Royal Enfield Diesel
 

I'm back in Oregon for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I went down to Salem and bought a 2008 C5 Military Royal Enfield, there is no engine but everything else is there including shop manuals. The Enfield looks new and there is only 2180 miles on the odometer, $999 seems to be a bargain.
The CL ad is still up today http://salem.craigslist.org/mcd/4714353510.html
This is another one of my dream bikes, I've always wanted a diesel motorcycle and have located a 456cc Yanmar diesel clone (Chinese of course), I'm gathering the parts now and will build this moto in the spring when I return from Ecuador. The build looks fairly easy, I may have to extend the frame and will build a cradle for the engine, to simplify things, I think I'm going to go with a CVT/jackshaft, I'll post photos when the project starts,

Congratulations. :tup: Except for the missing engine, that bike appears to be in mint condition. You have a nice, clean slate with which to work. :)

I'll keep an eye on this thread.

Awesome! Love the panniers.

I recommend that you contact SamM, since he's done most of the research on this topic.

Here are some more photos of the Royal Enfield diesel project. I thought I'd have it finished by now but I was in Peru most of the summer and I have two vintage Honda restorations going on. That said, I'll have them all on the road in '16!

That clearly fits into the "too cool" category. No other way to phrase it. How many horsepower is it? It appears to be using a torque converter. Is that a new motorcycle? If so, where is the original engine? It appears that you had to do some substantial frame modifications. I know that there is such a thing as a factory produced diesel Royal Enfield.. Is this the same?

I hope it also has an electric start. Typical diesel compression ratios, in the low to mid 20s, I would imagine that would be pretty damn difficult to pull.

The little circular thing at about 9 o'clock on the Diesel engine will help his arm a lot doc .

Thanks for posting the update on this fascinating project, OG. :tup: You did a very nice job fabricating the engine cradel. :)

Nice work! Is that a Comet TAV?

The engine is 13 hp with direct injection. I bought the Royal Enfield without the engine & transmission, it only had 2200 miles on it. The frame is our own design, we built a mock up with the engine & clutch then took it into a Bend fabrication shop, the fabricator, Rick, had built 3800 frames for BMC Choppers and had a lot of great ideas, he was able to stuff the engine in without stretching the frame, a big surprise, I didn't think it could be done. However, we had to modify the gas (diesel) tank to clear the engine. It does have an electric start and also has a compression release, it's easy to start with the pull rope. I'll try to eliminate the rope starter if the electric starter is reliable. That's a Comet 44 torque converter.
I'm heading back south in a couple of weeks and my priority is to get my 65 305 Superhawk on the road before I leave, I'll finish the diesel in the spring.
The photo is of my other Honda's.

Sweet collection and great picture!

Sorry I asked those questions without reading your earlier post in this thread, I was redundant ;-)

So the 70 MPG of a 500cc gas Bullet wasn't enough, you need 100? LOL!

Or the ability to go through a McDonalds drive through (as a doctor I can't recommend that ;-) and fill up your bike too? LOL!

That's an impressive toy box! I'm looking forward to the next diesel installment.

I have quit McDonald's and Burger King. Chinese WVO is better.

:hehe:

Your bike would smell like deep fried chicken balls instead of french fries.