I went to HDT again!

[coachgeo]

....Will there ever be commercial sales of this bike?

Doubt it, Far as I know.. they have never produced a diesel bike for the military either. They have I've heard supplied a number of modified Gas bikes, maybe some ATV's too?.... but nothing diesel??

[zarquon]

Well, nobody knows if the bike from HDT will be availible to the public.
And of course, the bike is "just" a KLR 650 with another engine.

But they have shown the bike several times in the public. Every year they bring it out to Bonneville on the salt.
Check out this two year old vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRzP_NMIYrU

I think the bike is real, for sure. The sales tactics from HDT seems to a bit weird, I agree.

What would happen it HDT would like to sell their bike to the public? They had to achieve an approval in each country they want so sell. They had to build up a dealership. And what about a infrastructure for spare parts?

If you consider this there is no chance to buy a street legal M1030-M2 outside the US in the near future.

For me, this is a realistic point of view.

What would happen if ... you could get an engine to convert a existing KLR somewhere in europe.
KLRs are priced from several hundred euros up to 3k €, when they are in perfect condition. According to the article from motorcyclenews they talk about $ 18k for a Diesel-KLR. Personally I'm not sure if such a bike can be sold for this price.
A new Enfield Diesel from Jochen Sommer costs 7500,- €, compared to that we have 4500,- € for a conversion of a KLR in perfect condition. Lets take a look at the aftermarket for HD look-a-like engines, the cheapest I could find is a RevTech 88 for 4500,- € here in germany. Looking directly in the US the same engine is $ 4k. This is the cheapest engine - in production for years. Others can cost more than $ 10k.
Calculate for yourself if you see a possibility for this Dieselbike within your money range.

happy counting

until you get a result here is a shot from the military and a civilized version that appears on flickr last year.

HDT M1030M1 and Bulldog

[coachgeo]

Yes they have paraded a bike around. Far as I know NONE, ZILCH, ZERO that are diesel have ever actually been delivered ready for opperation to the military or anyone else.

[sbrumby]

I will just add my three peneth to this post. I know the military have military secrets, but how many KLR diesels they actually have must be the best kept secret of all. Probably easier to find out where Bin larden is. Production figures are probably equal to the NEANDER. The bigest problem they would have if they could actually produce them would be, if kwakasaki saw any numbers being sold, they would have their version out in a few months. For me diesel motorbikes means 2 things economy & reliability. So off road bikes dont do it for me as they cannot be economical as you are sitting bolt upright and running on tyres that are just not meant for tarmac.

[zarquon]

I found some more material on a designers webpage. He put some brochures on his portfolio.

http://kevict.com/Page_Works.html

Here is a Newsletter layout for introducing the diesel to the public.
http://kevict.com/images/9.pdf

And this is a Brochure about the engine technology
http://kevict.com/images/10.pdf

happy reading

[cumorglas]

fancy brochures. but still vaporware.

[oldbmw]

My information was that they only EVER had a contract for 22 diesel bikes. I think the military sort of lost interest in the product before all of them were delivered but the contract (for 22 bikes) may have been honoured and completed.
I do not believe they have made more than the 22 engines.

[smokyjoe]

Just got back from an almost nonstop trip to Florida and back (in a cage) and saw a couple of trucks near Ft. Bragg (home of the U.S. Army Special Forces) with Diesel ATV's on them. That got me a thinkin', I don't know if the 2-wheeler is really practical for military use- They can't carry much stuff. They aren't great in very soft sand like some of the dust in the Middle East. They are a pain to ride in goo-like mud. It takes some skill and dedication to learn to ride a 2-wheeler right, especially in real bad terrain. On the other hand, ATVs, as much as I hate them, seem to have the upper hand as far as versatility. The only advantage I can see with a bike is that on-road it would be faster, and it could fit between trees in forests that would stop an ATV dead in it's tracks. An ATV can be used like a tractor for plowing, pulling, etc.

In my opinion a Diesel military bike is probably some general's pipe dream as he sees visions of thousands of Harley WLAs traversing Europe riding toward victory after D Day.

[coachgeo]

..saw a couple of trucks near Ft. Bragg (home of the U.S. Army Special Forces) with Diesel ATV's on them. ...

Is the diesel part of that communication an Assumption or did you spy a diesel only lable over a fuel cap or something?

Any hint at manufacture... as in did they look like those at HDT's website or did they look more generic like Kawasaki and others?

[smokyjoe]

They were the Kawasaki Mule Diesel, said "Diesel" right on them, kind of a desert tan color. Looked same as the civvy models, nothing special. Also were about 4 of the of the smaller "ride on" ATV types on the trailer (vs. the bench seat Mule), couldn't get a good look at them, but were same color. It was in fairly heavy morning rush hour traffic and they were in the lane next to me turning off the highway in Fayetteville and I was going straight, so I couldn't get up real close to check them out. Didn't want to wrap the car around a semi trying to get a better look, they weren't all that interesting anyway!

I've heard that Polaris makes a small ATV with a Diesel, but the engine isn't all that reliable supposedly, I've never seen one.

[chevy43]

I've looked and looked and can't find a video of one actually running that is identafiable as a diesel engine. amazing there are no videos of one running up close with audio....

[coachgeo]

Was their gas models listed on the website last time?

Had heard that all they really have sent to the military is gas models. No diesels ever delivered.