why has noone made a car engined bike

[freebeard]

Heh. Trainer wheels and wheely bars.

[niky]

Well... if you build a bike around a complete flat four diesel, you will never want for power.

-

I don't recall any... *good*... automotive diesels in the sub-liter range... Piaggio has a 400cc, but that's torpid... makes about as much power as a 125cc gas motor. Tata has a 700cc making... wow... 16 hp. That'll probably get you to 140 km/h with a good tailwind.

Even if you do cut down a decent automotive diesel, I don't expect the turbocharger system would work properly with the lower displacement. I think your aim should be to keep the whole thing... Hyundai has a 1.1 with about 75 hp, which should be enough for a motorcycle to do what you want it to do. And it should be small enough to fit a motorbike frame, as well.

[freebeard]

Are tricycles off-topic?

Who is the most famous person to have built a V-8 tricycle; if not Ed Roth? Probably George Barris:


http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-barris-rickshaw.html

His brother Sam was the one with good designer's eye. He did all the chopped Mercuries.

[fearlessjoe]

Originally Posted by niky

Well... if you build a bike around a complete flat four diesel, you will never want for power.

-

I don't recall any... *good*... automotive diesels in the sub-liter range... Piaggio has a 400cc, but that's torpid... makes about as much power as a 125cc gas motor. Tata has a 700cc making... wow... 16 hp. That'll probably get you to 140 km/h with a good tailwind.

Even if you do cut down a decent automotive diesel, I don't expect the turbocharger system would work properly with the lower displacement. I think your aim should be to keep the whole thing... Hyundai has a 1.1 with about 75 hp, which should be enough for a motorcycle to do what you want it to do. And it should be small enough to fit a motorbike frame, as well.

the vital line you missed was "put a turbo on thats half the capacity..... " im pretty convinced that would be ok phisically.... its the electrics.....

but regarless..... if the 1.6 has 75bhp (which is what the peugeuot has).... it would be wishfull thinking to believe you would get half that from half the engine.....

i think 30bhp is believeble if everything went better then expected... which is enough i think

but i wouldnt want to go much lower

as for trikes.... a reverse trike would allow for a more reclined driving persition and better airo i think.... but you get no mpg in traffic jams and my time is important to me so.... i dunno.... for a pure exercise in a vehicle that gets amazing mileage at real speed it would be better but to use..... in london..... bikes rule

[freebeard]

arcimoto.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by niky

Well... if you build a bike around a complete flat four diesel, you will never want for power.

The earliest versions of the Honda Gold Wing were flat-4 instead of flat-6.

Tata has a 700cc making... wow... 16 hp.

If it could fit into a CB500 frame, with a fairing and a reasonable gearing it might work well. And IIRC that 700cc is IDI, so it's a good excuse to try veg oils as an alternative fuel.

Hyundai has a 1.1 with about 75 hp, which should be enough for a motorcycle to do what you want it to do. And it should be small enough to fit a motorbike frame, as well.

That 3-cyl 1.1L turbodiesel might be perfect to fit into a Triumph.

[Michael Moore]

The Fiat-engined Shifty

Moto Shifty 900

and the VW-engined Amazonas

Motorcycle Specifications

were both production vehicles, though maybe not "mass" production.

cheers,
Michael

[Grant-53]

The motorcycle business is very competitive so design is often driven by weight and cost considerations. The good news is that you can have almost anything custom built if you can convince the right people of your sanity and credit.

[niky]

A veggie-oil bike. That would be a Mad Max style dream.

Originally Posted by fearlessjoe

its the electrics.....

Which is why off-the-shelf is better. Or take something like the Tata or Piaggio 400-800cc motors and turbocharge them instead of frankensteining something and dealing with a lot of expensive custom-made prts like cranks, cams and etcetera.

A diesel trike, that I would love.

[UFO]

A few years back I ran into a guy who had imported a single cylinder diesel bike from India. Really slow, it was a Royal Enfield, classic and impractical.