Smart engine Tiger - Assessing demand...

[Crazymanneil]

Guys,

When I started my project 3 or so years ago I had an idea what I wanted to do but didn't know how it would turn out. It started when I saw the HDT machine online but my heart sank when I realised it was not available to the public. I wanted a bike that simply did not exist at the time so I had little choice but to build my own. I started the project as a hobby. As time went by it grew beyond hobby into (probably unhealthy!) obsession. I've spent most of my waking hours over those years thinking about how to make stuff fit together or researching everything until I knew it inside out.

As time has gone by I have found the solutions to a lot of problems, sometimes by work, sometimes by wasted money and occassionally by pure luck! Its been a long painful road at times, but the bike has turned out great and is something I am proud of and glad to own.

As a result of all this a few folks have approached me with interest in having their own. I didn't think about this when I started but since the bike has turned out so well I have been giving it some more thought. It would make sense to give others the opportunity to own one too and hopefully get something back for that development time.

So if you'd like me to build you a bike like mine please PM me. If there are enough of you then it would be worthwhile me setting up to make a run of them. You would not only be getting the bike, but also the full benefit of the experience I now have.

Take care,

Neil

p.s. pics of the final bike along with mpg, speed etc to follow soon as my bike is almost road legal now (touch wood).

[Dan J]

I think Henry Price and Jochen Somner have both proved there is a market for a slowish diesel bike in Europe - there's enough people interested that they're happy to buy a 10bhp bike that will barely top 60mph. Erik from EVA has gone one step further and built something that whilst a lot more expensive has "real world" engine power and has had plenty of interested from BMW owners and as far as I can tell seems to be doing a good job of selling his first run of bikes. Heiko is also building beautiful bikes of a similar ilk to your Triumph and never seems to have any trouble finding a home for them. As fuel gets ever more expensive alongside ridiculously expensive public transport, current bike owners are going to be looking for a good, well paced bike to commute on that doesn't only do 30mpg. I reckon these are the people who are likely to be potentially interested as it isn't something a non-biker would think of I reckon, until they're hooked on 2 wheels.

So... I reckon there is a potential market. Hell, I might even be interested myself I guess the questions from potential others will be around wanting to see plenty of pictures (is your current/first bike of a standard that will give people confidence?), wanting to understand that they can maintain the bike without specialist support when they don't live up the road from you (e.g. is it possible to use all standard Tiger parts plus Benz/SMART parts for the engine?). Personally I'd also like to be reassured the bike isn't relying on complicated ECU's etc which I don't think yours is? Perhaps once you've got the bike on the road and have proved it plus got the stats people will care about (acceleration, top speed, mpg) put a reasonably information website together with a lot of the FAQs? Heiko already does something similar and says if someone is interested get in touch. If I was after a diesel bike of this nature (as opposed to an Enfield) and lived in Germany I'd contact Heiko. You want to be picking up anyone in Ireland and the UK who is interested. I think in summary I'm trying to say you've got to be able to give anyone interested the confidence in your bike building abilities and what they'll be getting. Another factor is... PRICE! Having only built one single bike are you confident you could give someone a price either on a complete bike or on a conversion to a supplied Tiger?

Is any of that a help? I guess I'm putting down a lot of the questions I've either got or would have - bear in mind not everyone else who is potentially interested will have had the benefit of meeting you over a few beers in Sussex and realising you probably do know what you're talking about

On that note what about laminating a sheet of A4 explaining you're potentially considering building further bikes and have some contact cards made up for the Big Knock and the Hamm rallies...

I'd go on but I'd start feeling I had to charge you some consultancy fees of some kind!

[Crazymanneil]

Dan,

Wow, thanks for taking the time for the feedback. You make some great points, perhaps I was a little early since I need to gather up photos and experience of real world driving, though I have been preoccupied over building and just glad to be out on the thing now.

Today I took the bike up to MOT which was a good 60 or so mile run. No dramas. Bike pulls very well up to about 80 or so and cruises there easily. There is more left but leave that til the private roads . Opening the throttle in first makes the front end very light and the gearing seems to have worked out well. Made a bit of a mess of the driveway pouring diesel into it from a jerry can MOT guys were a little confused about what they were meant to do but after talking to each other decided it wasn't up to them to worry about the engine change, just test the thing. They asked plenty of questions in the end and just seemed to be interested to see something different. (MOT done by government agency over here)

Now that the thing is road legal I'll get some miles on it and take some more pics.

N