2008 KLR456 Dualsport Diesel Conversion

[pintohorse]

Nice job so far, looks like you've put a lot of thought into this project. If you had electric motors driving the front wheel and rear wheel, and they were driven correctly by seperate inverters (converts DC to AC as used in most high efficiency setups) you could have ANY size difference- the frequency, thus motor speed, front and rear would be determined by the little computer that would control the whole thing. Not a simple task, but is being done!

[SamM]

As it turns out, they don't recommend running the hub motor in the front. The one motor in the back would be more than enough to power the bike. The topspeed would only be limited by how much power I could make. Not having to deal with a jackshaft or a chain final drive would be great and would simplify things somewhat, on the metal fabrication side. It would definately complicate much more on the electrical side of the project. The hub motor costs around $1300, so that's not going to be cost effective, unless I can get 90mph out of it and get 200mpg. That's a pipedream! I'm still considering it but not hopeful. The generator head would probably need to be pretty big to handle the motor load and I'd like to see a better than 75mph topspeed if I went this way. Still waiting on some answers. I think it's daoble and would probably save a great deal of fuel in the long run. If sized properly the engine/generator could be run at a constant low/mid speed in order to make the electricity to run the hub motor. 

I'll be ordering the diesel engine next week, so things will be moving ahead no matter what I decide!

SamM 

Here's a picture of the EnerTrac hub motor.

[pintohorse]

A friend of mine works for a company that manages the electric grid. They offer "free electricity in the parking lot" for anyone to charge an electric vehicle. He is thinking of making an electric bike using "used" laptop Li-Ion battery cells (lots of them!). It is only 15 miles from his house to work, so it would be certainly do-able. I am going to show him that hub motor, if he hasn't already seen it already that would be ideal and much easier than designing and winding your own. He could design his own controller.

I have a hard time getting the time (and money!) to work on my simple bike. I'd like to build something more complicated (hybrid, regenerative braking, etc.) but that would assure that I would never finish it! I've had the "chassis", bought to specifically make a diesel bike for about 25 years? now (can't remember exactly) the engine 1-1/2 years, and the CVT over 6 months and they still aren't mated up and are in 2 locations 11 miles apart.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of performance you get out of that engine. If my old Hatz bites the dust, I am thinking of getting one of those 450cc ChinaClones.

Keep the pictures coming, they are an inspiration!

[SamM]

Thanks pintohorse!

I've been spending a great deal of time doing some research on different technologies until my engine arrives. I'll be ordering the diesel engine next week. Things always seem to come up at the wrong time. Anyway, the diesel/electric motorcycle idea really intrigues me. It seems to be very complex to put into practical use. The costs are al;so quite high. The hub motor is $1295. That may have to wait for awhile and just be my next project. Many, many people are reporting that 70mph is doable from my original diesel/CVT configuration. So, it appears that the smart move is to keep going with the original CVT plan and keep moving forward on the bike. The hub motor may be a better choice for just a short range electric motorcycle sometime later on down the road. I think I'm going to watch and wait for battery and hub motor technology to progress a bit more before I jump into that. It is something very cool to think about though.

Not much to report on the diesel conversion. I have purchased a few more much needed parts, such as the new airbox and a stock KLR650 cushdrive. After the engine gets here, I'll be ordering the Comet/Salsbury Series 500 CVT drive and the sprockets. A new battery, new rear disc brake rotor, kickstand, and a few other odds and ends are about all that I need. The fab work will commence shortly. Unfortunately, my professional welder is going to Florida in 2 weeks to spend the Winter in a better climate. I have someone else in mind but I haven't asked him about doing the work yet. I hope to have some progress to post soon.

SamM

This motorcycle uses the same KTM 950 platform that I have sitting in my shop.

[SamM]

My new Winsun engine arrived yesterday. I spent a good portion of today measuring and taking things apart. The lower portion of the frame will be made with 1" square tubing. I'll be measuring all that and doing the cutting and welding soon. The first step is to get the bike rolling again. I'll need to do this in order to get the lower frame cradle flat. Measurements still need to be done. The fender also needs to be clearanced and the front area is quite tight. The engine needs to go forward as much as possible, so that there will be enough room for the jackshaft and final drive. The bike has already been converted to rightside drive.

SamM

[SamM]

Update: I wanted to post a few changes with my Diesel KLR project. My 1" steel tubing has arrived but I have decided to go back to the original plan and use 1" steel DOM tubing. A new '08 frame will be used as I chopped the other frame a little too far. I'll save it for another project. An FD2 tubing bender will be used to bend the new steel tubing. I am taking measurements now trying to get everything right before sending everything to the bender. The 1" DOM will be stronger than the 1" square tubing and I'm more than a little concerned that the engine will shake the frame apart.

The USD forks that I will be using on the bike have not been installed on it yet. I need to buy a new aluminum steering stem to do that conversion. The '07 KLR swingarm is on the bike and the wheel has been flipped. My plan is to get this right and everything is bing evaluated before commiting it to steel. I received some very good advice about using the 1" DOM and decided to go back to it. The 1" DOM round tubing will index perfectly into the exsisting KLR lower frame tubing making for a much more solid frame. The 1" square tubing will work perfectly as lower crossmembers to mount the engine into the frame. Here are a couple of new pictures. I've added a new SW-Motech centerstand and the old KLR gasoline engine will be kept in the frame until the new downtubes are welded in. This will keep everything in place and square. 

Thanks!

SamM

The new '08 donor bike


New centerstand and flipped rear wheel

[CrazyJerry]

I like your donor bike SamM. It has a certain MadMax look and begs for a diesel engine!
Looking forward to your updates on this one.
~ CrazyJerry 

[SamM]

Hey CrazyJerry,
Thanks! We will be bending some steel shortly and then I'll be trial fitting the tubing. I wanted the bike to look new and up to date, as oppossed to the older KLR look. The newer version of the KLR has grown on me. It should be a little more slippery in the wind with the new fairing. The sidepanels are somewhat vunerable to damage sticking out there like that though. I'm going to X-Line them in flat black. The black bodywork will also be painted flat black. That should really give it that Mad Max look. The fairing will be painted flat green to match the tank. Keep watching!

SamM