[motorcyclistonline] - Hayes Diversified Technologies - HDT-USA Diesel KLR650 - Futur

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Hayes Diversified Technologies - HDT-USA Diesel KLR650 - Future Rides
Making The World Safe For Democracy, One Thump At A Time
When the U.S. Marines get on the gas, it's not actually gas they're on. They get on the J8, the jet fuel used in everything from Huey Cobra helicopter gunships to M1A1 main battle tanks.

For years, the military has tried to convert all its moving objects to one dieselesque fuel to save cost, time and confusion. Enter Hayes Diversified Technologies, a small company in the high desert northeast of Los Angeles. Starting in 1980, Fred Hayes and his sons have been converting Kawasaki KLR250s and, later, KLR650s. And starting in '98, they've been developing their own proprietary diesel engine.

The Hayes powerplant uses some stock KLR parts, including the four-valve, DOHC valvetrain, clutch and transmission. But the major components-cases, cylinder, crankshaft, connecting rod, piston and head-are all new.

Diesels require a narrow bore, a long stroke, a small combustion chamber and a huge flywheel. The Hayes engine displaces 611cc and makes a claimed 30 horsepower at 5700 rpm and 33 lb.-ft. of torque at 4200 rpm. In comparison, Hayes claims its gas-powered 651cc version makes 48 bhp.

Once astride the camouflaged saddle, the M103M1 JP8 feels like a very green KLR-until you hit the starter, that is. As in most diesels, there is an electric glow plug in the head to raise combustion temperature for cold starting. But once the engine is even slightly warm, it quickly rumbles into a slow, loping, slightly clattery idle.

Throttle response is very slow. Which makes sense, because it has no throttle. As with other diesels, the wide-open intake tract always takes a full charge of air, to maintain the high compression needed to set off the fuel and air sans spark plug. Power is regulated, via traditional twistgrip, by the amount of fuel delivered into the combustion chamber, metered out by a conventional (for a diesel) mechanical fuel pump.

So a blip on the grip results in...well, not much. It takes two to three seconds for the engine to respond at low rpm.

The monster flywheel has another notable effect: Once the engine gets spinning, you are going to move out, right now, when you let out the clutch. So for the first few miles, a new rider will lurch away from stops.

The current model is built without a counterbalancer to save weight and complexity, but future versions will be both counterbalanced and electronically fuel-injected. As a result, this one shakes a bit more than a gas-powered KLR. But if you think a little buzz in the bars and pegs is uncomfortable, try riding in a 140-degree tank from Kuwait City to Baghdad.

Power keeps building with (slowly) increasing revs. You expect a diesel to pull right from rev 1, but this one really starts to come alive at 4000 rpm, and keeps pulling to its 6500-rpm fuel cutoff.

Once rolling along the M103M1, well, rolls along. It'll cruise without strain at a steady 80-85 mph, sipping its 4.3-gallon supply of jet fuel. Hayes claims the bike will deliver 96 mpg at a steady 55 mph, for a 408-mile working range. And the in-the-works civilian version, based on the new-for-'08 KLR, will presumably go over 550 miles on its stock 6-gallon tank-a test for the butt and bladder hitherto unknown in the annals of motorcycle science.

How do you get one without enlisting? For now, you don't. Hayes is simply too busy converting Marine-spec KLRs for our good comrades in Iraq to divert its attention to the civilian market.

TECH SPEC Price
na Engine type:
l-c diesel single Valve train: DOHC, 4v Displacement: 611cc Transmission:
5-speed Claimed horsepower: 30 bhp @ 5700 rpm Claimed torque:: 33 lb.-ft. @ 4200 rpm Frame Steel semi-double cradle Front suspension: 38mm air-adjustable fork Rear suspension: Single shock with adjustable spring preload and rebound damping Front brake: Two-piston caliper, 252mm disc Rear brake: Single-piston caliper, 203mm disc Front tire: 90/90-21 Rear tire:
130/80-17 Seat height: 35.0 in. Wheelbase 57.0 in. Fuel capacity: 4.3 gal. Dry weight:
369 lbs. Contact: www.dieselmotorcycles.com

Verdict
The stuff of dreams for long-haul adventure-tourers, desert explorers, biodiesel fanatics and mpg-conscious commuters.


Photo Gallery: Hayes Diversified Technologies - HDT-USA Diesel KLR650 - Future Rides - Motorcyclist Magazine



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