Langen go four-stroke: Brit firm behind bespoke Two Stroke roadster confirm ‘mystery’ project

Wigan-based Langen Motorcycles are ramping up the development of a new four-stroke machine that could be revealed as a concept as early as Motorcycle Live (November 2023) – but they are keeping their powder dry in terms of precise details.

“Most of the design team are now on the new project, which is what you might describe as a large-capacity four-stroke,” Langen’s Christofer Ratcliffe told MCN. “Since January, that has been accelerated and has now become almost the primary focus for the design team.

“I’m losing sleep, but it’s my favourite part of the job – just being involved in development and seeing a new bike coming to life from a blank sheet,” he continued. “We are pushing to launch a prototype at the NEC. It’ll be a challenge, but we’ve done harder things in less time!”

The mystery four-stroke will follow the hugely acclaimed £29,400 (plus VAT and OTR costs) Langen Two Stroke naked model, which is powered by a 249.5cc liquid-cooled two-stroke V-twin from Italian maker Vins. Built to order, the first two customer bikes were handed over at last year’s Motorcycle Live, with around four per month now leaving the factory.

But what of the new bike? “It’s a completely different genre to [the Two Stroke]. It is not a sportsbike, it is probably going to grab some headlines of being one of – if not the – fastest thing from the traffic lights,” the Langen boss continued. “But we’ve got to focus on it being lighter weight than any competitor that it might share the market with.

“It’s going to focus on being able to go round corners a lot better than perhaps the competitors. That will be one of our higher priorities.”

Alongside the incoming model, Langen are looking to increase production of their Two Strokes – with engine delays currently hampering progress.

“The optimum rate that we’re trying to get up to is between six and eight per month,” Ratcliffe said. “We’re lower than that at the moment, but we’ve got rafts of chassis, bodywork, brakes, all kinds of components ready to go. 

“What we don’t have yet is a steady supply of engines, which is a little bit slower than we would like it to be, but there’s a big complex supply chain over in Italy to build them, as well with an equally dedicated and passionate team working around the clock.”

Speaking to MCN, Ratcliffe confirmed that three bikes had passed their Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval (MSVA) tests the previous week ahead of customer delivery – with another three in the works for testing.  

On top of upping deliveries, the team are also working on a fairing kit to retro-fit to the bike – allowing you to transform your Two Stroke into a smoking 250 sportsbike.

“We’ve been through a lot of iterations and come to a dead end plenty of times trying to come to something that really works with a big fairing and nose cone, but I think we’ve got something coming in the right direction now. It will be launched next year.

“We’re just chomping at the bit to build bikes,” he said. “We’ve got shelves filled with parts ready to go and if 10 engines turned up tomorrow, we could build 10 bikes in the next two weeks.”