Diesel motorcycles. Me want, me shall have.

[skyl4rk]

Originally Posted by Christ

Anyone have any comments on the possible use of a belt-driven set of cvt pulleys instead of a transmission?

A chain/sprocket or chain/gear system will have less power losses than a belt/pulley system, especially a cvt belt/pulley system.

[Christ]

I think to speed things up (lol) while I'm debating on eventualities of a driveline, I just might chain it direct drive with a centrifugal clutch (go-kart) and gear it to a good max speed Of ~50 mph, at around 2800-3000 rpm.

Later on, I'll figure something out from the available transmissions I have, or just see about a2 speed or 3 speed gearbox. All in how I feel as the project progresses.

First steps are just to get it rolling, anyway. (pun)

[Christ]

On the high side of centrifugal clutches, it's REALLY simple to adjust engagement RPM. Since the recommended idle speed for the motor is ~1200 RPM free, andit's torque line (lol) starts at 1500 RPM loaded, I'll adjust the clutch to engage at 1350, approx, which should be a flick of the throttle, really.

And driving less than 500 lbs total, it should be fully engaged almost immediately, as long a the gearing isn't too high on the direct drive.

[dcb]

you don't really want a centrifugal clutch. You want something you can bumpstart and coast in neutral I think.

[Christ]

Eventually, maybe, but for the sake of getting things started (lol), I can handle using neutral throttle and sac'ing the FE boost of coasting. I really don't have too many opportunities to safely coast, either, as I've found in my car.

The master cylinder bleeds pressure except at the very bottom of the pedal, so I just learned to drive with almost no use of the brake pedal at all until I can get it fixed. I find that, since I am seldom anywhere that coasting would be of much benefit, either because of having to speed up later, or slow down with the brakes, I can just pick when to bleed off speed by letting the engine pull the car down, even so that I can decelerate from 50mph to 15mph for a certain bridge I need to cross on my commute.

Realistically, if I can direct drive it and get even 80 mpg, its still almost double the mileage in the Golf, and I can figure outthe technical stuff while I'm saving.

[Christ]

I got the engine the other day. Put it right in storage for the moment, while I work on getting the CM185T chassis over here to start moving up the engine brace and remove the muffler and attached fuel tank from the engine. I'm going to try to mount it as far forward as possible, since the twinstar its such a small chassis, to leave room for the transmission eventually.

Once I get the chassis here, I'll get a pix of everything I've gotten so far and start updating.

[tinkerbill]

Originally Posted by Christ

I got the engine the other day. Put it right in storage for the moment, while I work on getting the CM185T chassis over here to start moving up the engine brace and remove the muffler and attached fuel tank from the engine. I'm going to try to mount it as far forward as possible, since the twinstar its such a small chassis, to leave room for the transmission eventually.

Once I get the chassis here, I'll get a pix of everything I've gotten so far and start updating.

So Christ,
Mind me asking how much you paid for your engine including shipping and where you got it? I've been dreaming about a light diesel-powered 3-wheeler for a long time but priorities keep getting in the way
Will, the tinkerer

[Christ]

$600 for the motor, shipped. Ebay, my friend. Its a launtop, yanmar clone.

[Christ]

Found a pretty cheap supply of CVT transmissions from X-2 2 stroke pocket bikes. I'm probably gonna get one for the time being, and if it holds up, it might stay.

Those bikes have up to 125cc engines on them...it might hold.

[Varn]

Those torque converters from x2 are likely to be for engines that turn upward of 10,000 rpm and have minimal torque.
Check this out
A BSA transmission.

There are a lot of motorcycle transmissions on ebay.
Look for BSA, Norton, matchless, triumph, enfield, AJS
They shift on right side and need a clutch which mounts external to the chain drive. Top gear is always 1:1