Tuners and mechanics
For anyone who wants to understand the why behind every modification, before picking up the grinder.
The book
The Physics of the Two-Stroke
How it works, how it breathes, how to tune it
English edition coming soon.
Thirty years of workshop, foundry and dyno in one manual. Inside is the physics behind every extra horsepower, and the practical way to find it in the workshop: formulas actually used, measurements, numbers and curves read on the dyno.
490 pages · 102 technical figures · 53 photographs
The cover shown is the Italian edition, La Fisica del Due Tempi, out on Amazon on November 24, 2026. The English title is a working title. Page and figure counts refer to the Italian edition.
What's inside
490pages
27chapters
102technical figures
53photographs
- Exhaust and expansion chamber. The pressure waves, how the dimensions are calculated, and why the pipe only pushes in a certain rpm range.
- Port timing and time-area. How to measure them, and what happens when you raise the exhaust port or widen the transfers.
- Scavenging. How the fresh charge drives out the burned gas, and where power is lost.
- Jetting. How to choose the carburetor settings and how to set them up.
- Ignition advance, squish and compression ratio. The line between an engine that pulls and a holed piston.
- Detonation. How it starts, how to recognize it, how to avoid it.
- Reed valves and induction. Reed valve, rotary disc valve and piston port.
- Cylinder casting. In aluminum and in cast iron, from the pattern to the finished part.
- The dyno. How it works, how to read a curve, and how to compare two dyno runs without fooling yourself.
The curves are real and come from the Pinti Motori dyno archive. The examples are taken from real engines: classic scooters, karts, motocross and enduro bikes, minimotos. There are also the “From the workshop” stories, taken from everyday workshop life.
You do not need to be an engineer. The formulas are explained step by step, with worked examples, and every chapter comes back to the workbench.
The 27 chapters
- Where it all began: what a two-stroke is (and how it breathes)
- Cooling: keeping the fire in check
- Induction: reed valve, rotary disc valve and piston port
- The expansion chamber: the wave that pushes
- The piston: forces, tolerances and the signals it sends
- Piston rings, wrist pin and circlips
- The crankshaft: the heart nobody sees
- Ignition advance: two degrees that change everything
- The spark plug: the first tool for understanding the engine
- Cast iron and aluminum cylinders: learning from fire and metal
- Intake and exhaust port timing: retiming the ports with your eyes open
- Compression ratio: what the engine really sees
- The exhaust power valve: the variable character of the two-stroke
- Octane rating: when it really matters
- Lubrication and premix: no room for shortcuts
- The crankcase pump: volume, flow and optimization
- The transfer ports: getting the fresh charge up without losing it
- Squish and cylinder head: turbulence and order in the chamber
- Bore and stroke: the temperament of the engine
- Detonation: the silent enemy
- Intake manifold and carburetor: giving the engine the right mixture
- Tuning a two-stroke: bringing everything into harmony
- The dyno: the Wailing Wall
- Maintenance and setup: making the power last
- From glory to rebirth: history, decline and future of the two-stroke
- The dream before the engine
- A little about me
Chapter titles are translated from the Italian edition and may change in the English one.
Who it's for
Enthusiasts
Classic scooters, karts, motocross, enduro and minimoto: for people who ride two-strokes, strip them down and love them.
Students and teachers
Technical and vocational schools: thermodynamics and fluid dynamics applied to a real engine.
The author
Daniele Pinti has worked on two-stroke engines for more than thirty years.
He designs engines, casts his own cylinders in aluminum and cast iron, and tests them on his dyno. In the workshop they call it “the Wailing Wall”: there the numbers tell the truth, good or bad.
The cylinder on the cover, the C.60, is one of his.
When is it out
The English edition is coming soon.
The Italian edition, La Fisica del Due Tempi, is out on Amazon on Tuesday, November 24, 2026. The English edition is being prepared now. Want to know when it is ready? Press the button below and I will write to you.