07-08-2014, 12:08 PM
(07-08-2014, 08:56 AM)The Spaceman_imp Wrote: I had a diesel Nissan Sentra back in the 80's. Not turbo charged. Slow as hell, but the damn thing got 40+ mpg day to day, and almost 50 on the highway. They only sold them for a brief time, and I wish I had kept it. Then I had a turbo diesel Isuzu Trooper. It wasn't fast, but I loved it anyway. It put a rod thru the pan around 13k miles, but Isuzu fixed it even though the warranty was past. Shoulda kept that one too...
I believe the military has a diesel or JP fueled bike that can go 400 moles on a single tank. Not sure if its turbo it not, but the turbo whine wouldn't be very stealthy.
I believe you're thinking of the Hayes KLR 650 diesel conversion used by the military. It runs on diesel or jet fuel. No turbo on it, but it does have a lot more torque but less hp than the stock KLR. The main reason for the conversion is so that all military vehicles run on the same fuel.
As for turbos, I had a chance to ride the Kaw 750 turbo on the track back around '85 or so. Of all the factory turbo bikes of the era, I think it was one of the best engineered. It had the power of a liter bike with the size of a 750. To this day, it's one of the more exciting rides I can recall on a bike. I would have bought one right then, but a quick check with my insurance guy revealed that the insurance payments would exceed the bike payments
