[Vwdiesel] Diesel Motorcycle

[Scott Kair]

	The subject came up several years ago when a small German firm was
transplanting 1-cyl. Lombardini tractor engines into Royal Enfield frames.
Claimed fuel economy was phenomenal, torque impressive, acceleration and top
end within reasonable expectations for a small single cyl. Diesel. Neat part
about the firm was that he had a sound file on his website, which seems to
have vanished. Getting one shipped here, through customs, the EPA, and NHTSA
was an overwhelming challenge, all in order to get something with
questionable parts availability.
	The unit in question on Ebay seemed quite similar, so I ran "Diesel
motorcycle" through the dogpile meta-engine and was pleasantly surprised at
the number of hits. Apparently converting Enfields to Diesel power is
something of a cottage industry in the UK and northern parts of the
continent. Engines seem to vary, but there seems to be an annual gathering.
Some of the photos were quite interesting.
	Royal Enfield, fwiw to non-bikers, has an odd history. It was a
British firm, but in the early 1960's landed a hefty contract to supply the
Indian Army and national police forces with 500cc singles. The numbers to be
produced overwhelmed their domestic production capacity, so they opened a
factory in India. When the mother company went out of business in the late
1960's, the Indian subsidiary stayed in business, still producing relatively
unchanged early-1960's Bullets in various configurations. By the late
1990's, they began exporting nostalgia models to the American market, and
have sold enough to stay in the market. Apparently, arrangments can be made
to buy a number of frames into which various small Diesel engines can be
transplanted.
	A couple of other marques also seem to be in development. A German
firm is developing a cruiser named the Neandertal, with a parallel twin
direct injection turbocharged engine and multiple valves per cylinder. The
American-assembled dual-purpose bike derived from the Kawasaki 650 also
seems still to be in a development stage, but production is slated to go to
the military for scouting purposes. 
	At this point, widespread stateside distribution seems improbable,
at least for now. As fuel prices continue to climb, though, resistance to
the retrograde Enfield with a lawn tractor engine might fade against fuel
economy figures between 150 and 200 mpg.
	Scott Kair