Diesel motorcycles. Me want, me shall have.

[Christ]

I haven't thought any about the fuel price, because I don't pay for diesel fuel. I burn waste oil, so even the pollution I create offsets the pollution created for the necessities of producing fuel.

That said, I haven't done anything with this as yet. I've changed bikes, designs, etc so many times that I haven't got a clue what I'm doing with anything right now, other than trying to sort a small business fixing and selling motorcycles.

I'm tired of working for "the man" these days. I'd rather just work for myself and when I feel like it.

I'm focusing more of my efforts on getting to a point where I'm spending little to nothing for utility bills and such and fuel, then over time, I'm working out my fleet (which currently includes ~12 vehicles) to the point where everything I own for regular/work use is diesel powered (because it's free for me).

I have a 6.5KW Home Power Unit with an ATS that I intend to use for power generation when there isn't enough solar energy available to keep my (very small) power use sustained.

I literally burn one or two 13W lights for a few hours a day at this point, other than the stuff that has clocks, etc on it.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Christ

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

I have a bunch of snowmobile parts available to me, so this is something I'm looking at as a viable option.

I've already considered an automatic clutch for a motorcycle Diesel conversion when my dad bought a Honda XLX 350-R a few years ago, which I was going initially to do a restoration and a flexfuel (gasoline/ethanol) conversion. As far as automatic clutch goes, the best option so far seems to be a Rekluse, which is pretty easy to setup the engagement speed, and some of its kits still allow to retain the clutch lever which is useful to ensure a safe start-up.

[PeterS]

I've been mumbling about doing this for a couple of years but have resisted mainly because my old BMW although inefficient is so much fun .

With our regulations it would have to be a pre 1975 Royal Enfield, which a bit rare but I DO know where one is. Pre 75 and our registration guys don't care what you do.

Using the calculator at top of the page Aerodynamic & rolling resistance, power & MPG calculator - EcoModder.com I worked out that I'd need a drag coefficient of around 6 to get sufficient "performance" from the 10 hp
to make it ridable at highway speeds. I reckon 65/70 mph is possible, without a very efficient fairing ,maybe 55?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by PeterS

I've been mumbling about doing this for a couple of years but have resisted mainly because my old BMW although inefficient is so much fun .

With our regulations it would have to be a pre 1975 Royal Enfield, which a bit rare but I DO know where one is. Pre 75 and our registration guys don't care what you do.

Using the calculator at top of the page Aerodynamic & rolling resistance, power & MPG calculator - EcoModder.com I worked out that I'd need a drag coefficient of around 6 to get sufficient "performance" from the 10 hp
to make it ridable at highway speeds. I reckon 65/70 mph is possible, without a very efficient fairing ,maybe 55?

There are many Enfield Taurus motorcycles in India with a 6hp version of the 350cc engine used in the gassers, which had 18hp. There are many industrial single-cylinder Diesels rated at 10 to 13hp at 3000RPM in the 400-500cc displacement range, good enought to an old Royal Enfield to get at least some 55 MPH, altough 65 doesn't sound so hard to get with some mild tuning.

[PeterS]

The 350 was good for 65 or 70 with the wind at your back. DAMHIK The 500 is supposed to do 80 but I've never ridden that one, my 500 wasn't too happy over 75.

There is a 13 hp diesel that appears on Ebay now and again and it would be the best choice as long as the bearing set up is OK, those Chinese diesel vary quite lot. Some very poor some almost as good as the Yanmar.

Either way a good fairing like Craig Vetter is flying would be the way to go.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I'm not too much into the streamlining trend, I like more traditional motorcycles. Unless we were talking about a Diesel-powered Yamaha R1

I've been considering to put a 3cyl Diesel into a Triumph Tiger or a Speed Triple for a long time

[PeterS]

Power is one way to push air out of the way, personally I find something elegant in aero solution, brute force works though.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

As the late Carroll Shelby would say, power sells car but torque wins races.

[PeterS]

Let's just say that on a normal bike , say a 250 sized bike, a good aero fairing is worth double the horsepower at highway speeds.

[TedV]

Originally Posted by PeterS

Let's just say that on a normal bike , say a 250 sized bike, a good aero fairing is worth double the horsepower at highway speeds.

Yup, when going down the hwy wide open in the slow lane on my 95 CB250 it tops out around 75mph. When the lady in the minivan talking on her cell phone cuts in front of me almost hitting my front tire, the sudden loss of wind drag has me rolling hard off the throttle and grabbing for the brake