DieselBike.net

Kansas City, right smack dab in the middle of the continent. I'm good for go.

I have heard from some that the Winsun, Punsun, Carroll Stream, etc twin cylinder air-cooled 20-25 hp diesel's are unreliable. Specifically, crank and crank bearing problems. If I build another diesel bike I would like it to be stone reliable. Is there a place in the middle of America to get them?

Insane....

The engine is a 2197cc from a 280D. I think I have concluded that it is simply too large and impractical for this bike. If I could find something that is half its size in displacement, weight and dimensions, I think that I could build a practical machine. One of the new 800cc Smart car engines appea...

The "Boss Hoss" setup does not appeal to me too much. Whatever the end result is I want the bike to be street-able. Having a single speed transmission means that it will be geared too tall for practical purposes, i.e.; parking lots, traffic jams, etc. My idea for the build essentially is t...

Yes, the clutch/trans could be cut away and sealed therefore maintaining oil sealing integrity. The primary drive on a Goldwing is via a hy-vol chain driving two gears. Mating the engine output to the clutch/trans would require a different gear set for the hy-vol setup. On most gas powered bikes the...

Has anyone ever tried to mate up a Mercedes 2.2L 4 cyl. diesel to an early Honda GL1000? A Goldwing has about 70 HP (at the most) with probably 60 ft./lbs of torque (at the most). The Mercedes 2.2 diesel engine minus the trans weighs probably 450 lbs, makes 60 hp and probably 100 ft/lbs of torque. I...

That is indeed a cool graphic. Video of the bike as of today; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfaaI7h5WjY

The first incarnation of this turbo installation had a large volume pipe between the exhaust manifold and the turbo inlet of about 500cc or so. We made it larger on purpose for the very reason that you explain. Are you saying that perhaps 500cc's was not enough? By the way, I have already removed th...

I thought about adding kerosene to my fuel to bump up the cetane. I opted out of it because kerosene does not have the lubrication qualities that is required for the fuel pump.

I did not do a pop test but I did stand back and cycle it through with the starter motor to see if everything worked. It threw a big beautiful 4 pedal flower of diesel mist. Once installed it worked flawlessly. When it is maxed out in 4th gear (about 53mph) I can only guess that it is running at 360...

Mid-range power appears marginally better. When I first started I did not have a reed valve in place and I thought that it was weaker in the low end. The reed valve helped that problem significantly. Since I do not have access to a dyno I have to rely on seat-of-my-pants dead reckoning. One of the t...

This project was built with an engine that had sat for 8 years. Even though it was not seized it needed numerous parts. I had to replaced the cylinder head and piston (cracked, not seized), the cylinder head studs, the fuel pump and the injector. All parts were brand new. I later got another fuel pu...

I think that I'm going to fit a nice conventional tailpipe to it, put the air filter back on the manifold and fix the left front turn signal.

Another question; since this turbo is effectively running off of heat energy, would increasing the exhaust temperature, per se, increase the turbo's efficiency? Is using a hotter burning fuel an option? Kerosene? Naptha? Mothballs?

With the present rather tall gearing it maxes out in 4th gear at around 50-53mph. Shifting into 5th, it sort of sits there eventually succumbing to a mild incline or headwind. In 5th gear it will actually pull from say 40mph all the way back up to 50 or so. With the shorter gearing it revs in 4th ge...

Let me draw you a parable. Back in the day, when a kid could actually afford to race motocross I used to take my 2-stroke piston port engines and trim 1.5mm off of a intake side of the piston skirt. This totally robbed my low end power but now the thing would rev to the moon bringing all sorts of ho...

So please help me understand here because even though I am incredibly hansom, I'm not very smart. Is it thundercougarfalconbird's contention that with 8-9psi of boost and 19:1 compression, the effective compression ratio is more like 28:1? ....and because the effective compression ratio is so high t...

I should elaborate a little further. As I shift through the gears, I can easily take it up to maximum rpms. I have even adjusted the governor so basically the governing action is bypassed. At the upper rpm range in lower gears it can easy generate 9-10 pounds of thrust. Revving it that high is, of c...

In low, yes. In mid range, at medium throttle settings (25-35mph, 3rd gear) it is generating 4-6psi of boost.

I do get it. However this engine's performance has improved, narrowly, but improved nonetheless. It's low and mid rpm response is greater and smoother. It now pulls hills in 2nd and 3rd gear with modestly better performance. My problem is that it is not doing what I wanted it to do; pull better at h...

We have tossed about the idea of using a smog pump as a budget supercharger. It is a tempting idea but as you say, it is just a 10hp engine and asking to do more may result in more futility. I actually spoke to an engineer at U.S. Yanmar service center last year. He liked the idea of a diesel motorc...

The short answer to what it would do with a CVT is probably 53mph. I have used several different gearing combinations varying as much as 12% reduction in final drive ratios. Still no difference. I have adjusted the governor to the point that it is basically no longer limiting top speed and still the...

The turbo project for this little bike is at best, disappointing. After fabricating a robust plenum chamber, adjustment of the governor and re-gearing the final drive I am about to conclude that it was all for naught. There are, however indications that I may be giving up too soon. The turbo produce...

Got the bike finished yesterday. Changed rear sprocket from a 38t to a 43t gearing it down about 10%. It appears to accelerate through the gears smoothly and with more authority. It appears to generate more boost at lower rpm's with modest throttle settings and modest speeds (3rd-4th gear) generatin...

New images, plenum with reed valve installed. No performance results yet.

Hope to have all of the fittings and pipes finished by this evening. I do not think I will be able to do much of a test run however due to an approaching winter storm.

New plumbing.

Damn, I thought for a second there that I had an original idea (reed valve). Although he does not go into specific performance detail, it appears as if he is getting satisfactory performance out of it. I think that if I had one complaint about the machines that people build it would be that there's ...

I believe I will send him a PM. I had another idea, please tell me if you think I am on the right track. One of the possible problems I see is air restriction at low rpm levels. The intake apertures are around 25mm or so. When the turbo is not spooled up at idle or just above idle during a normal ta...