Another diesel question about Motorcycles.
- Thread starter JohnBoy45
- Start date
jcmseven
Veteran Member
Terry,
I am sure there is/are one-off bikes that have been made to use diesel, but this practice is not used generally. Motorcycles are generally used for the exact opposite thing that makes a diesel so appealing for tractors. Diesels excel at work that is heavy and at low RPM; they are fuel efficient, particularly under a heavy load; and are very heavily made. These facts would not be as useful in a motorcycle, as they are lighter, and geared more toward recreational use and generally are not used day in and day out, for extended periods. That said, diesels are changing. About 15 years ago, I drove a new 6.5L diesel GMC pickup home from a dealership for a friend of mine who owns a dairy farm. It would barely get out of it's own way and got about 15 mpg. My diesel pickup 2002 model, will outrun my wife's dedicated sports car, gets 22 mpg on the highway, and will pull 12000 pounds (rated) easily. It will also last 300,000+ miles, will proper maintenence. So diesels are coming, and will likely begin to be real options in cars and who knows maybe motorcycles, too.
John M
I am sure there is/are one-off bikes that have been made to use diesel, but this practice is not used generally. Motorcycles are generally used for the exact opposite thing that makes a diesel so appealing for tractors. Diesels excel at work that is heavy and at low RPM; they are fuel efficient, particularly under a heavy load; and are very heavily made. These facts would not be as useful in a motorcycle, as they are lighter, and geared more toward recreational use and generally are not used day in and day out, for extended periods. That said, diesels are changing. About 15 years ago, I drove a new 6.5L diesel GMC pickup home from a dealership for a friend of mine who owns a dairy farm. It would barely get out of it's own way and got about 15 mpg. My diesel pickup 2002 model, will outrun my wife's dedicated sports car, gets 22 mpg on the highway, and will pull 12000 pounds (rated) easily. It will also last 300,000+ miles, will proper maintenence. So diesels are coming, and will likely begin to be real options in cars and who knows maybe motorcycles, too.
John M
This bike was designed for military use by Kawasaki.
Link 1
This one was very interesting to me though.
Link 2
"Power output begins at 80bhp and 165 foot pounds of torque, but a bit of remapping of the engine controls increases this to 120bhp and 250 foot pounds at 5500rpm. The bike weighs 450 pounds and reportedly the bike gets 150MPG"
The performance should be awsome due to the power to weight ratio and it would have the low end torque of a Harley.Now if Harley would just make one, I'd sell my truck, and be able to afford driving to work everyday. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
MikePA: Cleaned up long URL. Please review your message before posting it. It's simple not to do this. Just insert a descriptive word or two between the {url=http://whatever}<font color="red">Enter words here</font>{/url} instead of the entire URL. Replace parentheses {} with square brackets in previous example.
Link 1
This one was very interesting to me though.
Link 2
"Power output begins at 80bhp and 165 foot pounds of torque, but a bit of remapping of the engine controls increases this to 120bhp and 250 foot pounds at 5500rpm. The bike weighs 450 pounds and reportedly the bike gets 150MPG"
The performance should be awsome due to the power to weight ratio and it would have the low end torque of a Harley.Now if Harley would just make one, I'd sell my truck, and be able to afford driving to work everyday. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
MikePA: Cleaned up long URL. Please review your message before posting it. It's simple not to do this. Just insert a descriptive word or two between the {url=http://whatever}<font color="red">Enter words here</font>{/url} instead of the entire URL. Replace parentheses {} with square brackets in previous example.
Highbeam
Super Member
"they are fuel efficient, particularly under a heavy load"
I have found this NOT to be true as compared to a gasoline engine doing the same work in the towing world. Lightly loaded diesels in pickups or cars do very well due to efficiency. Heavily loaded diesels burn fuel at a rate very near the gasoline equivalent.
I have found this NOT to be true as compared to a gasoline engine doing the same work in the towing world. Lightly loaded diesels in pickups or cars do very well due to efficiency. Heavily loaded diesels burn fuel at a rate very near the gasoline equivalent.