Army diesel motorbike produced

RED

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2000
Location
NC, USA
TDI
2012 TDI 4dr GOLF 6sp MAN
8 May 2001: What has been claimed as the world's first diesel-powered motorbike engine has been developed by the Royal Military College at Shriveneham in Oxfordshire.
The 580cc engine was developed so that battlefield vehicles could all use the same kind of fuel, and the unit was shown last week at a military vehicles of the future presentation, mounted on a Kawasaki bike.

The export potential of the engine was clearly shown by the livery of the bike, which was that of the US Marine Corps.

However, biking enthusiasts who are familiar with the Royal Enfield name and know that its famous bikes are now produced in India will be awar that diesel-engined bikes have for a long time been produced there. The latest is the Taurus (right) which has a 325cc engine outputting 6.5bhp at 3600rpm

Also shown at the military presentation were a truck and a Jaguar S Type with night vision equipment. What on earth would the army being doing with a Jaguar S on the battlefield?
 

Fimum Fit

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2000
Location
Williamsburg, VA USA
India? Gee, does anyone know if the DOT and EPA have as difficult rules for direct importation of motorcycles as for cars? Does anyone know a person with expertise in the import business?

No, I'm not kidding!
 

banzai

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Joined
Oct 28, 2000
Location
East Overshoe, ME
TDI
NB TDI
a few of the Indian guys I work with had these Enfield bikes- in India cars are very expensive- so even though they come from well-to-do families cars are still out of their reach.

They all drive Honda Accords and swear by them!
 

mavapa

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Joined
Aug 29, 2000
Location
rome, ga
TDI
2001 golf
Since my motorcycle (BMW K75) and my Golf tdi get about the same mileage (50 mpg), I have wondered what a diesel motorcycle would get. Of course, the bike is not designed, tuned or geared for fuel economy.
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
My two KTM 640s get around 50-55mpg depending on how hard you ride, but with 8 gallon tank, you can easily go 350 miles before looking for fuel (kidneys never last that long though
).
 

nortones2

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Joined
May 10, 2000
Location
High Peak, UK
TDI
Formerly Passat 1.9 110hp
How does 190mpg grab you? Until recently, since when I've lost track, a diesel engined Enfield was available in UK and I believe a few were sold. Engine was a modified Japanese stationary engine, with output of about 10hp. I'd heard a military bike was beong developed but thia is the first example I've seen. I'd guess that even with fairly low gearing it would get over 100mpg!
 

banzai

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2000
Location
East Overshoe, ME
TDI
NB TDI
Wow- that thing sure looks industrial-
Probably makes a difference when you have to save for 6 years to buy a motorbike- or pass it down to the grandkids-

Hey Fimum- I got a bunch of Jawa parts!
Tried to restore Trail 90= got a Honda CB550K that ran and never looked back-
 

MacGyver

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2000
Location
SW Ont, Canada
TDI
1997 Jetta, black
There's a guy from PA that came to some Diesel Conversion GTG's near here, has a 99 Harley he put a 3cyl Perkins in...
Did such a clean job, if you didn't know bikes at all, looks stock LoL...
He put in bigger injectors & wound the pump up from the stock 18hp or so, and gets >90mpg US
It goes pretty good and sounds cool too.
 
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