 VJ22, a TZR 3XV, KR1-S or an MC28, then the Langen is the modern alternative but at a price. And that will be the big stumbling block for many (most), that and the looks. It’s a style that polarises opinions like little else out there and it’s unequivocally not for the shy, retiring types.

In the words of Oscar Wilde: “There’s only one thing worse than being talked about and that’s not being talked about!” Comments on Facebook’s ‘Just Two Strokes’ page most definitely divided opinion. Some punters decried the bike’s looks simply because it didn’t look like any of those previously mentioned oleaginous missiles, but what would be the point? If you made it look like a Suzuki, 75 per cent of your target market would automatically want to look like something else.

If you have the spondulix but want a different look, Chris Ratcliffe and the team are more than happy to offer different colourways, frame finishes and the like. Ultimately the bike makes an overt statement yet one that’s open to wide interpretation.

My own take on it? I don’t think it’s one of personal wealth so much as a proud declaration that the lucky owner is in love with two-strokes and has absolutely no intention of giving up the hydrocarbon-fuelled hyperbole that are stink wheels.

One trick pony?

Making bikes on a small scale is arguably a risky business – more than a few firms that have trodden this route have subsequently folded.

However, the team at Langen aren’t putting all of their eggs in one basket. They’re now on an entirely different project with the Lightspeed. With 185bhp, 101lb-ft of torque from 1190cc of Rotax derived four-stroke V-twin, it’s a bespoke-built bike with a chassis that takes its lead from the 250 here.

Sitting somewhere between a muscle cruiser and street fighter, the Lightspeed is some 30 kilos lighter than Ducati’s Diavel with around 20bhp more on hand. Once again there numerous aesthetic options for potential customers and those wanting exclusivity will be reassured to learn the production run is limited to 185 builds.

www.langenmotorcycles.co.uk

Specification

ENGINE TYPE

249.5cc liquid-cooled, two-stroke, 90-degree V-twin

BORE AND STROKE

54 x 54.5mm

CLAIMED HORSEPOWER

76bhp @ 11,700rpm (claimed)

MAXIMUM TORQUE

33lb-ft @ 11,700rpm (claimed)

TRANSMISSION TYPE

6-speed

CARBURETION

Langen EFI with two-port injectors, 74mm throttle body

TYRES

120/70-ZR17 (F) 150/70-ZR17 (R)

FUEL CAPACITY

14 litres (3 gallons)

FRAME

7020T6 Aluminium space frame

SUSPENSION

Front: 43mm telescopic forks, compression, rebound damping and pre-load adjustment. Rear: Twin-shock bespoke K-Tech piggy-back Razors –compression, rebound and pre-load adjustment

BRAKES

2 x 320mm Brembo Serie Oro discs, twin HEL radial billet calipers (F) 1 x 265mm Serie Oro disc, HEL radial billet caliper (R)

SEAT HEIGHT

810mm

WET WEIGHT

125kg (276lb)

DRY WEIGHT

117kg (258lb)

WHEELBASE

1450mm (57 inches)