New member with possibly strange question

[PaulfromNL 0]

Hello all, As my screen name states, I am Paul, recently joined.
If you take the time to read my profile page you know where my next question comes from.
The (5 or so) adult volunteers of our "SleutelclubHouten" (mechanical tinkering club from Houten NL) would like to start a project of our own and we thought the creation of -a diesel driven motorcycle- would be a real challenge.

Since the Smart ForTwo Cdi is the smallest production diesel car it caught our attention as a donor engine.

What do you think, wouldn't that be a nice challenge?

Does anyone have knowledge of an engine lying around somewhere (preferably in NL) or even a complete car that was written off by its owner?

Mind you, we are all volunteers and the club is totally running on donations so money is an issue :-)

Hope to hear from you all with any information that can help us get this project started.

Regards, Paul

[Willys 747]

Welcome to the site and Smart car fraternity.....I like people who think outside the box and love to make strange things. Modding....it's a sickness....lol.
As for finding a Smart Car engine they are around as the costs of keeping these little cars on the road from a repair basis is high! They are extremely deep in electronics which will sideline the cars fast if the owner hasn't deep pockets. IMHO....or the love needed to spend to repair them. Parts are hard to easily find also when looking to rebuild the engine, another thing to consider imho.  The power developed from them also leaves much to desire if you want some sort of speed in this bike. I used to ride a KLR and searched endlessly for power from it and that was easy to get, but it still had it's limits.  I'm sure the Smart will be worse when searching for that power.  But anything is possible with the right frame of mind and expectations of what your power plant can deliver.
I'm also not sure how much electronics you must keep to keep the engine happily ticking along....it's covered in sensors..

But I look forward to your project and hearing all about the finished product....enjoy.

[tolsen 630]

There are many diesel motor bikes out there powered by the OM660 Smart diesel engine.  Neil from Belfast rode his all the way to India and back.

http://www.suckindiesel.com/

 

My Smart Cabrio is running on the clutch pressure and friction plates from Neil's diesel bike.  These were parts he did not need and he was kind enough to send them to me.

[Gibby 33]

I love this concept of a diesel bike. Owning both motorcycles and a smart cabrio cdi ( 799cc Canadian model) I know my 2011 Road Glide Ultra (near 1700 cc and weighing around 1100lbs) couldn't possibly compete with the smart in fuel milage. It does offer FAR more power with only slightly less cargo/passenger space so I guess that comes down to a trip cost decision for me.

[Leadwing 565]

I would suggest that the feasibility of a diesel engine in a motorcycle would depend on what you plan on using the bike for.  The engine characteristics of a diesel (torque instead of raw HP) is what I wish I had in my 75 Gold Wing.  I towed boats, small house trailers and my racing bikes (not at the same time) with the 'Wing' and could have used the torque rather than the horses.

 

On a small bike, it would be a waste IMHO, but to each his own.  Used on a larger touring machine with a trailer in tow would be a more suitable use of a diesel.

 

As for the original (believed) intent of the OP, the basic engine seems good and not really that heavy.  It's the electronics that could make life miserable.

 

 

[tolsen 630]

All OM660 engine installations into bikes, boats and planes etc require special engine control units costing typically £1000+ each.

[stickman007 309]

To add to tolsen’s comment, a standalone ecu setup would require a custom tune on top of that.

[PaulfromNL 0]

Thanks guys for all the usefull information. We are inquiring, not buying and building yet so all this info is very helpfull in the decision making process.
Thanks again.

Paul