After a couple of years of not working on this bike, I've decided to sell it.
Here are some pictures that I took last summer








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No new rides, not much actual work accomplished either.

I visited the Crotona Midnight Run. They had cold clear weather and had 69 bikes show up. Only 50 actually attempted the ride. I had a great time hanging out at the start line and again at the Carmel Diner. Even as a social event, this is a great ride. Now to get my bike assembled for the ride to Jacksonville.

The transmission is out for a new input shaft. The new clutch hub and fiber clutch plates have arrived.

I haven't found a radiator yet, but the primary reason for that is failing to look for one.

The swingarm is apart to remove the transmission. 3/16" steel will fit to replace the rubber doughnuts that Harley Davidson installed. The cleve blocks inside the swingarm will be left in place and will provide the bearing surface.

The Harley oil tank will be put back in service as an air separator for the fuel. I plan to allow gravity feed from the fuel tank to the oil tank and use the fuel pump to pull the fuel from the oil tank up to the engine. The fuel return from the injectors will also be run into the oil tank. This should keep the bike fed with fuel until the main tank is really empty.

941 is not 1000

The 1000 mile day on the diesel was very close to being a complete success. In school, 94% would be an A-, not so here.


Things that worked.
Speed - very good. Until the end, the rolling average was above 72 mph.
The bike got smoother as the day went on. The vibration continues to go away. I think that was caused by the new engine. As the engine breaks in, it's gaining power losing vibration.

Things that need work.
The drive sprocket on the input shaft of the transmission wobbles. The assembly instructions stated to use red lock-tite when the sprocket went on the shaft. It appears that either the engineer (me) that decided this was ok for this application or the mechanic (me) who put it together made an error. I suspect I'll need a new mainshaft for the transmission and a new sprocket to put on it. Of course all the associated gaskets and bearings will also be needed.

The radiator isn't quite large enough. At 70F, I can ride at 75, but I can't ride at 80. The radiator hoses are smaller than those designed for the engine. I think the restriction in the radiator is causing cavitation in the water pump.

Electrical add-ons. The voltmeter quit working, the CB doesn't transmit. Minor items.

As a shakedown run, it was a success. But, more work is needed.


John Ryan rode with me all day. We trade boredom on each other's rides. I counted laps when he rode the New York City 1000. John took the pictures today and tried to talk me into riding a Bun Burner Gold. If we had done that, we would be near Savannah, Georgia right now instead of back here in Virginia.

On operating an engine with a governor.

Jim Shaw commented that I've connected the handgrip to the governor rather than the fuel control. That is correct, but I'm not sure how to connect it to control the fuel directly.


The fuel injection pump has two levers on it. The one that is currently in use is governed. The other seems to simply slow the engine. With the governor lever held fully on, the engine increases to it's rated speed of 3000 and stays there. If at that point the second lever is moved, the engine speed decreases. No matter what the position of the governor lever, the other lever decreases engine speed. I ignore that one.

A governer is a mechanical or analog cruise control. The position of the governor control lever determines the engine speed. If I hold the handgrip WFO, the engine accelerates to 3000 RPM and stays there. I can lock the handgrip in place, run the bike up to speed, squeeze the clutch in, shift to the next gear and get an immediate pull from the engine. With the clutch in, the engine speed stays the same, but when I shift and release the clutch, engine speed drops and the governor adds fuel to bring the engine back up to speed.

Given that it works the way it does, I frequently ride with the 'throttle' locked in place. For example, in a 45mph zone, 3rd gear works well, lock the throttle down and the engine compensates for the hills automatically. The governor even works on the ramp coming out of the parking garage at work. Just leave the bike in first gear at idle and when it hits the ramp, rather than dying as a normal engine would do, the governor senses a reduction in the idle speed and adds fuel to bring it back up to where it should be. It simply climbs the ramp at idle without any intervention on my part. I suspect this is the origin of the myth about the torque of a diesel engine. It isn't that it has a lot of torque, it's the governor acting to keep the RPMs from falling.

The downside to that is when I have to brake suddenly. With electronic cruise control, applying the brake immediately releases the cruise control and the engine slows down. The governor isn't watching what's happening with the brakes. If I simply apply the brakes to slow down, the governor rolls on the 'throttle' to bring the speed back up to normal. That's scary as hell the first few times. Now I've trained my right hand to roll out of the 'throttle' when I apply the brakes. It's an extra step to slow down, but that's how this bike works.

Jim's other queston: "Does the IBA allow multiple baffles in lieu of foam?"
I don't remember that it does. I wasn't able to find the actual rule when I looked for it yesterday. I hope to talk to one or more of the rulemakers at the dinner in Florida. That rule may not have adequately considered what happens in a diesel fuel tank.

Woot and John Ryan asked questions today.
Woot asks: " Is the foam retaining the fuel, or is the foam causing problems with the fuel pickup as it nears empty?"

I think it's retaining fuel as well as taking up space that could be used by the fuel. I have an extra block of foam, it would be easy enough to test it. Perhaps the diesel 'sticks' to the foam more than gasoline does. Is there a number that measures osmosis? If the diesel stays in the foam, it wouldn't be available for the engine to burn.

I think another part of the problem is that this 11 gallon fuel cell is 'only' 11 gallons, the 5 gallon cell that I once owned would routinely take 5.2 gallons of gasoline even with some foam in it. The diesel is also very susceptable to air in the intake line. If I build an air separator, I might be able to use more of the fuel in the tank . . . that's an idea worth pursuing.

John Ryan is concerned that I warned the other diesel bike owners about riding a 1000 mile day. He was also kind enough to volunteer to ride with me. Dusty Collins has also volunteered to do that ride. I need to get my CB radio hooked up. Otherwise I won't be able to participate in the conversation. It would also be interesting to find out if any of the truckers ask about it.

Today marked 1000 miles for the diesel bike.

Fuel mileage for the second tank of fuel is 45 mpg. 8 gallons, 366 miles. IBA rules for the rally require the tank to be 80% filled with foam. That means 7 4x8x8 blocks in an 11 gallon tank. The bike was cutting out again before I refilled with fuel, but I was only able to add 8 gallons. It would seem I should have started with a 13 or 14 gallon tank, but unless someone has one of those to trade, I'll keep what I have.

I'm planning a Saddle Sore 1000 for Sunday January 28. So if anyone else riding a diesel bike wants the first recorded SS1K, you've got about 10 days to "get'r done." Route will probably be south on I95 and back.

The bike doesn't run well when it's out of fuel.

After filling it with fuel, it continues to run. The fuel pickup is in the front of the tank, I think acceleration causes the fuel to move away from the pickup, this gets air in the line and when that bubble gets to the injectors, the engine dies. I was only able to put a little more than 9 gallons of fuel into the 11 gallon fuel cell. New fuel cell rules for the Iron Butt Rally require the tank to be 80% filled with foam, so that will cut the total capacity down a bit more. It went about 450 miles on 9 gallons, fuel economy is not quite what I'd hoped.

I've wired up a temperature gauge and the lighting for the boost gauge. I added an LED which comes on with the fan to the temp gauge, so it's both a gauge and a light. Yesterday on the commute, the temperature rose to just over 200F, but the fan didn't come on. The temp went that high at three different times, so the gauge seems to indicate everything is normal.

Next change is to add a fuse block with a total of 6 fuses. Three will be wired directly to the battery, the other three through the ignition.