Ugly but practical - The diesel Scooter

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Being the builder of all sorts of machinery , just "because I can", I like that!
 
Lest we forget, it's designed for India/Pakistan, where a lot of people travel on two wheels - sometimes on the same two wheels. I once looked out of my Lahore hotel window one morning to see a family of four going past on a tiny scooter, so that machine with seats and handrails will be ideal!
John
 
What a great concept. 150cc diesel is pretty weedy on Hp but for the roads and terrain it's meant for then speed & size are irrelevant when the surface might limit you to sub 30mph.

Really interesting. If it proves to be rugged and reliable it'd be a brilliant little tool for exploring those out of the way places.

If I had the time and money to follow my dreams then one of these would be ideal to carry to those remote places, park the van, jump on and go exploring.
 
I agree.Ive been thinking about pulling a trailer with my trike on to go exploring !
 
I remember seeing a Royal Enfield motorbike with a diesel engine many years ago. There was a uk company proposing to import them under the Robin name I think.

In India these bikes are all purpose machines, carrying huge loads and acting as the family car carrying up to four people!!!

Then when they get home, they connect a drive belt to a power take off on the gearbox and the bike powers a generator for electricity or a water pump.
 
Rodeo said:
I agree.Ive been thinking about pulling a trailer with my trike on to go exploring !
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I've a towbar on the LDV & towing my Rockster somewhere nice then using the van as a base & the m-bike as fun transport and for sightseeing, easy parking is something we have discussed (dunno if we will ever actually get around to it though - maybe if we had the chance to clear off to S France to play in the Alps and Route Napoleon for a few weeks or something?).

Also toyed with the idea of a scooter to do the same ( as before the changes I could even have fitted it inside the van - so no extra cost on a ferry Id guess) but that's moot now since the mods. I could maybe make/fit a scooter rack if I really wanted to?

I do wonder though that I'd do it enough to justify the faffing about. Especially when you have a van small enough to get pretty much anywhere (Cept under barriers etc) like I can with the LDV.
 
Randonneur said:
I remember seeing a Royal Enfield motorbike with a diesel engine many years ago. There was a uk company proposing to import them under the Robin name I think.
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I remember those. Not certain but I think the Robin name was due to the fact that the Diesel engine was basically a Robin diesel stationary 1 cyl engine hooked up to the pre unit gearbox.

People have built other diesel stuff using everything from Yanmar 10Hp singles to the Smart Car 3 cyl turbo engine that'll let a converted Triumph Tiger do 100mph or something like 85-90mpg ( not at the same time). I actually saw one of these when in a ferry queue at dieppe in 2011.

Quite a few people have built diesel stuff using donor bikes and assorted diesels - make a great bike for a serious overland trip somewhere remote and where speeds are far less important than range and simplicity.

As stated - I like the look and idea of the machine off this post. I'd love to actually see one and have a play with it.
 
siimplyloco said:
Lest we forget, it's designed for India/Pakistan, where a lot of people travel on two wheels - sometimes on the same two wheels. I once looked out of my Lahore hotel window one morning to see a family of four going past on a tiny scooter, so that machine with seats and handrails will be ideal!
John
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I once had five on my Yamaha FS1E 50cc when I was 16. Albeit on the school playing field not a busy dual carriageway in India.
 
barryd said:
I once had five on my Yamaha FS1E 50cc when I was 16. Albeit on the school playing field not a busy dual carriageway in India.
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I wrote a wheelchair off being towed behind an FS1E at 40 mph. hospital were not pleased, but I did pay for it.
 
Only in India

That scooter is amazing, but I don,t think it would be a success over here. I would imagine it would be lucky to top 35mph and would accelerate like a slug. Still there are plenty of choices for motorhome garages, trailers and racks. Up to now I,ve tried a restored MTX 125 and a Serow on my side loading trailer. The Honda was flat as a fart 2 up and the Yamaha didn,t have any room 2 up. I,ve just bought a BMW F 650 which needs a bit of work but I think that will do the job when it,s finished. Tompa.
 
On a whim I picked a Yamaha 125cc Cygnus scooter last year. Not used it yet. Planned to go through it make sure it's all good and then see but I've been too busy so far.

Doubt I'll use it tbh. So it'll probably get sold on. Something like that though is big enough for 2 with just enough go for getting about. Hardly likely to be as much fun as my 1150cc Rockster though.

Trouble is the fun stuff is way too big to drag about really - too much hassle. And big stuff is wasted on short trips and anywhere off road. Ewan & charley could be seen really struggling with those massive supertanker GS Adventure things as soon as the surface got a bit iffy. Something like the bike the OP posted would have spanked their BMW's on the rough stuff even with its weedy output.

Horses for courses and all that. I actually reckon just about the best small bike to do it all out of a camper would be the ubiquitous Honda C90 Cub. Large wheels, enough poke to carry 2, 50mph economical and very robust. Pity they are fetching solid money these days but a great little all rounder that's light enough to handle and carry.
 
On a whim I picked a Yamaha 125cc Cygnus scooter last year. Not used it yet. Planned to go through it make sure it's all good and then see but I've been too busy so far.

Funnily enough, thats what i now have as "everyday transport to work", trouble is in the 14 months i've owned it, i've only done 350 miles.! Reason for that is quite simple, every time i've got any time off work, we try to get away in the van., and we own a Smart car which I use for work.!
We did think about getting a new touring bike, but we new that it would be left as a very expensive coat hanger, so the Cygnus does us just fine, and will be in our lifes for quite awhile yet.!

jt
 
Ah the joys of computer generated pictures. After a short course in this subject I hope to "reveal plans to make" motorcycles , cars and even aircraft. With the pitiful inability of journalists to ask the simplest of how, where, what and why questions I expect several to feature in the international media.
So lets create a 2 two wheel drive motorcycle with no ground clearance. Why?
Low powered specialist two wheel drives have been made. I'm sure several of you have seen the link to Rokon 2-Wheel Drive Motorcycles but with small petrol engines.
Diesels are much heavier how will they get sufficient power out of a 150 cc Diesel??? Centre question of the story I would have thought. Can you even get 5 hp out of a 150 cc Diesel without a turbocharger, I doubt it.
As the weight of a larger engine is not proportional to volume why 150cc anyway? Why not 300cc or 500cc which might be more possible.

One of the biggest promoters of diesel bikes in this country was PETER HENSHAW who used to edit Motorcycle Sport and Leisure when it used to be worth reading.

I remember the Enfield and a MZ Diesel and some gentleman ripping off the French govt for millions to research and produce a Diesel bike. The major stimulus to producing has been the military who wanted the reduced logistics of no petrol vehicles. There was research with a Kawasaki KLE base for years. I thought it had died a death but apparently have been produced in numbers and will run on jet fuel too. Interesting for anyone who has an oil fired (paraffin) boiler.

http://http://www.dieselbike.net/militaryproduction/militaryproduction.htm

Catch the video here Watch "HDT Diesel Motorcycles" Video at American Rider

Notionally an ex forces one for sale. Ex US forces? **DIESEL** Military Kawasaki KLR 650 M1030M1 DIESEL/JP8, Army, US | eBay

I'm finding post 2010 articles on the KLE hard to find though.

About 2009 or 2010 saw this at the NEC bike show looks like these have gone out of business too Track T-800 CDI diesel motorcycle | Bike EXIF scroll down this there is their own tale of it all comming to an end. Google Translate

A few other Diesel bike bits

DieselBike.net | Motorcycles with Fuji-Robin diesel engines

Notable developments regarding Diesel Motorcycles
 
I think that the small air cooled diesel has been employed on many one offs and adapted bikes using a donor chassis simply because these small (typically) 1 cyl air cooled motors are common and cheap. Think horticultural and generator engines, pumps etc.

Agree 150cc seems a bit small though and Hp isn't going to be much. You can get 10hp out of a Yanmar L100 single and of course torque is much stronger than a petrol motor so it can pull higher gearing to offset its low rpm ceiling and low hp output.

Multi cylinder diesels tend to be too heavy and bulky and hard to package into a motorcycle, and are thinner on the ground and cost a lot more.

My guess is this is why such motors are used even if they are rather limited. Maybe it's simply that this engine was available?
 
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