Biodiesel-Powered BMW Bike Breaks Land Speed Record

"With 78 per cent lower emissions than a standard diesel engine and more than 130 mph already achieved, weve proved that style, speed, and environmental efficiency can come together in one vehicle.

Well, that tells us just about everything we need to know. How about you, Motorcycle.com readers?

-- Motorcycle.com

From BMW:

An innovative custom-built biodiesel motorcycle has shattered the World Land Speed Record for diesel motorcycles at the BUB International Motorcycle Speed Trials at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, achieving a speed of 130.614 mph (210.203 km/h).

Its great to know that we have the fastest diesel motorcycle in the world right now, said Michael Sturtz, founder and executive director of The Crucible ( http://www.thecrucible.org/) an innovative industrial arts education facility in Oakland, California, that designed and fabricated the Die Moto project. But its about so much more than that. Both The Crucible and Greenline share a commitment to address the world's environmental and socio-economic issues, and promote biodiesel as a viable alternative to diesel.

The challenge for the Die Moto team was to demonstrate new capabilities of biodiesel and call attention to the need for automotive technology to integrate environmental responsibility with performance. With 78 per cent lower emissions than a standard diesel engine and more than 130 mph already achieved, weve proved that style, speed, and environmental efficiency can come together in one vehicle.

The Crucibles volunteer team known as the Diesel Dozen was comprised of highly skilled professionals in the fields of engineering, motorcycle mechanics, design, fabrication, environmental health, and industrial arts. They constructed Die Moto from a BMW R 1150 RT, replacing the engine with a high-performance BMW 3 Series diesel engine that they found at a German car dismantler in England (this model is not sold in the USA). The result is a motorized work of art that pays homage to the early pioneers of motorcycle racinga car engine on a motorcycle chassis encased in a gleaming hand-crafted aluminium fairing reminiscent of the early GP racers.

Although we call the team the Diesel Dozen there have been about 25 people working on this exciting project and about 10 of them made the journey from California to Utah for the speed trials, said Sturtz. Bringing a vehicle like this to Bonneville made a real statement especially among the petrolheads who were surprised at first, but soon became very positive about what we were doing. A place like Bonneville is all about high octane and there we were with this machine that can run on vegetable oil, biodiesel or straight diesel!

Were not done with this project yet, comments Michael. This is an ongoing challenge for us. Die Moto was recently featured on the cover of Popular Science, and its impressive showing at Bonneville has opened the doors and set the bar high for other alternative fuel vehicles to compete in speed tests. The mission of the Die Moto project was to demonstrate that environmental responsibility and alternative technology have a place in the headlines and the history books, and we expect to get it up to over 160 mph on our next run! Weve had a few problems with the cars computer engine management system, which has shut down as if someone was tampering with the key. Were also about 700 rpm short of where we want to be, but once we can sort out these computer glitches, Im hoping well see 165 mph (265 km/h) on the clock.