Hitchcocks Forum

Just been looking at some diesel bikes at the German Hamm rally on the C90 forum spotted this



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Just goes to show, you can take it with you!😉

Some neat conversions there, I especially like the airhead (R65?) conversion.

I actually used to own a diesel RE. Sad to say, it was a pile of steaming poop. The bike was a 1971 model (apparently) but almost everything was new or replaced, hence I suspect it may well have been a newer Indian 350 bullet put onto an old UK frame number. Any way, the Bullet wasn't too bad, but he Chinese diesel engine was aweful. Good on fuel (130mpg), but crap on power (13hp my arse, more like 9hp) and cost (about £4700!). It struggled to do 50mph on the level and dropped to about 20mph on steep hills. And kept blowing up. The guy who built it wasn't very thorough, and most things fell off very quickly. I had a rear tyre blow out on the motorway at 55mph (!) due to the rim not having been de-burred before fitting the tube, then the crank shaft snapped at about 600 miles. Then the rotor sheared off the crank at about 1,500 miles. I demanded my money back, but it took about 6 months and a lot of legal threats to sort out.

I later discovered that a typical air cooled modern 125 weighs less, costs less, goes faster, and uses less fuel. No brainer really.

That said, I got to like RE, and ended up buying a 535 GT this spring, so maybe it did some good. Oh, and that diesel vibrated and shook worse than any normal Bullet I've ridden, and that's saying something!

Hmmmmm German diesels. Quite popular at the moment aren't they? Why not pick up a cheap VW RSI and stick it in an RE frame.....

Not sure how tdi became RSI there, probably the infuriating back to top message that appears, obliterating text in the top rh corner of my iPhone screen. Amateurish is the word that springs to mind....

From the design on the tank, it could be a proper Madras Enfield Taurus.



Gavinfdavies, you took a diesel bullet down a motorway at 55MPH and lived to tell about it? Ruddy Eck!

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Pedro has a copy of the Taurus Manual from RE at pdfmotomanual.com



you have to put in a code to download it.

Wandering along a motorway or dual carriage holds no terrors for me. I do hold the Flash & a Box at HGV speed which is comfortable for me and the lorry drivers. Occasionally get to pass some of them mostly the ones the company has governed to 52mph
Always been treated with respect by them

I mind travelling on motorways generally, It is just that the nearest to me is the M25. This seems to be loaded with impatient and often fed up or annoyed drivers due to the many accidents and queues/stoppages.



Most other motorways in the UK seem more relaxed with much better driving standards, but the M25 is reminiscent of being trapped in the game "Grand Theft Auto" and not something I would want to treat myself Tornado to! I leave those trips to the car!