Harley Davidson engineers create turbo-diesel cruiser

[505197]

Harley dosen't have any engineers, unless you count sticker and decal designer/ engineers. If they want something engineered they send it to Germany for development. What the hell do you need engineers for when you make the same thing for decades between change? They cut the legs out from under the only mutherfucker who had any passion for the sport of motorcycleing, Buell.

[gilessmokey]

could be quicker than the petrol!

[paulfranke]

Would be great for Harley Davidson to go into production of diesel bikes that can also run on used cooking oil/biodiesel. You'd get to ride and smell fries too as well as filling up virtually for free. Could ride across the country for next to nothing.

[muzzmann]

Only Harley would come out with such a freakin TOILET !!

[Verge513]

hard to really tell if it was a diesel...even the gas harleys smoke alot..

[PygoManiac]

There's oil on the ground. Leakages?

[bnCOD]

When can we see a Night Rod Diesel?

[TSorovanMHael]

Oh my god that sounds sooooo cooooooool. It''s like he's packing a semi tractor in there!

[TheVanKeh]

intersting concept, i wonder if they'l ever put it out there as a limited edition or something eventualy

[6806goats1]

Hey now there ya go. That's a start, hope this keeps going.

[TheTwistedGypsy]

who the hell wants to be anywhere near that exhaust suk'n up the fumes...just because something can be made doesn't mean it should be.

[kj49412]

@TheTwistedGypsy who the hell wants you to ride that close up our asses? Myself I have been questioning turning a harley diesel for about 4 years now. Good job guys.. when are we going to have the spec's published to convert our bikes over? wwwdotthewildridedotnet

[TheTwistedGypsy]

@kj49412 who he hell said anything about your ass?....stopped in traffic beside that belching behmouth would leave anyone with a lung disease....

[WARD5KUSTOMZ]

it actually sounds half way like a harley. cool!

[fuglyucker2468]

cool

[xXPUN1SH3RXx]

FUCK YEAH FXR!

[bluejay148]

cool finally a v twin hd awesome

[crabblike]

I like the alternative fuel idea even though I'm not a Harley fan. I like my hearing the way it is, my hobby is riding not polishing, and trade-in value doesn't matter since I use what I own until it can't be fixed anymore. (currently riding '83 xv920 Virago) REAL bikers will ride ANYTHING!

[lightninluke64]

@crabblike does that include your boyfriend lol

[crabblike]

@lightninluke64 haha, funny, creepy, but funny

[FishyMoe]

Cool sound, sounds evil, especially during the gear shift.

[barbabart]

love it.... lots of torque i guess!

[2idiot4u]

Funny concept, bit strange to hear that turbo.. on a Harley... :-P

[CSAKvids]

What a sound! That thing has some speed!  Love the smoke

[23vin850]

Now we will not only have to live with ear shattering noise but black smoke as well!

[plopo404]

Using biodiesel there wouldn't be any black smoke

[steveeaa]

Yes. It's a injection pump issue.

[jsheeran13]

@plopo404 black smoke is caused by too much fuel being mixed in with x amount of air....if they added air or subtracted fuel they would decrease the smoke....for the tune it has just put a bigger turbo and injector on there and you will have no smoke and it will go faster with more MPGs

[plopo404]

@jsheeran13 I know a fair amount about diesels.. I've owned 2 VW TDI's and planning to convert a Chevrolet Astro van AWD to a 2.5 diesel with 146 hp. Upgrades planning turbo, injectors, and chip will easily get 225 hp & 32 mpg with proper gearing.

Modern diesels take advantage of multiple fuel injections per power stroke and electronically controlled variable geometry turbine for earlier spool up with capability to produce some serious power once the vanes change to conform for performance.

[jsheeran13]

@plopo404 good luck with the swap....what car (year make model) are you getting the 2.5L diesel and why are you putting it in an Astro??? you can put a 6.6 Duramax in a yukon or tahoe and pull mid 20s with way more power and storage and everything. Or just buy a mid 90s youkon or tahoe with the 6.5 turbo. will you use the astros tranny or the one from the donor vehicle??? either way i would put money on it not being finished and if it is it wont be worth it at all.

[plopo404]

@jsheeran13 JDM motor from friend mating to a lighter toyota 5 speed with 3.95 1st gear ratio compared to the 4L60E's 3.06 1st gear. I'd still use the Chevy 8.5" rear diff due readily available R&P options along with junkyard rear axles so I could swap complete rear axles for mpg or hauling.

Already got a dedicated beater 92 GMC Sierra 6.5TD work truck.. I just think it's funny that the 2.5 diesel engine would produce more hp & torque w/ block weighing 1/2 while having better gearing ratios.

[plopo404]

Reason for the Astro.. got it for $200 bucks w/ busted engine good 4L60E transmission. Sold the transmission for $250. Got engine for $1200. Had a friend who was behind on some bills who had a spare refurbished W59 toyota tacoma transmission (priced normally $600+) for only $300. Granted.. he didn't mind too much since I've had to fabricating work on his off-roading truck cheap in the past. So $1450 + labor = very possibly 25 - 35 mpg w/ proper gearing running $0.70 homebrew biodiesel.

[plopo404]

@jsheeran13 Forgot one more thing.. making the adapter which I'll probably do myself. Although the custom drive shaft I think I'm probably purchase that since doing the balancing myself I'd probably end up spending more money on failed attempts along the way.

Here's a couple of the rear diff ratio's available to me on the 8.5" R&P.. so my possible mpg claims aren't to far fetched.

2.72

3.08

3.42

3.73

3.90

4.10

4.56

4.88

[madjimms]

Yeah really.

[IYFAncient]

I never hear harley owners bashing metric bikes, its peeps like MoutainUHmonkey and subiedude who hate...and my first harley was a 1996 XLC custom. It cost me $7000 ,i had it for 7 yrs . i traded it in 2 moths ago and got $5,544 trade value for it...yes i took care of it, yes i added extras. I know dudes with busas who do the same thing. but dudes with busa's and ninjas...good luck getting any trade value.

[MountainGuerrilla]

HA HA i like the comment about keeping money in Uhmerica. Sure harleys are assembled in uhmerica, but very few of the parts are made here. Uhmerican manufacturers dupe you into "buying Uhmerican" so they get more sales and corporate tax cuts from the gubment. The Uhmerican workforce is no where what it used to be even 30 years ago, nowadays uhmericans can't even make a good log of shit from scratch, we all suck at big businesses teet so much we can't even take care of ourselves anymore.

[OnTheLimits]

I bet it has a lot of torque left!!

[xox945]

it even smokes a little!

[warh0rn]

I would actually trade my motorcycle, retract all my negative remarks, and join the HD bandwagon for this bike. I hope a motorcycle company picks up this concept thought. Until then ... I hope something will get HD to look into diesels. Thanks for posting.

[Balkan890]

cool bike, you probably smell after riding it though

[Mcroostr]

You wouldn't smell any worse riding this than you would by simply fueling a Gasoline car. Diesel exhaust smells no worse than gas motorcycle exhaust. And, in closing, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel has nearly NO smell anymore, gasoline on the other hand, is VERY aromatic and smells as bad as it always has : )

[ulissesjalves]

SHIT!!!!!

[acuarofilio]

excelent bike.

[Gusdiesellover]

That is freeken cool I would love to have one of the's Harley's.

[newbody2]

If it was marketing only they would not continue to DOMINATE like they do, but to each thier own...

[RosieKR]

wow, this bike would actually make sense compared to harley's other bikes.

[jiveroxiv]

My Honda XRM RS is faster than your bike.

LOL.

[carsnwomen91]

i would buy a harley if they came like this

[EdmundSquid]

I dont have an opinion one way or the other about Harleys but it seems like every Cycle Trader type magazine Ive ever seen has pages and pages of Harleys for sale, like everyone that owns one is trying to sell it. Also a friend of mine bought a 95th anniv. Heritage Softail. And from day one it seemed like a big pain in the ass to own and operate. Where as any of the Jap bikes I have owned over the years just run. Pretty much flawlessly for years with very little maintenance. Just my 2 cents.

[tazztt1]

There are a larger number of Harleys for sale because they DOMINATE the market in numbers of new sold.

Your 'friend' probably doesn't know how to properly operate, much less maintain ANY motorcycle.

Calling a metric bike 'JAP' is an insult to the master engineers that produce them. They require maintenanace just like everything else.

There are two kinds of bikers... Those that OWN Harleys, and those that wish they did.

[Kheops63]

Why buy an Harley: expensive, bad handling, bad braking, no comfort, bad gas mileage???? Maybe for the sound? So I prefer a Triumph, a Laverda, a Ducati or a BMW

[wippy748s]

im afraid you are slightly misguided there my friend , the last thing on the planet i would want to own is a harley, what horrible pieces of shit

[subiedude07]

Now why would I spent $15-20,000 on a bike that leaks oil and has loud exaust from the factory when I can spend my money on a finely tuned metric machine for half the price and itll go twice the distance. At least I assume that having the wind in our faces is something we all can all agree on...

[tazztt1]

Contrair mofrair. 15-20k? Leaks oil? As if to say that ALL Harley's cost 15-20k and leak oil, haha.

Don't know where you're looking or what you think you know about Harley's, but you are sadly mis-informed if that's what you believe.

Harley Davidson Motorcycles is the most recognized brand in the world. Most people who own them do so for the unique comradery and experience you get with EVERY Harley.

You're right about the wind in our faces though.

RIDE ON!

[pfiberoptik]

Not ALL HD's are 15-20K, but they ARE ALL overpriced pieces of antique shit.

Most recognized in the world?

They'd fucking well better be after the 700cc+ tariffs they got passed in the 80's to bail their sorry asses out on the backs of people who chose to purchase better, more reliable Japanese machines vs. their antiquated junk.

Fuck Harley...I paid the fucking tariffs to get the bikes I wanted in the 80's, they owe me my money back.

[roboman79]

@tazztt1 The new harleys don't really leak like they did back in the old days, the 1450 is when they left oil leaking in the past.

[tjman90]

because you're not looking for a harley

[unclesonnyonutube]

Harley's dont leak oil....they mark their territory!

foreign bikes lose half their value when you leave the lot and Harley's hold their value forever. furthermore i would rather leak a little oil and keep my money where it belongs

.....in my own country!

i just cant stand the thought of my hard earned money going into the pockets of Japanese.

dont get me wrong, i love kung pow chicken. but im more concerned with keeping my own people working.

[steveeaa]

Now that Harley made 10,000,000 bikes in ten years and the economy blows, the market is flooded with them. The hold their value thing is getting LESS true.

[newbody2]

What?! Harley outsells all other brands 2

to 1.

[RosieKR]

you gotta hand it to the marketing gurus at harley because it's not the bikes doing the selling.

[rjacks3]

Nothing wrong with Harley's dependability these days. I've got 30k trouble free miles on my '06 Softail, my uncle has 114k on his Ultra, NO PROBLEMS. Check your facts.

[pchamberlain]

Ummm.... Oooookay? Vision huh? i was talking about harleys Inability to make a reliable bike. i owned a sporty before i got my m109. had the sporty for 2 years and put 10,000m.i. on it. had the suzuki only a year and put the same ammount of miles on it. reason for this? the sporty spent most of the time in the shop. (*cough, cough* half-retarded, inbred, harley fag *cough, cough*)

[bitsyray]

ahhaha says "This account is closed." when u try to go to HDAHOLIClSGAY's page. guess u won the argument =-]

[pchamberlain]

yes, yes i did but, I feel it was a hollow victory. It's unfair to wage a war of wits against an unarmed opponent. it wasn't really an argument anyways. More than likely it was some basement troll looking for attention.

[bitsyray]

Basement troll... i gotta use that one =p

[pchamberlain]

Instead of making a diesel powered harley, make one that doesn't spend half of the riding season in the shop?

[newbody2]

They used to break down a bit...but from 04 on up the most reliable out there. Regularly see 50,000 and more with no issues or leaks.

[mydejavooo1]

Yep. I've got a 94 Sportster 1200 that turned 40K miles yesterday, and still going strong. The newer Harleys are nothing like the old ones....far more reliable, with loads of power!

[ted850760]

40k in 15 years...hobbiest

[mydejavooo1]

Didn't realize that people had to live up to "your" standards for mileage. How do you know I didn't buy mine with 10K and put 30K on in the last year? That's right....you DON'T know. Don't be so quick to judge others, lest you be judged in return. Just food for thought.

[killer2600]

Release that to the public, that'll be a head turner--Guy on a bike pulling up to a diesel pump and putting it in the tank. I can see it now everybody is gonna come up and try to stop him from making a huge mistake.

[SpiritsoftheWolf]

diesel engines run forever!!!!

[bikr1975]

@SpiritsoftheWolf even longer if you beat on them ;)

[12valvepower1]

idles rough, but when you get on her boy she sounds nice

[12valvepower1]

fiat 500 with 4bt cummins!

[Furquit]

Harley D's are one of the few bikes where fitting a turbo diesel might speed them up and make them more desirable. Just think of that diesel road grime al over the chrome though. . . It will take forever to get it clean and shiny again.

[millertas]

I thought that the initial reason why Harley wanted to develop a diesel motorcycle was because the US Army's desire to carry only one type of fuel.

[nanajo4]

a bike, along with all forms of thanspertions, will take tranisitions to the future using other fuels like like old cooking oil or mutable fuels electrect even solar

[jsullivan80]

WTF. You must be new to English

[LLpeteJ]

i wish harley would make a real motorcycle..sucks to say but american bikes just suck

[southerndime333]

i agree with you llpetej brit bikes are the best

[smanettonipuntonet]

i disagree.

[sirhcskoorb]

So what is a "real" motorcycle?

[FirebirdjoeLt1]

@LLpeteJ your an idiot

[FirebirdjoeLt1]

@LLpeteJ you and 13 other people are idiots.

[tiff5355]

er i thought all harleys were deisel's

[sackcheck]

down shifting must really suck on that thing. lol

[asuransi]

hi you have nice video! verry cool! I Love your video

[mordeth14]

diesel bikes have no point, it is a stupid idea

[satsikas]

I wonder how soon we have diesel bikes on mass production? (Or are they already?)

[SirJazz]

there are some enduros etc. with diesel. their were used in the militiar. but on the streets? nope.

diesel WAS cheap. and a sportsbike doesnt use very much benzin, not like a car. therefore there is no need to built diesel bikes en mas.

in the next years there will be some new things to keep the consumption down, such as direct injection etc.

[satsikas]

Well diesel is still quite cheap compared to gasoline. (95 octane gas ~1,4€/liter, diesel ~1€/liter)

And turbo diesels are known for massive torque on low revs, so that would be perfect for a cruiser.

[HondaEvo6]

Not here in the U.S.A. Diesel is at least $.50 more per gallon. Don't know why.

[satsikas]

Actually I was wrong, diesel isn't that cheap, about 1.2€/litre, but still cheaper than gas.

[12valvepower1]

lets spam HD until they build it

[meiermotorsports]

cool!

[bratcher71]

Now they might be able to keep up with the sport bikes. maybe

[faserkid]

When the moon turns to cheese they will.

[richardgozinya]

Why would they bother? Cruisers and sport bikes are two different animals. And if you hadn't noticed, nearly every company that makes sport bikes also makes cruisers, that happen to look an awful lot like the Harleys you hate so much.

[spencnaz]

Oh man, wake up.