What is your dream bike? USA company needs your input

[Stuart]

I've just been reading the post Dave put up over in the CVT section. Those new and small automotive engines could be just the ticket The LDW 523. The only downside is the common rail wouldn't do veggie oil too well I suspect. We are certainly in the ballpark here though.

[royaldragon]

As I have said before Alexander from ANC seemed pretty confident that the LDW 442 could do a single tank veg system. I don't know about the 523 as all I have seen close to that on lombardinis' site is the 502.I'd be more inclined to stick with smaller and add a turbo if more umph was needed.

[Diesel Dave]

I'm guessing only the MPI would be common rail, the rest will be 'pulse duse' type with the combined pump/injectors running off the OHC.

[gilburton]

I used to own a diesel Daihatsu Hijet van with the ldw1220 Lombardini engine. It was a disaster and was quickly dropped.
Please do your research on spares prices etc. before deciding on a Lombardini engine. The combined injector/pumps are very expensive and these engines can be a nightmare as they are basically the same engine in combinations of 1-4 cylinders using common parts on the appropriate crankcase.
The injectors are all linked with rods/levers and can be difficult to set up.
My engine gave up at 50000mls which is extremely low for diesels in general.
The injectors cost(in 2004) app £250 each i.e. £1000 for 4.
As for my dream bike/engine? If you were considering making an engine from scratch how about a flat twin/four/six??
You could use common cylinders etc. and re engineer crankcases/cranks. This would keep prices down.
Height wouldn't be a problem so the range could be from the lighter BMW 600 series to the Goldwing and offer it as part of a kit with adapter plates for the gearboxes rather than a complete bike??
Possibly you could take existing engine parts which are cheap and readily available??
I know people in the past have made BSA/Enfield V twin engines by taking the single cylinders and mounting them on new crankcases.
There's a guy in the UK who has made a V12 Kawasaki from 2 Z1300 and it looks stock.

[royaldragon]

Gilburton,
Thank you for the heads up on the engine. ihadn't gotten to far into researching its reliability and it's good to hear from someone with experience. I think your on to something with an a adaptable engine for multiple bikes. As mentioned by another on the forum designing an engine would be costly, however using existing bikes would most defiantly fall under the category of recycling and being more environmentally concious and cut materials costs. Not only that, designing an engine would be expensive in the beggining but cut costs as buying a preexisting engine would mean each one would need modifications for veg oil. If designed right from the beginning there is no need for long term costs of modification of each engine. Plus if people want costum bikes you can still pull off costom bikes and use the same engine.
This would work very well considering new things I've been thinking of. I am currently in Baja California Sur Mexico and planning to live here. If any of you have been here you will know there is defiant ally a market for bikes and most definitely for fuel efficient bikes, the one thing is they need to be able to handle dirt roads. Mind you dirt roads here iare not much different than no roads at all. Having an engine that could fit multiple bikes would allow for fitting into cruisers dirt bikes and anything in between. Horizontally opposed might be great as well considering I know there are a couple diesel companies developing high efficiency diesel engines using horizontally opposed cylinders.
Gilburton if you have more ideas on this I would love to hear them.

[royaldragon]

Moderator here- Trouble shooting RoyalD's login, posting etc.

glad you got on today James. Testing for you now and having no problems. Maybe spotty service for you jumping from lower quality (Im assuming here) communication equipment/servers from Mexico to overseas?

Coach George

[royaldragon]

All seems fine and I am able to communicate once again! does not surprise me, I don't even know what the heck the square thing on top of the house for the Internet is, a satellite or some other reciever oh well it is better than no Internet at all. A young man named Carlos whom I met on the second day here already seems interested in working on the bikes.
Lots of motorcycles here.
The one thing about Mexico is you can start a business rather easily however the Mexicans don't want you taking away good work from them. For example if I were to bring in a bunch of masons they would be pretty upset with me. As long as I don't step on toes, which I don't think will be a problem I think this could work out rather well. I think if i want a good price I need to get a new tig welding settup in the USA and bring it down. My guess is they would charge me even more as a gringo and even more if they think I might be wanting to offer just welding services. Everyone I've told about Dragon Motors loves the idea.

Ok time to retire to the sounds of frogs and crickets... ahhh

[gilburton]

As you are now in Mexico I should imagine you will have access to diesel car engines and possibly small industrial engines??
The small diesel (vw??) car engines might be the way to go but they will need the bulk/weight reducing for bikes hence my idea of using the moving components in a different crankcase. The car engines do not need to take weight into consideration so are made using cast iron for cheapness.
Get an alloy copy made with due consideration to strength and aesthetics for bike use and reinstall the standard components using refurbished or new aftermarket parts. In essence an overhauled engine.
A standard Harley gearbox could be incorporated at this stage of design?
If the engine is mounted fore and aft the gearbox(or cvtech cvt) could be mounted sideways.
These engines will still only be suited to the larger cruiser/gold wing type bikes.
Possibly some of the Chinese engines might be worth looking at with a view to sorting out their problems eg punsun?? I'm sure someone in Mexico could build some frames to suit at reasonable cost.
Any bikes similar to the Enfield worth modifying in Mexico or the most commonly used bikes over there??
My own theory about cvt is that it suits the small industrial engines rather than a gearbox.
The thinking is that these engines are not made for quick rev changes so do not incorporate advance/retard mechanisms as they are designed for constant revs.
I believe some of the failures may be due to the sudden strain placed on the crank etc. with gear changing.The sudden changes in inertia due to the heavy flywheel causing the breakages.
Quality may be an issue as well of course
I'm not an expert I was an Aircraft Mechanic in the Navy and had a lifelong interest in all things mechanical rather than paper qualifications .
Re the v12 z1300 and many others google allen millyard

[royaldragon]

The VW idea may be a winer for bigger bikes as VW parts are the easiest to come by in México followed by Ford. Only problem is this: I was told by a jentleman here that the Mexicans like powerful bikes; funny thing is, I've seen nothing yet bigger than 250cc now being from the US that's where we start! Personally I have no problem with that and most of the roads are not really conducive to going above 80kmh unless you plan on sliding off the road or ending up with your head stuck up the rear end of a cow The roads that are not dirt are in town and very small and none are long enough to pick up that speed anyway.

As for sourcing the most common bikes, I have been having difficulty as I have not been able to talk to many bikers as they are usually riding by. The most common bike I have been able to identify seems to be the Honda cr90 trail bikes. The only issue with thes bikes is they have the top cross tub set up almost like a moped at a 35 degree angle and there would not be much room to add in a single cylinder upright. Though a horizontal single may fit and the lower frame section looks like a separate structure and possibly easily removable. So perhaps a little movement down and forward but not much as like I said these roads need the clearence.

This brings me to the use of CVTs. The Honda trails bikes have some sort of CVT like setup. 4Up but no clutch i have been told. I don't think using CVTs would be too rejected but it is hard to say. The other bikes I have seen sound so powerless that I also don't think that diesel will be a problem for anyone here. Plus no one seems to mind riding behind a car belching black stench of death smog out of it either. So that said I think veg oil would be a huge improvement for anyone.

Raw materials are easy to come by, from what I hear, so fabricating frames in shop would be easy enough. Also I already found one eager person to work for me and I imagine it won't be to hard to find others interested.

I did mention to the Punsun guy that he should start up a new forum to try and get positive feedback on what could be improved in their engines to make them suitable for bikes. Then he would have a decent market for himself. Don't know what came of that as I have not checked up on it.

I don't know yet what is available for small diesel engines here, though I would say easy to get VWs. They only stopped manufacturing the beetles here I think in the late 90s. Seems there are engines available in Cabo an hour away but I have not sourced what they carry or what they can get.

Talking it up with the locals is very helpful. Good thing I speak Spanish. Well at least well enough to understand 75%. So far that seems to be working. I keep learning new words as I go.
Nice weather too

[gilburton]

It seems to me you will have to decide who your market is going to be.
If you decide Mexico is the prime market then I think bikes along the lines of the current Enfield type would work similar to India. You just need to keep it simple and cheap based on whatever is available in quantity.
If eventually you go for the USA then you will probably need larger bikes possibly based on vw car engines or a multi cylinder industrial unit.
Of course you will now be exporting so will come up against all sorts of regulations. Possibly this could be side stepped using older bikes??
Just as a matter of interest have look at the Moto Shifty 900. This was a Fiat car engined bike there also used to be available in the UK a kit bike which used a classic mini engine but I can't find it.
On the Mini engined kit they supplied the frame and other specialized components and the customer built it up using their own engine and standard bike parts.
These are petrol(gas) engines of course but you get the idea.
This might side step a lot of regulations and keep manufacturing to a minimum.
All you've got to do is develop a working prototype,test it fully and supply a frame and all the conversion bits including engines if they are not available in the US

[royaldragon]

I've been running similar ideas myself. I have a guy from china hounding me for work. He is eager to offer his services. I asked him: "if I [sent him] a gas engine could [he] copy that engine and re-engineer it to be a dies?" his reply was "send me the info on the engine and i will have my engineers take a look at it". so there is a possibility of making my own china clone of a common motorcycle engine redone as a diesel. My thought was that the frames then could then be a common frame and the engines could fit into the category of custom diesel kits. Also the bikes could be built custom in shop here in Mexico and then there would be both a kit component to the company and custom one offs using the same engine.

Is there a motorcycle engine being used in more than one bike now? say one that fits both a dirt bike and a cruiser? that would offer more flexibility as for the bikes and kits.

[gilburton]

It might be better(cheaper) to see if there are any Chinese built Daihatsu charade or other small ex Japanese diesel car engines available??
What about diesel quad engines/transmissions?? These would be excellent for bike conversions. Most of these are made in China.
I don't think you are going to get an engine suitable for both light trail types and cruisers. The only bike that comes close are the BMW flat twins.
This is the Arctic cat 700cc and according to the information runs on all sorts of bio diesel etc??

[gilburton]

I looked at this pic again and I realised it's a lombardini engine so this particular one may be out of the question on cost grounds but there must be more out there?? You get the idea anyway. It wouldn't take much to modify it for bike use. Find something in China and import the engines in bulk and get a locally made frame etc.
I looked up http://www.alibaba.com and entered "diesel engine china" you could put the country of choice eg Taiwan,India etc.
You get mainly the standard Punsun types and the Yanmar clones but I did notice some of the V twins come with a gearbox in the style of Moto Guzzi.
Obviously cost and quality will be an issue but I can see a mid range cruiser or big trail bike. I'm sure the manufacturer could give you the gear ratios required the only problem might be getting a motorcycle type gearchange rather than(I assume) a car type "H" change??
If initially going for a trail bike maybe you could have carefully selected ratios eg 1st and 2nd could be low ratio and 3rd 4th for road use and a sideways rocking gearchange lever/pedal or a solenoid to get round the car type change?
Perhaps your contact could help?
The Mexican built frame would need to be(I presume again) shaft drive but possibly your Chinese supplier could supply,or incorporate, a right angled bevel box to convert to chain drive similar to the older Yamahas.
If going this route I would suggest getting a couple of engines/gearboxes imported then, for development purposes, get hold of some old BMW, Moto Guzzi or Ural bikes and sort out all the bugs then your Mexican manufacturer can develop their own version.
I'll have to stop all this thinking my brain hurts

[royaldragon]

I understand I have had a brain ache for a while now.

[royaldragon]

OK, we are in Todos Santos Baja California Sur Mexico and are settling in. first order of business is to continue working on setting up a corporation, then second is start biodiesel manufacturing, and fueling facility. Then once up and running move into bike fabrication. Lots of locals here interested in getting started with me. I just need to get organized.
Thanks again to all of you for you input. I will keep posting as things progress.

[Rhynri]

I see a lot of thought here, but the problem I see with much of it is that it is considering the thoughts and wishes of a community that is willing to make sacrifices to get what they love. We will all take a working diesel bike, even if it won't go 100mph, or has a CVT. The problem is that you always have to look from the outside in, and first thing anyone looking at your company will see is your website. Invest the money (or I or someone else can design one for you) in a site that is professional looking. Anyone you are looking to do business with will be more likely to take you seriously if you have a shiny veneer of professionalism (even if it is only that, a veneer, and you are a shop rat, once you get them in the door you can convince them of your ideas, but you have to get them through the door first). Secondly, the average bike buying public is not going to accept a CVT (don't believe me, go by a production auto-bike that won't let you shift yourself if you want to, if you can find one) or a top speed of less than 100mph unless there is damn good reason to do so. I would target 120 if I were you, and settle for triple digits. I know someone mentioned how awesome their CVT is at beating out some other small bike, but the other guy won't be replacing a significant portion of his transmission every 6k-10k miles. Don't get me wrong, I love the CVT on my sled. It also features an engine that winds to 9200 rpm and makes 140 horse into a sled that weighs at the most 400lbs, and I don't regularly put 10k miles on it a year, and carry a spare belt. Not to mention when joe idiot forgets to maintain/replace his belt, the failure will be yours in his eyes. In addition, many people like to row their own, its one of the attractions of a bike. Beyond that, we've had a few commentors who mentiont that a 3-cyl (which is the sweet spot for power and vibration) will make the bike too heavy, not enough handling, etc. To them, I respond that it's less the weight of the engine and more where it is mounted. One of the finest sport touring bikes built (the FJ1200) weighed in at 627lbs, with 239lbs of that being engine, but it's mounted flat against the front of the frame (it's air cooled) and the CG is very low so the bike feels lighter than it is. It's stable in the corners, and even though it not the king of flickability it's still fun in the twisties. The current king of adventure biking (the BMW GS) is 550lbs. No one who isn't lying will ride either of these bikes and not favorably comment on their handling. They offer three key things: reliability (200k miles on a bike anyone?), peformance (they produce a lot of torque) and decent fuel mileage for what they provide. They aren't beginners bikes, that's not your target audience anyway. You are looking to grab the rather large portion of bikers who use their bikes on a daily basis, or take long trips on the weekends. (It's a quiet but still significant portion) If you can produce a bike making 75-100lb/ft of torque (which will make you feel like you are accelerating like crazy, even if you aren't) that can still get 120mpg, all you will have to do is make sure it is competant in the corners, and just set someone on it. They'll buy it from you. Bonuses to things like luggage capacity, comfortable riding position, and good rider protection. Then sell it for less than 12k. A breakthrough diesel bike won't be extraordinary in any particular way, but competant in them all, and offer a few good reasons to buy over their contemporaries. (double the mileage, more torque). Everything beyond that is cake. (low maintainence). Don't worry about alternative fuels. Don't worry about recyclability (yet), worry about making a design that meets these criteria. I'm not talking out my ass, at least I don't think I am. I have a degree in management and have helped revitalize a few companies in various markets. I also have experience in graphic design and (try to) know what looks good to people. I am here to help, and sorry if I stepped on some toes.

[Rhynri]

I would like to make one caveat to that (and that textwall was flipping out in the editor enough that I'm not going to edit it) is if you were to find a CVT that allows user-driven ratio adjustment such as this one that Tappy is working on designingthen you could use it in your bike. This type of design eliminates or reduces some of the more annoying aspects of CVT usage (such as belt wear, slowing down going up hills -- especially when the engine has the power to lug it) and a few other niggles that are frequently mentioned on the CVT forum. Like I stated, I am not anti-CVT, they just are not consumer friendly as is, and a production diesel has to be consumer friendly first.

[coachgeo]

...What about diesel quad engines/transmissions?? These would be excellent for bike conversions. Most of these are made in China.
...This is the Arctic cat 700cc and according to the information runs on all sorts of bio diesel etc??

Came across this in a re-read of this thread. I may be mistaken but recent search seems to show the Lombardini/Acrtic Cat arrangment "diesel" is ONLY one out there for an ATV with east west engine placement orientation. Notice the yoke on the lombardini CVT points out that it is also Shaft drive so somewhere in that transmision is a right angle.

Seems all other diesels in this market are put in side by side RTV or UTV's w/without 4x4 and have shaft drive. The engine sits in these ?TV's at a North South orientation with CVT to the rear basicall like the Track Bike arrangement. Fine for shaft bikes. Won't work for chain bikes. They appear to be rather wide too at around 25" from recent conversation I had on a 3cyl yanmar powered UTV (Polaris)

Interestingly though this 700cc was the reccomended power unit for a motorcycle when I was speaking directly with Kohler/Lombardini

[coachgeo]

...the average bike buying public is not going to accept a CVT (don't believe me, go by a production auto-bike that won't let you shift yourself if you want to, if you can find one) or a top speed of less than 100mph unless there is damn good reason to do so. ...

Or......... Don't even go for the motorcycle market.... A bit risky; or is it? Instead go after the FAMILY RIDER atv, utv, Snowmobile Market with a new addition for their stables. They have already accepted the CVT. Sell it as:
1. "When trails are not the get away of the day..... cruise the highway with the familure feel of an ATV ... just on two (or three?) wheels
2. When snowy slopes are not the get away of the day..... cruise the trail with the familure feel of a sleed... just on two (or Three) wheels".

(or three)= Reverse Trikes be it Can Am style, caged commuter rig, or vintage like the Morgan

Sell them with either a petrol Rotax engine or a High MPG diesel

Besides, we hear the motorcycle market is up, down, sunk, and up and... so it may not even be a good market to enter these days.

[royaldragon]

Rhynri, no worries, I don't feel stepped on. I set up this discussion to hear others ideas and that is what you gave me.
Coachgeo, I hear you on the market.
From what I am seeing here it is going to be a slow start. I think my best option is to start a biodiesel station, as no one is collecting used cooking oil here. It just gets dumped not surprising... I think starting that will get me into a market where I can appeal to those with any diesel engine. Once that is established then start offering custom bikes. Then I can see what seems to sell here. Quads would be a good market... I just don't have any desire to do them. I could offer veg conversions for them but I don't want to fabricate them.
Many have expressed an interest in a bike though, so we will see.
As far as recyclability, alternative fuels etc. I don't need that to be a selling point but ethically, for me to do this, it must be a possibility. I am doing this more as a concern for our planet and a love to tinker and create rather than just a money maker. I will do all I can to help this planet regardless of monetary outcome. If what I do only sets an example of the good we can do than at least that is one step in the right direction.
Our current methods of material usage and disregard for the workings of this planet are not sustainable. If we do not change what we are doing we will have nothing. This is why I have studied earth architecture, permaculture, and bodywork, and alternative fuels/energy etc. We need change, and it needs to happen now. We don't have time to argue about things, we need to work together and change our ways. We cannot keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

[Rhynri]

Coach brings up a very good point. You don't have to target the road-going motorcycle crowd! So many smart brains on this forum, it's hard to comprehend.

[DieselFly]

I know someone mentioned how awesome their CVT is at beating out some other small bike, but the other guy won't be replacing a significant portion of his transmission every 6k-10k miles.

I replaced my first belt after 6000 miles. It only had 1mm of wear on the outer edge. Yes I could have kept running it but keeping it as a spare seemed to be the conservative approch at the time. As for significant portion $30 and 25 minutes to change it after two seasons did not seem like a bad deal. My CVT is built for a engine that has a redline of 2800rpm and 25hp max. What sold me was the simplicity of installation, lightweigh, cost and being able to keep the engine vibration down to a minimum. The fact that my diesel motorcycle power by a generator engine rated for 15hp can spank a 450 Honda makes me smile. I approach design from a engineering point of view not one of marketing. I can say one thing for sure and the is the biggest road block to diesel bike going into production will be the EPA in north america. Its not that they cannot be made to run clean it will be the cost. My bike was built for nothing but fun and it does a good job of it. And ask anybody who has ridden it they just laugh about how different it is. They also point out the CVT as taking a few minutes to get the feel of but don't paint it as a negative. I have almost 8000miles on my bike in three years and the first was short do to getting it on the road in August in Canada. I have a whole list of things I would do different if I was to build another bike. Sound design and engineering means you don't try and sell a under developed prototype to the public. It will take a while to sort out what you have available parts wise, the price point you must work to and a package people will buy. Get you 13hp Winsun out on the road and let people see it and try riding it. Except all feed back good and bad and improve each bike a little more than the last. It is amazing who will walk through you door when they hear there is a diesel motorcycle on the other side. And remember experience is normally better than opinion.
Sean

[royaldragon]

Nicely said Sean. Experience is key as is constantly improving the product. Another benefit to doing custom bikes. each one can be better than the last.

[Rhynri]

The fact that my diesel motorcycle power by a generator engine rated for 15hp can spank a 450 Honda makes me smile.

By the way, what is the top speed on your bike? Also, you call it a 20hp in your youtube video and your thread. Is it 15hp or 20 before the turbo? And did you manage to get everything fixed on it? Your build thread wasn't quite clear on that. Congrats on the great build by the way, first i've looked at it.

I approach design from a engineering point of view not one of marketing.

Yes, we here all approach design from an engineering point of view, but someone trying to sell something in a crowded market must approach it from a marketing point of view as well. Especially a small company. Unless they have something fantastically unique it must also be easy to sell to a prospective consumer base.

[DieselFly]

I bought my engine from Punsun as a 20hp. The engines showed up with the name Kingpoo cast into the cases. The model number was correct as was the displacement. I found kingpoo online and they rate it at 15hp. I have had no way to dyno the bike since the turbo install. It is probably around 25hp. I have had to bike up to 75mph and there is still power left but I don't own kevlar underwear so I choose not to push it. I have all of the oil blowby problems solved and had a fairly trouble free summer. I did learn that when the roads are hot to be careful pulling away from intersections as the bike will now spin the rear tire I did have a rod bearing go very early in the spring and was able to buy one of the other engines we imported from my friend. When I opened the crankcase Punsun was cast inside the same part that said kingpoo on the outside. I think the bearing failure was my fault for running 10w30 when it got cold last fall.. I would love to build another diesel for me but the Mark II version will cost a lot more than the $2500 I have in this bike. I will start another single cylinder bike next year for my daughters 16th birthday. It will be a CVT turbo and I'm hoping for 15hp. This will be plenty around town and on the back roads where the speed limit is 50mph. I think Track has set the bar for what a moderen diesel bike can be. But my heap sure does turn heads. People get that confused dog look when it goes by

Sean

[royaldragon]

I love the confused dog looks. It means your doing things right . Most people don't get genius .
Peoples lack of attention to detail these days just blows my mind. I mean, if your going to copy something, at least go through the trouble of grinding off the old name before casting a copy of the part. Am I right

[DieselFly]

I love the confused dog looks. It means your doing things right . Most people don't get genius .
Peoples lack of attention to detail these days just blows my mind. I mean, if your going to copy something, at least go through the trouble of grinding off the old name before casting a copy of the part. Am I right

I don't think they are copied. I think the parts for a lot of these Chinese diesels come from the same source. They get different names and paint jobs. I know for a fact that my engines were purchased through Frank when he was at Punsun. I guess they did not have any available with their name on the outside so mine say Kingpoo. Goes with the theory that they all look and are built the same and most if not all the parts are from the same source. Who bolts what togeather is unknow. I and others have found one thing for sure and that is nobody knows how to time the injection before these things are shipped. I ran my replacement enginge with the factory timing for about 50 miles while trying to sort out the crankcase vent system. The vibration was so bad it broke the intake manifold at the welds (cheap castings broke beside the welds) and several other things came loose. Long and the short one cylinder was at 27 degrees the other at 20. The little booklet that came with the engine calls for 18 btdc. Qualitity is questionable at best for all of these engines. That said they are cheap. There is a U.K. company sell ATV's with a Chinese V twin in them who knows how they will last. I have seen parallel twins on some Chinese sites that look like a old Hatz knock off but don't know much past there. The single cylinder Yanclones seem to hold up best of all for the price. The V twins seem to be hit and miss and I suspect the poor assembly and timing add to the cheap parts problem causing a high failure rate. It leads back to what engine to use. None of these things will meet EPA standards which are pretty much universal in North America ( and yes that grayed out area at the top of U.S. weather maps is Canada and we are part of north america ). I have often thought the answer is a good conversion kit that can be installed with hand tools no welding needed. So what is the most available donor chassis out there? What is the easiest way to drop a diesel in and have it cheap, reliable, good looking and cost effective? Trying to design, manufacture and certify a bike from scratch to meet safety and emissions to any kind of world stadards will have a very high price tag. The more convert it yourself in the garage over a couple of weekends kind of skirts a lot of the legal. One could start with one kit then add new models as the go along using as many common parts as possible. Just thinking out loud

Sean

[royaldragon]

I did go through the thought process of designing a motor which could fit a bike that exists. Less than designing a mass produced bike from the ground up, but still expensive. China wants me to do it. They told me send them a Motorcycle motor and they would get their engineers on it and make a diesel out of it. The problem with that is which bike engine do you choose. I suppose Harleys are the most widespread in North America, they make their way down to Mexico as well. Just a guess though.
Around here in Baja the most popular bikes I've seen are little one cylinder bikes which could barely hold a diesel model airplane engine in them. If i could come up with a compact yet efficient diesel motor to replace those that would be great... On second thought maybe a model airplane engine turbocharged wouldn't be too bad an idea

[coachgeo]

I did go through the thought process of designing a motor which could fit a bike that exists. Less than designing a mass produced bike from the ground up, but still expensive. China wants me to do it. They told me send them a Motorcycle motor and they would get their engineers on it and make a diesel out of it....

??? remember the thread on that topic but don't think that was his point. Make a kit to transplant an existing common diesel into common bike was the point. IMHO go with larger bikes you can put Briggs/Diahatsu or Kubota 3cyl, and Kubota 2cyl water cooled engines. IMHO The Kubota's are most availale for kit buyers to find and rebuild to use with their kit.

Your right the up to 400cc? bikes you see in Mexico do not have room for a diesel transplant..... unless of course you sell a "trike it" kit or powered side car kit, which may not be a bad idea. Room for groceries... stong enough to pull little trailer etc.

[royaldragon]

Like the Enfield/Yanmar/Yanmar clone kit from Henry Price... I get it. Yeah that could be a good way to go.
Not a bad idea with the side car or trike addition here. If that were the case it might be easier to make it 2 wheel drive. Lombardini, as I mentioned before, has a couple engines set up with CVT and Drive components. Just hook it up and go. That might be very practical actually. There could be huge potential for the little food carts they have here. I was thinking it would be cool to have a fryer food cart that fed directly into the bike. Set up shop, sell your food, when your done flip the switch, the centrifuge kicks in, the oil goes directly to the bike and off you drive. Just an idea; not to much engineering thought into it yet.