Bikes Using Honda Parts
Dean's Bio-diesel Honda
In the Summer of 2006, Dean bought this 1985 Honda Rebel and converted it to a 10 Horsepower Single Cylinder Yamar Diesel powered motorcycle. He also put an automatic belt driven transmission on it. He gets 140+ MPG and uses Bio Desiel.
Visit Dean's business here: http://www.specmotors.com/dean.html
Dean's bio-diesel powered Honda.
Dave Emmons 1981 954cc Honda Ruggerini RD211.
Honda XL Diesel Conversion by Ed Bush
Here's the lowdown on the project. The chassis was an '86 Honda XL600 that I
had available and titled. Engine is a 406cc Chinese Yanmar Clone, nominally
10hp. Transmission is a Comet 40 Series CVT to a jackshaft, then roller chain
to the wheel.
Frame conversion consisted of welding in a new subframe to carry the engine
and transmission jackshaft, and flipping the rear wheel around to take the drive
on the right side. Everything else was pretty much eyeball engineered.
The bike has been retired and cannibalized pending construction of the Mark
II. The big drawback to the machine was the belt drive. While it worked fine
when the weather was nice, any rain would totally immobilize the thing. Enclosing
the belt helped, but the clutches seemed to run too hot and belt life suffered.
The Mk.II will be built on a hard-tail converted CB360 frame with a Burman CP
gearbox from an Ariel motorcycle (possibly the only such transmission in Wisconsin.)
Progress has been slow, but it should be on the road by June.
Ed Brush
Madison, WI .
Cdog's Kubota D600 Diesel Motorcycle
This machine has been built by Cdog and consists of an extended custom Honda CX500 Frame complete with a Kubota D600 engine. Top speed we are told is in the mid 50's and the bike produces 13 horsepower producing a smooth ride with decent acceleration. Chat to Cdog on the forum for more info.
Cdog's Diesel powered motorcycle.
CB400 Yanmar
A pleasant surprise for 2005 here. Sam Brumby informs me he has built 2 Diesel powered bikes and this is one of them. A CB400 powered by a Yanmar 275 engine. Sam tells me he built this machine in a week back in April.
The engine is started with the pull start seen here on the right hand side.
CB300RSD
Derek Walters recently unveiled his Diesel motorcycle to the British public in via the pages of Old Bike Mart. It consists of a Yanmar 308cc engine fitted into the frame of a Honda CB250RS. Brakes, wheels and gearbox (cut out from oringinal engine) are all Honda. However the seat and tank are from a Suzuki GS125.
Derek was inspired to build the machine after meeting Ernie Dorsett on a Steam Boiler Course. The engine can revto 3600 rpm and top speed is around 50 mph. Mpg is in the region of 120.
This bike was recently
featured in the Old Bike Mart.
The HSC 1360cc
This machine made its first appearance at the 2004 Rally. The engine is a Citroen 1360cc diesel lump whilst I believe the Gearbox and frame are Honda.
The HCS. A contender for best bike at the 2004 Rally.
This Honda CBR 1600 Turbo Diesel was put together by Werner Bratenstein. The engine,coming from a Golf 2, gives the bike a rather wide look when the fairing is fitted but the specially strengthened frame has no problem handling the weight of the power plant.
Honda CBR 1600 Turbo. A bike that certainly got noticed at the Hamm 2003 Rally.
RAPS BEAR
Andreas Kossmann's striking diesel motorcycle has a 1.4 litre PSA Ally lump in a Honda Bol'd'Or frame. Transmission is courtesy of Kawasaki.
The early morning mist rises at the 2nd Hamm Rally to reveal an awsome monster of a bike.
Daihatsu Diesel Motorcycle and Sidecar
This machine made its first appearance at the 2003 Rally. It has a 3 cylinder Daihatsu 1000cc turbo'd motor which is fitted into a Honda Bol'd'Or frame.
Hickson Special
Behold, Brian Hickson's diesel Special! With a Kubota diesel engine and other parts from a Mini', Toyota Corolla, Honda and Suzuki Mr Hickson put together a bike that reaches 87 km/h and costs 1.3c a kilometre on fuel to run.
Honda Yanmar Chopper Bike
This bike was pointed out to me very recently. It was up for sale on Ebay. I've taken the liberty of posting up the builders discription of the build and a few details about the bike.
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.
