would you class this bike as a thumper

[hondamichael]

it has 650cc  @conatant 55mph you get 102mpg and its faster then 90mph
and if find the bike familiar you`re right its the old kawasaki klr but the engine is a diesel power plant
especialy build for the purpose of beeing a motorcycle engine , thats not a job doen by some enthusiast who fit some stationary engines into a bikeframe this engines looks like a normal motorcycle engine , if i didn`t tell you perhaps you wouldn`t have noticed the little difference

http://www.dieselmotorcycles.com/models.htm

and yes it is able to run on diesel, biodiesel , aviation kerosene , basically everything apart from normal fuel

[guest7]

I think it's fair to say that a lot of us here have been keeping on eye on this bike's development... and hoping that the military ones will be on the surplus market soon :-)

GC

[squirrelciv]

I'd buy one :-) (if someone would give me the money)

[Bill Rutter]

I'm trying to find out if and where the Diesel bike mob are having their annual bash this summer. If it's near Billingshurst as it was in 2006 you can see some interesting stuff in the metal, Michael my friend.

[guest27]

So why do the Yanks get a more powerful engine than us?

Or is the UK / EU cycle proper British horses and the US one namby pamby US horses?

R

[hondamichael]

there are loads of diesel bikes out there , most of them based on the old royal enfield bullet frame
one thats even available with is the sommer hatz diesel  build in small series in germany
http://www.dieselkrad.info/index.php?main=dieselkrad&detail=high&id=50
another one is the diesel wiesel and its based on the suzuki mauroder 125 
http://www.dieselkrad.info/index.php?main=dieselkrad&detail=high&id=80
 just phone them up and order one if you got around £4000 left
they are road legal with eu certificat of conformity , just buy and reg it
i personally like the diesel wiesel just look at the pics its a nice bike and the sound of a diesel bike is fantastic
here soundfile to download  its a enfield with 440ccm
http://www.enfield.homepage.t-online.de/e4.wav

[guest18]

Ooooh yes indeedy! I've chatted with someone who has ridden one, and I've been watching with *great* interest... if I found a surplus one for sale at a price I could manage I'd buy it in a flash.

I really cannot understand why Kawasaki haven't started producing them and flogging them in europe at about £4 to £5K a pop. They'd have bike commuters/tourers beating a path to their door imho and they'd have the drop on every major bike manufacturer on the planet!

[guest24]

In answer to the original question - I would class it as a thumper. In fact quite a big thumper as diesels do thump quite a bit by definition of their compression ratio.

Being a skinflint I would consider buying one for that level of fuel consumption. I'd probably change the gearing a bit as 9.7 seconds to 60mph is going to leave you behind Miss Daisy in her Micra at the traffic lights GP.

[Steffan]

Being a skinflint I would consider buying one for that level of fuel consumption. I'd probably change the gearing a bit as 9.7 seconds to 60mph is going to leave you behind Miss Daisy in her Micra at the traffic lights GP.

And so it begins..lol
the bike isn't even released to civy street and already there is talk of tweaking it for more acceleration. It's a long road you open!!

Steffan

[hondamichael]

just change the spec`s to the specs of the version the us marines will get
 0-30 mph (53 kph), 2.4 sec0-60 mph (106 kph), 5.7 sec

[guest18]

only a second better... and how come if the EU version is 10mpg better the US version goes further on a tankfull?

I suspect the figures are about as trustworthy as most manufacturers figures(!)
But the word is they're good if you want practical robust *and* economical... a purpose built tourer as well as a commuter, after all, what would make more sense for "the long way round", an expensive thirsty overweight piece of bling (naming no names ;-)) or a basic rugged piece of utility that will run on most liquid fuels..?

Nah, I'm a little bit in lust with this one, just a shame it's looking like I'll be dead and gone by the time they extract the digit and start producing this sort of thing
I thought we were having global warming nightmares and trying to reduce everyones "carbon footprint", yet we're still being sold "commuting" bikes that can't manage 40mpg?!? (whinge* grumble complain)

* "whinge" inserted to maintain smug sense of "told you so" for our antipodean friends. (see, I even look after your mental wellbeing, honestly, I'm too good to you, I really am...)

[Bill Rutter]

Righto then, the 2007 Diesel Motorcycle Rally details have been confirmed and should be in the "Events" section shortly, but briefly, it will be held at the same place as last year:
                                                                                                                                                                           The Bat & Ball, Newpound, Wisborough Green, Nr Billingshurst, West Sussex. (2nd-3rd June 2007)

Camping available (for longer if you wish - pay at the pub)

For more details : www.dieselbike.net

[hondamichael]

the us gallon is 3.6 liter , while the imperial(british) gallon is 4.4 liter
so on some versions they have used either both or only one of them and for the range the tank sizes are different as you can see in the pictures  bigger tank bigger range  others have less power and therfore a better mpg anyway
more power more diesel consumption

[guest18]

Hmmm very good point about the US/Imperial gallons thing, I'd forgotten about the English/American language barrier!

I'm not at all convinced though that the tanks are that different, I've seen photos of both styles fitted to the different bikes, I guess we'll find out for sure once they finally start appearing in unit lines over here. One thing is for sure though, they'll go a long way on whatever fuel they are carrying
As for the performance difference, by their figures the US one makes ONE ps more than the Euro bike and a whole two foot/pounds more torque... hardly enough to make any significant difference to the performance OR the fuel consumption... or did they perhaps test the US one on a damp cold day and the EU one in high summer...? I'd be suspicious that the gearing makes a bigger difference to the figures than one horsepower... but then I'm a suspicious kind of a chap when it comes to dyno figures, I've seen some whopping great lies produced when an operator was asked for them!

[hondamichael]

i`m not so concerned about the data sheets , diesel bikes sound great , the engines are ultra reliable ,ok not neccesary the ones build in someones shed out of old parts from some sort of generator , and nobody who buys a diesel bike thinks about topspeed , if you look after topspeed then buy a hayabusa1300 or a zxr1400 
 bieselbikes are all about great single cylinder sound ( i dont care about the twin or more cylinder models )  and as much mpg as possible  as long as it reaches about 70mph its fine thats my opinion