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