2008 Kawasaki KLR456 Diesel Motorcycle Project

[SamM]

My new 2008 Kawasaki KLR has gone through a couple of different configurations, since I received it as a Christmas present from my wife in Dec 2007. I've modified this bike so much and bought so many parts for it that I now actually have two 2008 KLRs. I made the first KLR into a touring bike. It performed well but was lacking a little in the horsepower department. What I really wanted was a more off-road capable motorcycle. My thought with this project was to lighten it as much as possible and then to add a better off-road suspension. A brand new set of 2008 Kawasaki KX450F inverted Kayaba 48mm forks were purchased off eBay for $600 and I converted the bike to use a much bigger 2007 IMS fuel tank. The bike was well on it's way to being finished when I saw the motorcycle pictured below.


The diesel motorcycle pictured has a Chinese cloned Yanmar 10hp diesel engine. The owner reports a topspeed of 65mph. What a great commuter bike. After seeing it, I just had to have one of my own. It sort of evolved into a project because I had already cut the frame up on my first KLR and installed the KX inverted forks. The smaller diesel engines don't produce much horsepower, so I needed the bike to be as light as possible. The '08 was stripped down to the frame and was turned into the rolling chassis that you see here.




The fuel tank is from a 2007 KLR. Many of the parts for this bike have been purchased from eBay. The only part from the original bike is the frame. I have taken my original KLR650 gasoline engine and built a completely new stock 2008 KLR. I changed the color from red to green and black. It turned out great and only took me about a week to put together after all the parts arrived. It has a 2009 wiring harnes, because the 2008 harness had a recall. I didn't trust any dealer enough to handle it, so I fixed it myself with a new harness. This new KLR will get a sidecar at somepoint in the near future.


OK, back to my project. The new Diesel KLR will get a 13hp Chinese Winsun 456cc single cylinder diesel engine. The engine arrived here in the US this week from China and should get to me within 2 weeks. It will be tested before being shipped to me. The bike will use a Comet/Salsbury 500 Series CVT transmission that will power the bike through a jackshaft to the stock final chain drive. Since my engine produces more horsepower than the original diesel KLR, I am hoping to achieve a higher topspeed. Maybe around 70 to 80mph. I will include one last picture of my diesel project. The last picture shows the bike with a 2008 aluminum swingarm and rear caliper but it will actually use the 2007 swingarm shown in the other pictures. Galfer 'Wave' rotors will be used front and rear. The motorcycle will not have any foot controls. The transmission is automatic, so no shifter is needed and the rear brake will be activated with a handlebar mounted Rekluse mastercylinder made for a KX450F. A stock KX450F mastercylinder will power the front brake. The suspension will consist of the already mentioned KX450F forks and a Cogent Dynamics 'MOAB' long travel rear shock. You can see the rear 'MOAB' shock in all the pictures. These are leftover parts from the off-road project. Both the forks and the shock have been modified to make exactly 9" of suspension travel. The new bike will also use a 17" Excel wheel from the touring project. Heidenau K60 tires will be used on it. If you can picture the bike with the engine, a battery, the 2007 bodywork and not much else you can see there isn't much weight to it. Below 300# is what I'd like to see. An add-on wiring harness and headlight switch from ProCycle will control the lighting functions. The diesel engine has both an electic starter and a backup pull starter. A stock KLR Start/Stop switch will control the new engine. The bike will use a TrailTech Vector computer.


This one promises to be a very cool bike and a very cool project. My other KLR is done and I've committed a good deal of money to this one and hope to have the frame mocked up shortly. I'm sure the project will continue on into the Winter but I hope to be testing and improving throughout the Fall and Winter.

Comments are welcomed and encouraged. Thanks for looking!

SamM

[Weldangrind]

Hey SamM, that rocks! I've had a very similar (albeit more low-buck) idea to yours. I first got the idea when I saw some spy photos of a diesel that was being tested for the US military. It turns out that when the military goes overseas, they need to bring gasoline just for the bikes; everything else runs on diesel. They'd like to use one fuel only.

My thought was to build a small street bobberwith an obnoxious open exhaust, although I thought about powering dirt bikes and quads as well. one thing I couldn't reconcile was how to create a charging circuit as well as a lighting circuit. I envisioned using a dual sport stator under a modified flywheel, but I never took the idea anywhere. It seems to me that you need a charging circuit and a lighting coil.

Great project! Please keep us updated.

[dsrt4]

Nice. Are you on http://www.suckindiesel.com/thingy/index.php dieselbike.net yet?

[AZ200cc]

Hey welcome back Sam, Nice project lookin good.

[Cal25]

Count me in as a subscriber to this thread.

[FastDoc]

Holy cow that's in interesting project. I'm looking forward to your progress. You are very mechanically ambitious!

[SamM]

Thanks everyone! This bike is being built because of HDT's lack of interest in bringing a civilian diesel motorcycle to market. I've been waiting on this bike for years. Looks like HDT is finally gearing up for the production of a civilian model diesel motorcycle in the first quarter of 2010. You can checkout the HDT website at: http://www.dieselmotorcycles.com/ That's par for the course, I start a bike project and then they announce their new civilian bike program. Below is a little history of the bike and the US Military mandate to only use one fuel type. I don't have an extra 20k laying around to buy a Hayes bike. This one is my chance to make one for myself.

Stay tuned! It should be fun!

SamM

To implement the single battlefield fuel concept, the U.S. Navy announced in 1997 that, beginning in the year 2005, they would no longer transport or supply gasoline in any form. They would only supply "heavy" fuels, such as, diesel and jet fuel.

At that time there were only two major tactical military systems still using gasoline, small field generator sets and motorcycles. The military approached both generator set and motorcycle manufacturers to determine what alternatives might be available. The generator set manufacturers responded immediately with some diesel fueled options. However, all the motorcycle manufacturers approached indicated that a diesel fueled motorcycle was neither commercially practical, cost effective, or, in some cases even possible given the performance requirements.

As a last resort, the U.S. Marine Corps requested proposals from all interested sources, offering to pay for the development of a diesel/jet fuel powered military motorcycle through the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). They received over 40 responses. The Marine Corps selected two companies for the initial feasibility study, HDT and a small company in Oklahoma.
After reviewing the studies from both companies, HDT was
selected as the sole source for Phase II, which was to actually produce a total of 15 diesel motorcycles.

HDT successfully completed the first part of Phase II in May of 2001, when they demonstrated the first motorcycle that used a diesel engine specifically designed as a motorcycle engine. The motorcycle exceeded all expectations and was received with great acclaim by both the news media and potential military customers.

The final part of the Phase II effort was completed in September of 2001 when a total of nine diesel motorcycles completed two field user trials conducted by the Marine Corps.

HDT has entered Phase III of the program and is currently under contract with the Marine Corps to produce up to 522 JP8/Diesel Combat Motorcycles.

[SamM]

Here are the pictures of my new Winsun Chinese engine. Almost forgot to post them. The exhaust system and fuel tank will be removed. The fuel tank is not pictured but is bolted onto the engine when it arrives. The fan cover will be painted to match the bike.

SamM

[Weldangrind]

How do you reconcile the lighting coil question?

[SamM]

The engine comes with a 10 amp charging system. I'm not sure if it's enough but all the lights will be LED and there won't really be any accessories to speak of. The coil can be rewound if I need more power. It's been done and I have info on doing it.

It doesn't seem to be an issue.

SamM

[Weldangrind]

Thanks for your reply. I know it's been done, I just couldn't figure out how. I'm likely mistaken, but I thought you needed two dedicated coils; one for ignition and one for lighting, not just one large coil.

Is the info you have available on a website? That's the one stumbling block I've had for a similar project.

[SamM]

Weldandgrind,
Here you go: http://www.suckindiesel.com/thingy/v....php?f=3&t=752

Hope this helps! The DieselBike.net site has some good information on it from some knowledgeable guys. If you have any questions, post to them and they will probably be able to help you. I'm a novice at this stuff. Still reading and learning.

SamM

[TurboT]

I don't believe I've ever seen a pull start diesel motor before. Maybe I'm just a youngin'!

I'm curious to see how hard it would be to pull start...

[Weldangrind]

They're not bad; diesel generators have used 'em for years.

[TurboT]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

They're not bad; diesel generators have used 'em for years.

After the post I thought that may have been the case. Never had one though. 8O I've actually never owned anything diesel, although do know the compression and cranking power needed to get the big ones going is a factor.