This Motorcycle
project was pointed out to me some time ago after it was spotted up
for sale on Ebay. I've taken the liberty of posting up the builders
discription here as it is by far the best way of describing its construction.
No
need to depend on Middle-East oil when you can drive this chopper that
runs on bio-diesel (or regular diesel fuel if you don't want to buy
bio-diesel).This bike started life because of my son's Middle School
Science project on renewable fuels. The idea of making our own fuel
from used vegetable oil caught our attention and after reading up on
the idea, we decided to build a bike that runs on it. The chopper started
life as a 1977 Honda CJ360 with a trashed motor but it had sound frame,
front/rear end and a clean title. We bought a new engine on ebay, a
9hp diesel made for Yanmar by Launtop. The old used tank and spring
seat are also ebay finds. Drive is through a 40 series Comet torque
converter and heavy duty jack shaft (bought new from an Internet go-kart
place). Lights and other electrical parts were picked up form Jireh.
Most everything else was made by us. All bearings were redone, and it
has all new rubber and fittings.The rigid frame was fab'd out of 1020
mild steel tubing, 1 1/2" for main down tubes and 1" for all
other tubes. All welds were mig done by an experienced welder. The frame
was moulded with NAPA ultra-light filler and painted dark grey using
a textured paint called Hammerite. The battery and all the other electrics
are hidden in a metal flower-pot under the seat (to keep with the bio-friendly
theme). To complete the bio theme, we airbrushed the tank and fender
using gold base coat, leafs were done in black using freehand stencils,
then it was covered by 7-8 coats of green apple candy (all Createx AutoAir).
Cleared using Napa rattle can. It gives a nice colour shift effect that
doesn't show up in the photos.
This
is a full size motorcycle and I ride it around town almost every weekend
(I'm 6'5" and 235lbs). It is street legal and the 9hp diesel is
plenty strong for road use. The seat is very low and it can easily be
driven by a child (my 14 year old son rides it in the neighbourhood)
and it has platforms for your feet not pegs (see side view photos).
It is a hard tail but the seat is sprung as is the front fork. Ride
is rough but smoother than an old hard tail I had in my youth.The engine
is pull start but does have a compression release. There is no shifting
required (the torque converter has variable 'gearing') and it pulls
like a train from zero to 70mph. It smokes and shakes like a diesel,
but the smoke smells like French Fries! And, we get well over 100mpg
from fuel grown here in the good old USA. This was a great project for
us, and the only reason we're selling it is to make room for our next
project, a gas/electric hybrid chopper. But the biggest surprise of
this project is that as gasoline prices continue to rise, we now look
at fields of corn and soybean differently - they're a potential fuel
source for our future that really works.
Bike
has very few miles on it since it was built. It comes as is with no
warrantee. It has a clean MN title, all paper work for the parts we
used, a small tool kit for the road, and a box of extra parts scavenged
from the old Honda and the new diesel engine.
Top
end of this engine is approx 3500 engine rpm (which it does easily).
We recently changed the jack shaft gear to a 12 tooth so it would slow
down the top end so my son could drive it without putting my wife in
a panic (12 tooth gear and 3500 engine rpm the top end is approx 68mph
but this gearing has a very nice low/mid end ride). I use it this way
and blast around town when the weather allows. The engine has loads
of torque and with the 13 or 14 tooth gear it has a much better top
end speed and you hardly notice the low end hit (it could possibly handle
a bigger gear depending on where you drive but torque on this engine
is a killer). Speaking of torque, we now have heavy duty bearings on
a big jackshaft. The original ones we bought from the go-kart place
couldn't handle the torque and failed quickly so we now have a 3/4"
jack shaft and strong pillow block industrial bearings that are rated
at 30hp and 5000 rpm. So far after lots of riding around town no problems.I
have used mainly around town, local roads and local highways. I haven't
taken any long rides on this bike because it is a hard tail, and, well,
you know why.The Comet torque converter is an amazing thing and it accelerates
well, not like a big gas bike, but as well as my wife's Buell Blast
(at least up to 40mph). On the road it runs fine. Big hills are a little
slow because the torque converter (as its set up) seems to "down
shift" and the bike slows and rpm rises. The engine has loads of
torque and I was planning on changing some "springs and pucks"
in the torque converter itself (as explained in the manual) to change
the torque curve to better handle big hills. Little hills are no problem.Remember
it is a pull start but it does have compression release. Still, starting
it is not for the timid. I can easily start it, but my son (14 years
old) cannot. They offer an electric start for this engine and with the
battery that is now on the bike you could add it without any real extra
effort.
The
drum brakes have been redone and wheels are from the donor CJ360. The
speedo is on the front when and is also from the donor bike.The addition
of the torque converter and jack shaft required right hand drive on
the rear wheel. So, the front brake is in the normal place (right hand)
and the rear brake is now on the LEFT foot (as seen in the photos) not
the right foot as a normal bike would have. Since there is no shifting,
I thought moving the brake to the left and keeping all braking components
original CJ360 was a good idea. That way, finding parts is easy.
The
bike has no generator. The optional electric starter (I think) serves
dual purpose. As it is now, I charge the battery using a separate trickle
charger when needed but it isn't needed too often because all it runs
are the front and rear lights.Diesel engines are a little odd if you've
never played with one. Unlike gas engines, there is no separate throttle
and electrical system. So, unlike a gas engine where you can simply
ground the spark to stop it, a diesel (at least this little one) stops
when you shut off its fuel by throttling it way down. The torque converter
doesn't engage at idle or when shutting down so this is not a big deal.
Starting is a little odd too, because it requires some throttle to get
it going. Not a problem once you get used to it, but it does take some
getting used to.Oh, one last thing. Riding this odd bike will get you
noticed. It make some odd sounds and you'll spend a lot of time explaining
to others about bio-diesel and the whole 'green chopper' thing.
Howell
Cheney Technical School Students build a Diesel Motorcycle
By
Nancy Thompson (
© Copyright)
Journal Inquirer, Manchester. Connecticut
The
students fire up the diesel motorcycle.
When
the students in Joe Hollay's diesel class work on their pet project,
the roar of the engine and the smell of french fries fill the shop.
The engine noise is what you'd expect to find in the diesel shop at
Howell Cheney Regional Vocational-Technical School in Manchester, where
students prepare for careers as mechanics. The odor is something else.
It's not lingering from a take-out lunch or wafting off a hot snack.
It's pouring from the exhaust pipe of the 1982 Honda motorcycle the
students are working on.
The
motorcycle, which was donated by Cheney Tech alumnus Jim Bennet, has
been fitted with a diesel engine that is being run on-biodiesel fuel,
which is essentially vegetable'oil that's been used by restaurants to
fry food. Along with this new engine, the motorcycle has a cardboard
license plate that proclaims "veggie power."
While the idea of pumping restaurant grease into an engine sounds strange
to most people, the diesel students are as intrigued with mounting a
diesel engine on a motorcycle, something that's rarely done.
But on both fronts, the idea is working, they say. "It's been a
really good project," says Eric Koehler, a student and motocross
rider from Ellington.
It
all got started with a homework assignment. Hollay asked his students,
who are juniors, to bring in articles about diesel, and one came in
with a newspaper story about Tom Leue, an Ashfield, Mass., man who makes
biodiesel - and uses it to power his tractor, truck, and family cars.
Until about a month ago, Leue also sold biodiesel to about 30 customers,
but the federal Environmental Protection Agency recently shut down small
producers.
The
idea caught the class's imagination, Hollay says, and he took the students
on a field trip to Leue's company, where he brews Yellow Brand Premium
Biodiesel with equipment formerly used to make maple syrup.
Leue collects waste vegetable oil from area restaurants on a weekly
basis. By adding lye and wood alcohol, he separates glycerin from the
fuel, which he uses to heat his home as well as run his machines.
The process, Leue notes on his Web site, is far simpler and cheaper
than what's needed to refine petroleum. And bidiesel, sometimes called
"griesel," comes from a renewable resource - usually soybeans
which is readily available, rather than depleting a finite supply.
The
Cheney students can rat tle off the advantages of biodiesel: it creates
less pollution, is less dangerous if spilled, and is biodegradable.
Engines run smoothly, Hollay said, because the biodiesel doesn't build
up. Biodiesel can be stored anywhere petroleum diesel is stored and
has comparable miles per gallon and horsepower. It can be mixed with
petroleum diesel or used full strength.
The
Cheney students didn't have to modify the diesel engine they're using
on the motorcycle to handle the biodiesel fuel, which can be used in
any diesel engine, but did have to work on the bike to fit in the engine.
Students Dan Bosco and Ben Hebner from the machine shop helped them
fit the engine onto the frame, Hollay says.
TSI Harley Davidson of Ellington and its owner, Harry Levesque, sponsor
the class, and also helped, Hollay says. The teacher says the class
hopes to set a miles-per-gallon record with it, aiming for 200 miles
per gallon.
The students, who rotate through four weeks in the shop and four weeks
in academic: classes, began working on the motorcycle in November. They
also spend much of their time at the National Guard armory in Manchester
working on vehicles.
The
diesel students all say they've enjoyed experimenting with the biodiesel
fuel and would welcome the opportunity to use it themselves because
of the benefits for the environment. This could be the future,"
Marcel Guay of South Windsor says.
Homestead
Inc. was the only commercial biodiesel producer in the Northeast. The
alternative fuel is more popular in the West, where school buses, municipal
vehicles, and other fleets use biodiesel, according to the National
Biodiesel Board. Josh Roberts of Stafford says he had heard of biodiesel
before the class began its project, but wasn't aware of how widely it
is used.
The
process, Leue notes on his Web site, is far simpler and cheaper than
what's needed to refine petroleum. And bidiesel, sometimes called "griesel,"
comes from a renewable resource - usually soybeans which is readily
available, rather than depleting a finite supply. We didn't really know
how big the biodiesel industry was," he says, adding that's an
important issue for the future mechanics.
Chris Larsen of East Hartford thinks biodiesel would be more popular
if more people knew about it. Once people see how cheap it is, they'll
want it," he says. If you hook up with a Chinese restaurant, you
can get it free," Guay says.
The only drawback, Hollay says, is that using biodiesel, with its fried
food smell, makes you hungry. "On the way home from the field trip"
to Leue's operation, "we were all starving We had to stop for food,"
Hollay says.
Seabury
Hall Diesel Motorcycle
Project
Members were: Maddison McGain, Rocky DeLyon, Keoni Grundhauser, Zoe
Chotzen-tsuruda from Seabury Hall, Hawaii.
Checkout
the webpage detailing this build here: Seabury
Hall Engineering.
Bikes
in Development
The
HPDM Project
The
High Performance Bio-Diesel Motorcycle (HPDM) Project is a final year
mechanical engineering project at the University of Adelaide aiming
to set a new land speed record for diesel motorcycles. Checkout what
these guys are doing here.
Duplicated
from the Private Development page, a bike that was produced by students.
Written text submitted by Sascha.
I attach 3 pictures of the Yamaha showing
the main part of the conversion. A Yamaha DT250MX which has been converted
to Diesel. The original engine (2-stroke) was converted using a custom
made cylinder head and an Opel Kadett injection pump. You can see the
Diesel cylinder head made from scratch, the Kadett injection pump and
fuel filter, the glow plug in the center of the head, the injector at
the side of the head and the air filter from a Gilera, I guess. I should
have cleaned the bike before taking the pics ;-)
There's a guy from a German bike magazin who waits to make an article
about it as soon as it's in a clean and running condition... so there
might be better pics available in the future, I hope.
The project itself died due to several
reasons: One of the professors retired, they recognized that many of
their ideas were already out-dated by the common progress and the problem
with the hydraulic valve control seemed to be insolvable. But I guess
the Inline Boxer is still alive for demonstrations.
Some
more info:
The
engine is still a 2 stroke. The only changes are:
- new custom made cylinder head to achieve a higher compression rate,
- injection pump from the Opel Kadett, driven by a chain belt (pulley
on the flywheel of the generator)
- Diesel injector (don't remember the make, but it was from an engine
with indirect injection but is now used for direct injection)
-Yamaha Autolube is still active, it injects 2 stroke oil in the air
between air filter and the reed valves
-carburator and ignition are removed, exhaust is stock
It's
not easy to start. The bike is equipped with 6V only, so you need an
additional 12V car battery to supply the glow plug. But even then it's
hard to start with the kick starter. I used an electric heat gun to
pre-heat the intake area which helped a bit. You can't push it, even
in 5th gear and pushed by 3 guys the rear wheel will skid due to the
high compression.
When
it's running, there's pretty much smoke and a special sound. It's not
so much like a Diesel, not that hard hammering, it still remembers the
typical 2 stroke sound, but different from the gasoline 2 stroke sound.
There's pretty much power (for a 250cc Diesel) between 2000 and 4000rpm,
but above that there's not so much. I've been told you can go around
80km per hour, so it should produce something around 8kW. Up to now
I have only tested off road.
Regards,
Sascha Huy, Winterburg, Germany
Similar info on page: http://www.dieselbike.net/privatedevelopment/privatedevelopment.htm
Back
to the Motorcycle Index
