The Real Reason why you NEED a DIESEL KLR 

I laugh when I hear “Military grade.” Basically translates to “built by the lowest bidder.”

Every diesel engine fan was waiting for the start-up to hear that diesel sound. Which totally got lost in the background.

I served for 21 years in the Marine Corps. Attended the Division schools Marine Corps Motorcycle Combat school. Rode the KLR in Camp Pendleton, 29 Palms and the Saudi desert. Simple but great bike. Rode with radio and M16 on my back. I now own a 2023 KLR 650 as a off road and computer bike every day. I haven't seen a Marine Corps bike in years. He is right about the Harley, I tested one off road at Camp Pendleton. Way too heavy! Thanks for the memories!

I had a KLR that had been converted to diesel a few years back. It was converted by a guy in Texas. He fitted a 418cc diesel generator motor and CV transmission in the 2002 KLR. I tweaked it a little to get it to run better, and it gave me a top speed of 60 mph. I built a proper header and intake for it because my shop is set up to do stuff like that. I sold it to a friend in Ohio, and last we talked, he still rides it a lot. I saw 106 mpg out of it if I rode it easy. Worst mileage was 85 mpg. Though about putting a turbo on it but never did still have the turbo! Was going to build a diesel Triumph Tiger with a 3 cyl Diahatsu motor snd Harley 6 speed, but got diagnosed with cancer and had to shelve that project. I still ride my other KLR. 153K miles on it so far. Good video Craig!

There's a hidden benefit to having a diesel motorcycle. Pull up to the diesel pump and watch as people scream and yell at you not to pump it into the tank. You can cup your ear like you're trying to listen closely to their screams while pulling back the pump handle to give them a momentary respite and false sense of security before putting the pump nozzle back into the tank and start pumping while nodding and grinning like an idiot.

As an equipment mechanic in the military, all of our stuff runs on Jet A (previously JP8). Small 2 cylinder deutz engines up to 4 cylinder Isuzu, Kubota, Cummins and 6 cylinder Cummins. We still have some older units running Detroit engines. All run pretty solid. I intend on a poor man's apocalypse build with a DR650.

There was a bike in India names "Sooraj" which was India's first diesel motorcycle and gave a mileage of around 80 kilometres to a litre of around 50 miles. Also, a very renowned company Royal Enfield also made Diesel motor cycles way back in 1980s giving almost the same milage

Fred Haise was also the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 13. He was portrayed by Bill Paxton in the movie.

That white truck made me think that you would end up on the Moto Stars channel!

One of my favorite bikes that you have picked up. Very cool.

Praise God brother. Keep it up! KLR was.my first and only bike. Sketchy at high speeds. I would stand up to stop the death wobble but it totally worked. Don't remember it doing much better than maybe 90 tops but probably somewhere in the 80s.

They are cool but there are so many good regular KLRs out there with a huge aftermarket support and readily available parts that I recommend the gas one. Mine is tuned enough to make it fun.

Kinda reminds me of the sound my royal enfield Himalayan I bought new back in 2018. It didn’t run as rough as the diesel but reminds me of the sound it made when I did winter rides. Once the engine warmed up, it smoothed out a bit. Same as my Delica diesel. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for making this almost into a series about this cool motorcycle. It’s cool wverytime

I don’t even like motorcycles, but I like this channel!

Love this show!

Wrong Fred. Hayes is the diesel bike guy. The Fred you pictured is the astronaut that didn’t mess with bikes. But great video 😁

its running wooot wooot nice job mate

Seems like a tach isn't really necessary on this bike

An Apocalypse Motorcycle that can run on Diesel or Kerosine spanning up to 600 miles, cool! I wish more modern bikes had larger fuel tanks. My Ninja 650 '21 has a decent 4.0 gallon engine with a range of 200 miles if riding conservatively around speed limits under 70 mph. Thanks for the review of this cool, utility bike. Glad you got it running again.

I really, really wish this thing or something very similar had taken off and gotten a chance in the civilian market. I can't imagine Kawasaki would have been willing to supplying frames for a competitor, but a partnership might have been possible if the bean counters in Japan didn't think it'd cannibalize KLR-650 sales.

Love the idea of a diesel motorcycle, although something with at least 2 cyllinders for balance would be preferred. Would be interesting to see a BMW 4 cyllinder diesel or a small 4 cyllinder diesel as well. Unfortunately the EPA is really being a bear like you said. The DEF and EGR systems are entirely unnecessary on a diesel and actually make it more likely to fail and harder to troubleshoot. Government knows best though, just like the auto start/stop technology on vehicles. I have a diesel car that was the last run of diesel cars in the US since the volkswagen incident. This was mostly due to the toshiba controller being common on a majority of the cars. Could get minimum 10 more mpg with a delete, around 100 more hp, and around 200nm more torque. Plus I can see when its smoking something isn't right. I think diesel would be a better future for cars than electric, I would also like to see diesel/electric hybrids though where the diesel engine just charges the battery and runs full bore all the time at peak efficiency.

I love it. You can't draw comparisons to a bike that is in a category of its own, and unlike anything else out there. It quirky and that makes it awesome. Nice presso. 👍

cool bike man id love one of those! great for going long distance

EPA would say hold my beer and dream up a bunch of restrictions that kill any high efficiency (mpg wise) diesel alternative.

Great bike! Ty for sharing!

I love the idea of a multi-fuel go anywhere bike. A single cylinder diesel will never impress anyone with its performance. If there was one available on the market, what would it cost? I live in Montana, on the edge of the Beartooth Mountains, so just this idea appeals to me. I am subscribed and enjoy your brief devotional offer every episode.

I think you need to do a cross country ride with this bike! With the amount of Miles that are on it now it hasn’t even burned through a whole tank of diesel yet. Thats crazy!

Brother you have to upload videos regularly I wait so patiently for your videos I love it ❤ keep it up bro

Had a 2013. Very nice big bike for a very big guy. The only motorcycle that is tall enough that I can sit comfortably without flat footing at the light. Huge bike. Also fun to work on.

I used to live in Spring Hill. I rode that same road multiple times. You might be interested in knowing you passed right past the creators of Daily Audio Bible on your trip this day. 😊

It’s definitely not the only diesel powered motorcycle. Here in The Netherlands I’ve encountered a Track T800 motorcycle. It’s powered by a Smart CDI engine and I believe has a cvt transmission.

Yes, more Diesel bikes, please.

Agree, very cool!

We have lots of the Harley 350 electric start millitary bikes hear in the UK, they are popular with the off road bunch .I would love a diesel bike as you mentioned that they can even run on old engine oil or cooking oil (filtered)👍

I had this maybe not this exact but same bike in my shop here in southern Wi about 10 years ago. I should have made content then. I was doing work for the DNR and have a picture of my son sitting on it. It was interesting to say the least. Great Video!

The Delray Misfits podcast in California also chose a diesel powered KLR as the bike to have during a zombie apocalypse, but I don't think I would choose a diesel powered KLR for these reasons. One, during a real life nationwide catastrophe there is a good chance all communications will be down for quite a while, and trying to find another diesel powered KLR for parts to fix a problem related to the bikes diesel technology will be pretty hard. Two, if you need to siphon fuel from another vehicle your odds of finding gasoline is better than finding diesel, so I don't really care about the extra mpg from a diesel engine. Three, like you said in the video, these diesel powered KLR's don't have many miles on them, so how can you be sure their more reliable than a gas powered KLR? How do you know how the diesel KLR will behave in extreme climates and riding conditions? I've got over 40k miles on my KLR without any mechanical problems, so I already know from experience the gas powered KLR 650 is reliable enough for me to feel confident it will get me where I want to go. I never did any mods to the engine, so its reliable right off the showroom floor. Also, Supposedly a gov? commission determined that most vehicles would survive an EMP, and since the first and second gen KLR's don't have a computer I would think they would be included in the OK list.Those are the reasons why I would choose a gas powered KLR over the diesel model.

Yeah I sure wish I could afford one of those and get one.

Stationed on camp Lejeune, from 1998, all the way up until 2014. Working at the ammo dump they used to ride these motorcycles across the street all the time. I remember seeing them Tearing up the backwoods of camp Lejeune

There was one like this for sale on Marketplace about a month ago in NC for around $14,000. Seriously considered buying it.

I’m thinking the 7500 redline is just the original gauges which they didn’t bother to alter.

I used to run the big rigs so a diesel motorcycle would be fantastic to have! Would love one of them. Once it quits accelerating is the moment to shift up is correct. Doesn't matter the rpm if it quits accelerating then that's it.

I wish I could find one. Pretty cool for off road stuff.

Cool bike

A super cool bike, for sure.

Back in 06 I had a regular KLR. I lived near the shop that did the diesel conversions. I bought take off plastic from them to completely change the color of my KLR. Good times. KLR is slow with gas engine, can’t imagine how slow it is with diesel.

Loved the idea of a diesel bike fer a long time, out of curiosity what does it weigh? Anyhow glad yer enjoying it, God be with you brother!

These things are very interesting. I don't think I would want to own one because of all the rare and specialized maintenance, but very cool.

10:16 what a twot

Been waiting on this

So dadgum cool! All the best 💯…… keep it 👍🏻

Amazing concept...

I once drove my 1100 virago from phoenix az to baltimore md with two 5 gal gas cans strapped on like saddle bags and fuel lines hooked up to the pump. I could go something like 550 miles on one fill without stopping. man your diesel KLR beat me on range!

Since you put out the first video of the diesel klr650 , all of us have been waiting for you to roll some coal outta that thang! 💨

I like the diesel bike. Looks like it would be fun to ride.

That's a nice bike. It needs an updated look but keeping the origins.

Love your videos ! Can I ask who taught you how to ride? In the video you go from riding it like a bicycle in the bike lane! To riding the grease strip? Never ride the grease strip in the centre of the lane. You can pick up oil and coolant on your tires and wipe out. Always ride in the left of the lane to prevent people passing you and STAY off the grease strip!

Def a cool bike that’s worth keeping 😎👍

I cant stop staring at handlebar crashbars😅....seems fun

As an adventure bike rider, and diesel car driver, my ultimate street and off-street vehicle would be adventure bike with turbo diesel engine. Dutch company Tarck did build those. I don't know if they are in the business anymore.

I argue that it is not the perfect apocalypse motorcycle. In the apocalypse you want to be able to scavenge parts off other bikes. This thing is a one off. It's amazing, but not zombie escaping material.

When I was in Jaipur in about 1992 I saw one parked in the street. It was a Royal Enfield diesel engined Bullet. I did a little research and it only had 7.5 HP from a 436cc engine! Claimed top speed of 55 MPH and 200 MPG. They didn't sell well.

Incredible that motorcycle manufacturers don't make diesel bikes, I'm certain they would sell. Here in Australia because of the remoteness it's better to drive a diesel 4wd in the outback because diesel is available everywhere, whereas petrol (gas) is not. Also, you need the range because of the massive distances. I'd buy one of these! I owned a KLR, they're a great outback touring bike.

Hey Shawn you could just hire me to come start & drive every you have. Plus I live in Nashville 😉👍

Sounds fairly quiet (think SHTF stealth). Would you say it's quieter or louder than a KLR 650?

Would be interesting to see the HP and torque figures of the diesel KLR.

I thought he was getting pulled over when I first heard the sirens. 😂

You should get one of these: TRACK T800 CDi Diesel Motorcycle

You can make some great videos at all things Chrome they have some amazing motorcycles.

I am a KLR fan, own a Gen3 now, and my name being what it is... I have wanted one since I saw the first video. But I have had an eye out the last 9 months or so, and I have seen 1 and it was a "parts" bike for sure. I will let you ride my Gen3 KLR if you let me ride your KLR? haha.

A guy near me has a Dutch built bike by as company called Trak I think it's called, I could be wrong. Anyways, it uses a turbo diesel smart car engine mated to a BMW GS gear box and finally drive. It's an adventure style bike and looks pretty good. Not sure the company is still in excellence though. The guy loves it and it's certainly unique.

I'm really surprised Diesel never took off, image the performance we could have had by now with proper development.

It's neat. Regular klr honestly better bike in every way. The mpg really starts to feel trivial quickly. With military everything took jp8 so it made more sense.

Diesel is heavier than gasoline. If you go by weight ratio gasoline would be close to competing with diesel. When i was in the army in the early 80s the rangers at hunter army airfield had trail bikes. I think it was a feasibility test that apparently didn't satisfy the need. Good video

Wonder if this would run well on alterative fuels. would be nice to run veggie or motor oil for 80MPG of free fuel

15:15 Flintstone brake applied 😂jk

Sean you need to visit all things Chrome in goodlettsville Tennessee it's not far from you.

A bike for survival. Cool You have ridden just about every bike it would be good to know if you had to have a top 3 or top 5 forever bikes what would they be.

I have never had to say on my stock KLR”.I needed more power”. They are a tractor,just give it more trottle. I would call them very touque.

Check out the Royal Enfield Taurus Diesel

Sean, are you planning to get a diesel Royal Enfield? That would be cool too.

Sounds like it would be a great adventure bike.

1:36 I'm not sure the US Army was thinking of East German Air Force Mig-23s when stipulating that their new motorcycles had to run on JP-8...

A diesel topend was first put on a KLR bottom end at Queen's University in Belfast. Haise stole the tech.

This would be a perfect bike for Ichy Boots!!

That thing definitely isn't a Hayabusa but then it's intended to get up hills on unimproved Terrain. You're not taking it to Laguna Seca, although it would be fun to watch it go up the hill!

Can you try aprillia pegaso 2002 650cc in deep water because I'm thinking of buying one to go to work because my manager said if I miss a nother day I will lose my job because of the message flud

babe wake up sean posted

Will it pull a wheelie at all? even with some Clutch action?

I put a sticker of a bearded guy on the left side of my windshield , and a beignet done that sticker on the right side . It now has 5000 more horsepower and is ready for battle . That's a thing

Unsure why the lengthy development by Harley. That bikes engine was sourced from Rotax.

How does that have a 7000rpm red line? Does it actually rev that high? I thought 5k was like top of the top for a diesel?

sounds just like my old Ascot 500 one lunger

In an apocalypse situation after around 6-8 month most of the diesel around would have gone bad. The best apocalypse motorbike would be electric, crazy as it sounds. With some flexible solar panels you could generate energy during the day and ride silently trough the night… (maybe it’s a thing with religious people. Thinking something trough isn’t as easy as believing something others tell you…)

where would you find one for sale?

There is also a diesel motorbike made by sunbeam in the uk

Now that's a thumper!

KLR is a tough bike but the 2013 I didn't keep it very long because it had a alligator wrapped in vinyl for a seat. 50 miles and you're crippled for a few days.

Where are the ammo can panniers and mounted rifle?

The bike is a Neander Turbo Diesel 1400 cc built in 2019 I don't know why it never came to America maybe you can find one.