A WORLD FIRST FOR DIESEL:The world's first environmentally-friendly production diesel motorcycle will soon be unleashed on to the motorcycle industry.
The new diesel motorcycle is being produced by a Dutch motorcycle manufacturer, EVA Products BV. The Track T-800 CDI has an 800cc CDI Turbo Intercooler diesel engine with 50hp and 130Nm of Torque in between 1800 and 4500rpm.
Demand for the new machine has been so high that the Dutch manufacturer has decided not to make any more information available to the press. "We will only target the EU mainland for 2007 because request on the Track T-800 CDI exceeds the planned production possibilities, so we have decided not to give more public info than available at our websites at this moment," says EVA chief executive Erik Vegt.
The diesel bike will use only 2.5 litres of diesel per 100km. It will have a shaft drive and can be ordered with an ABS breaking system and additional front-wheel drive as an option. It will have a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) with six programmed semi-automatic "gears".
Royal Enfield in India was the only manufacturer that mass produced a diesel motorcycle. They put a 6.5hp industrial diesel in the frame of the bike but because of pollution laws this machine is no longer in production.
Diesel bikes have also been produced for military use but the T-800 CDI is the first mass produced eco-friendly machine. It comes with three pre-programmed ECU settings, enabling it to be switched to run on 100 per cent pure plant oil, such as sunflower oil, or into a highly efficient but lower powered diesel economy mode. Vegt describes this exciting new bike as a "BMW GS killer with KTM LC8 drivability and Suzuki Hayabusa-like torque. It's the ultimate long distance and long-life motorcycle that can run on diesel fuel or 100 per cent pure plant oil." Visit dieselmotorfiets.nl for more information.
HYDROGEN POWER:The world's first purpose-designed, hydrogen fuel, cell-powered motorbike has been produced in the UK by a company called Intelligent Energy. The ENV motorbike is powered by a detachable fuel cell. It is virtually silent, lightweight and aerodynamic, and boasts speeds of up to 50 mph.
"ENV is light, fast and fun," according to Nick Talbot of Seymourpowell who designed the machine. "It has good ground clearance, great off-road suspension travel and a very carefully considered power-to-weight ratio. I have ridden motorbikes for years and in the process of designing the bike, I have become a convert to fuel cell technology."
ONE FOR YOUR DIARY:Watch out for The Whole Way Round documentary on RTÉ One this coming Saturday at 5.30pm.
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