Streinger 0 Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Beleive it or not, this bike is powered by diesel fuel. A group of Dutch enthusiasts worked on this (fully working) prototype for 3 years. An engine of VW Lupo, a 3 cylinder 1200cc intercooler turbo diesel was combined with Yamaha FJ 1200 5-speed gear box and modified Benelli Tornado clutch. The result is relatively light (205kg) 80hp bike..which can be easily upgraded to 120hp with so called "chip-tunning". The best part- it only needs 2.5 liters of diesel per 100km! Personaly, I don't ride racing bikes...I prefere customs and cruisers. But with fossile fuels in short suply, and bio-diesel as one of the options, I can easily see my self on a huge, Gold Wing like cruiser, powered by such engine...you fill your 25l tank and you're set for 1000km trip...now that's life! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gav80 0 Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 (edited) No doubt that diesels have come a long way. They give great fuel economy and incredible low-end torque - more than enough to blow petrol-engines out of the water. The problem is the rev range on them. The torque kicks in nice and early, it starts winding up nicely - and then just as the engine speed comes up to get you into the power-band, you have to change gear cuz it's run out of revs... Plus I'm not a big fan of turbos cuz of the lag on them... Edited April 23, 2005 by Gav80 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cdnsniper 0 Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 It sounds like an awsome bike, sure beats my dirt bike as far as...well, everything goes, except for off road capability I guess lol. And it looks more like a hornet then a "Thunder Star" to me Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stalker_Zero 0 Posted April 24, 2005 Share Posted April 24, 2005 Streinger is mr. cool I sware! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Streinger 0 Posted April 24, 2005 Author Share Posted April 24, 2005 No doubt that diesels have come a long way. They give great fuel economy and incredible low-end torque - more than enough to blow petrol-engines out of the water. The problem is the rev range on them. The torque kicks in nice and early, it starts winding up nicely - and then just as the engine speed comes up to get you into the power-band, you have to change gear cuz it's run out of revs... Plus I'm not a big fan of turbos cuz of the lag on them... ← Generaly, I agree with you...the way you described how diesel acts up on the road is graffic and accurate for the most part. It's somewhat different with turbo diesels- they can acelerate way better. Not fully comparable with petrol cars, but almost there. I couldn't dig up more info on Star Twin bike, perticulary top speed and acceleration, but one piece info published in a bike 'zine I picked up two days ago says it can acheeve 115kmh in first gear alone- comparable to 1000cc petrol bikes. It produces 80hp at 4500rpm, and with chip-tunning, it goes up to 120hp at 5000rpm (though it might be a little too high in the red zone for that little diesel) Like I said, I'm not a racer bike rider- I know meny guys who are and would probably just shake their heads at the notion of diesel race bike. But as far as custom and cruiser bikes go, it might be a next step in bike evolution... PS: Stalker Zero IS NOT my alt.. honest! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gav80 0 Posted April 24, 2005 Share Posted April 24, 2005 (edited) I know that the way I described diesels was accurate, but thanks for saying so! Lol One of my speciality areas (I'm a mechanical engineer) is engines (all types: IC, gas turbine, direct thrust etc), and I drive lots of different cars (my company jokingly refer to me as their official test-driver - I've driven about 20 different cars this year already), including plenty of turbo-diesels. They're not too far off petrols now for performance - especially if you get one with a six-speed gearbox. I drove a Seat Leon FR turbo-diesel a few weeks ago (150bhp and 320Nm). That was a seriously fast car - the pickup at low revs was fantastic, and considering it only revs to just over 4000rpm (being a diesel), 150bhp is very respectable for a 1.9litre engine. The point is that sat cruising and then flooring the throttle in it, it beat the hell out of my car - way more torque. But it "ran out" of revs very quickly, so sustained acceleration wasn't great. The same effect can be acheived in petrol engined cars, even ones that are giving away a lot of torque, by dropping two gears before flooring the throttle - and it doesn't feel like you should be holding out for another two thousand revs before up-shifting like the diesels do. Basically, petrols feel more fun, but you really have to work them hard (high revs to keep high-up on the engine's power curve) to make them quick. Diesels feel altogether more lazy - you want to drive one of them fast, you need to be two gears higher than you think you should be because they haven't got the revs to match the petrol engines. Low-end torque makes up for it though, and not having an engine screaming at you as you hammer along the road can make for a calmer, more sedate (but less engaging and enjoyable) drive. There's no turbo lag on the petrol engines either, so the throttle is much more responsive. Generally, petrols just feel more lively. Having said that, they give away about 15mpg to the diesels, so it all depends what you want from the engine. I prefer lively to sedate, so I always go for petrol engines and stiffer suspension. It makes the car feel less refined (harder ride over bumps, poorer fuel economy and more engine noise from revving harder) but it's so much more engaging and fun to drive. I'd rather have fun than be comfortable! Performance stats (acceleration and top speed) for petrols and turbo-diesels of similar max power output are broadly comparable, even though peak torque will be better on the diesel (because of the combination of turbo-lag and narrower rev range). Edited April 24, 2005 by Gav80 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stalker_Zero 0 Posted April 24, 2005 Share Posted April 24, 2005 PS: Stalker Zero IS NOT my alt.. honest! ← whats an "alt" ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gav80 0 Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 "alt" is German for "old"... So I guess he's saying you're not his Dad....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Streinger 0 Posted April 26, 2005 Author Share Posted April 26, 2005 Actually, "alt" is short of "alter ego", or "the other self"- meaning other identity any user can have in this (or any other ) forum. To clarify my post, just check Humor thread, post titled "one stupid mistake" and you'll figure it out... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gav80 0 Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 Oh, don't spell it out! It's far more fun to tease... I knew what you meant, but there was no way I was gonna pass up the opportunity to have some fun... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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