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Engine Specific Info and Questions => Non VW Group Diesel => Topic started by: firestorm13666 on January 20, 2006, 10:42:40 pm
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Well iam new to diesel and the more i learn the more i liek them.Anyhow i have a old dirt bike frame thats needs an engine so why not a small diesel one.The bike is a old Yamaha 250 form the late 70's i got with out an engine.So got any ideas on what small diesel i can put in it?Thanks for any help. :twisted:
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the problem with that is any diesel engine you find will be 1 of 2 things. it will be to big, or too heavy. the reason for this is that it should be difficult to mate a diesel to a transmission on a small 250 bike frame. to compensate for lack of a trans, you need a bigger engine capable of putting down enough power to overcome less than ideal situations that would otherwise be solved with a transmission. the problem with bigger engines is weight. 250cc dirtbike motors are light enough anbd small enough to pick up with one arm and set up on a benchtop.
you could maybe use a snow mobile variable pitch belt setup, but you would need to mount it to a jackshaft which adds complexity.
if you just want someting like a pitbike to cross parking lots or very light duty use, then any little diesel with a gocart clutch would work good, no jackshafts or variable pitch clutches needed. just install a centrifucal gocart clutch and hook up a chain to the drive wheel. i see alot of pit bikes made like this, although none are diesel.
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It has been done many times before, I thought that I was the smartest man in the world when I came up with the idea to put a diesel into a motorbike, so I started researching it and found that it has been done for many years overseas, here's a link
http://www.peace65.freeserve.co.uk/Pictures/diesel.htm
There still is an issue with finding small diesel engines to use for a reasonable price, if money was no object though.....
I've thought about using a cheap Launtop chinese diesel and seeing how long they live for, they claim right on their website that they have copied the Yanmar engine part for part, but I'm not sure that their metallurgy is up to the Japanese standards.
I have a 3 cyl 28hp Isuzu 980cc engine awaiting a nice BMW bike with a trashed engine. BMW is one of the very few bike manufactures' who use a seperate transmission and automotive style clutch.
PM me if you have any questions!
Cheers!
Tyler