Hello from the greater Inland Northwest! It is so great to be here with fellow Diesel nuts! I have been around diesels all my life and worked many years around them. I only own diesels and have two of them. I have a 00' TDI Beetle which is great and an 01' PowerStroke Excursion that hauls my family of 8! Anyway, I have been building and altering vehicles most of my life for more HP, now for the past several years I have been concentrating on MPG! Years ago, I modified gas and diesel vehicles with my own design of an HHO unit and was fairly successful with it until our worthless leader came into office and gas dropped to $1.50@ gallon. Good for all of us, bad for my HHO business though and had to close it. I hated working with the ECU's but loved working with diesels. So I sold all of my gas rigs and bought diesels and have been a diesel only family for sometime now.
Recently I have been buying and modifying scooters and motorcycles for better mileage and selling them. I currently have an 89' Yamaha XT350 that I was going to sell the motor and install a nice diesel since i recently found out about diesel motorcycles! Now however, I am going to sell it as well because I learned about high mileage contests the Craig Vetter has been sponsoring. I will be buying a Honda Rebel and modifying it for a diesel transplant. I hope to attain enough input from you folks who already have diesels so I can greatly advance my learning curve here! I'd like to maintain a 65-70mph cruise, and still get 100+MPG! Then I'll add the fully bodied fairing and see where the mileage goes!
You can go to the website and follow the contestants as they compete at Craig Vetter dot com. He also mentioned that he is looking to sponsor one in the Northwest but hasn't announced the location yet. Wherever he decides to hold it, I will be there with whatever it is I am riding at that time for sure! I am excited to see what MPG folks will be getting with fully aerodynamic body kits on their Motorcycles. Fred Hayes and his Diesel Motorcycle took top place in the last race at well over 100MPG! The motorcycle he road was fully aerodynamic and in the "real world" mileage race, it was good to see a diesel win it! Many Blessings to all of you and yours this new year!
Mike :{)
Newbie from North Idaho :{)
Moderators: Dan J, Diesel Dave, Crazymanneil, Stuart
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Rapturee
- I don't post much...
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 3:59 pm
- Location: North Idaho...way up there
- Contact:
Newbie from North Idaho :{)
Do the Right thing...Come what may!
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coachgeo
- I luv the smell of Diesel...
- Posts: 2002
- Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:00 am
- Location: USA Ohio, Above Cincinnati, Close to Dayton
Re: Newbie from North Idaho :{)
Welcome aboard. Look forward to your assistance in discussions here as well as your own threads on your projects.
You mentioned Craig Vetter's contest. There is a thread in here on the last event and possibly threads on past events too.
You mentioned Craig Vetter's contest. There is a thread in here on the last event and possibly threads on past events too.
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Stuart
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2221
- Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:08 pm
- Location: Horsham West Sussex, England
- Contact:
Re: Newbie from North Idaho :{)
Hi Mike and welcome to the forum 
Stuart. M1030M1, Honda NC700S, Grom!, Toyota Corolla 1.4 Turbo Diesel. Favouring MPG over MPH.
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XLerate
- I luv the smell of Diesel...
- Posts: 280
- Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:58 pm
- Location: California
Re: Newbie from North Idaho :{)
Welcome, Mike Rapturee!
Me too... Fond memories here of living in Idaho a few years back, down in Twin at CSN. May move back yet!
Sounds like you've got a solid plan. One thing I saw in that mileage contest was failure of some players in the basics: 'Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance'. Many fail by relying completely on the machine. After converting my vintage Dodge truck to diesel it's a whole new world of driving experience & technique! Things you take for granted in gassers simply don't apply to diesel. They need to be driven entirely different to realize ALL of the benefits of oilers.
Gently rolling on fuel, patience to allow diesel torque to multiply, holding on tightly to ride out downhills without gasser compression braking, rolling out of downhills into gentle throttle to maintain momentum, precisely timed gear changes & precise throttle control in that narrow sweet spot all add up to optimum performance with minimum fuel use.
The single most important factor in a happy diesel conversion, every single time, no exceptions, chiseled in stone: GEARS GEARS GEARS!
First & foremost: proper final drive ratio. Without that you're lost no matter what else is right. Hand in hand: maximum number of gear choices possible in a close ratio tranny for perfect control of engine output & torque curve. There's very good reason why semis or transport lorrie trucks have 10, 12, 14 or even 20 gears with splitters - overdrive - underdrive >>> near perfect control of engine's output for maximum power to move loads using least possible amount of fuel.
Putting it all together with a solid plan gives a clear advantage over the folks that didn't figure out all the angles. Hoping the best in your adventures!
Me too... Fond memories here of living in Idaho a few years back, down in Twin at CSN. May move back yet!
Sounds like you've got a solid plan. One thing I saw in that mileage contest was failure of some players in the basics: 'Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance'. Many fail by relying completely on the machine. After converting my vintage Dodge truck to diesel it's a whole new world of driving experience & technique! Things you take for granted in gassers simply don't apply to diesel. They need to be driven entirely different to realize ALL of the benefits of oilers.
Gently rolling on fuel, patience to allow diesel torque to multiply, holding on tightly to ride out downhills without gasser compression braking, rolling out of downhills into gentle throttle to maintain momentum, precisely timed gear changes & precise throttle control in that narrow sweet spot all add up to optimum performance with minimum fuel use.
The single most important factor in a happy diesel conversion, every single time, no exceptions, chiseled in stone: GEARS GEARS GEARS!
First & foremost: proper final drive ratio. Without that you're lost no matter what else is right. Hand in hand: maximum number of gear choices possible in a close ratio tranny for perfect control of engine output & torque curve. There's very good reason why semis or transport lorrie trucks have 10, 12, 14 or even 20 gears with splitters - overdrive - underdrive >>> near perfect control of engine's output for maximum power to move loads using least possible amount of fuel.
Putting it all together with a solid plan gives a clear advantage over the folks that didn't figure out all the angles. Hoping the best in your adventures!