Bike purchased February 2008

May 2008 - March 2009

The gasoline engine was removed, and a modified diesel engine installed. The engine was balanced, ported and coated. A ramscoop and water injection system were added

Testing

Initials tests began in late 2008. The bike was test driven short distances while a variety of projects were undertaken including electrical modifications.

First Run March 29, 2009 (106.5 mpg)

For this run, I wanted to map out the mpg using as few additions as possible, so I removed the windshield and did not use water injection for the run. Initial figures, while a bit disappointing, show that I am at least in the ballpark, even though there is plenty of work to do.

Additional factors: the mpg meter still needs calibration, and I need to be more familiar with its use to get it working properly. I'm going to need to recalculate my wheel circumference and get more familiar with the software. The long and the short of it... I didn't calibrate it properly and ended up with a 0.0 mpg reading. Practice will fix this!

But here are the figures... on a run of 159.8 miles I filled the tank at the start and then refilled at the end. with 1.5 gallons of B-99 biodiesel. Or an mpg rating of 106.5 mpg.

One thing that was good was that I was able to correlate my digital speed reading against a traffic radar machine, and compare to the mechanical speedometer. My digital speedo was right on the money, reading 47 and 48 mph precisely in accordance with the traffic radar machine. My speedometer, on the other hand, was reading 56 mpg... a typically over-enthusiastic Royal Enfield speedometer. On the next run, I will improve my aerodynamic efficiency by adding a windshield canted back as far as I can tilt it; as well as removing a set of mirrors I no longer need or like. Other weight reductions may include removal of crash bars and military pannier frame. (This alone would lose around 40 lbs in weight!)

Future runs will look at water injection.

We stopped in the town of Arivaca, at a coffee shop that is the favorite spot for bikers. As we had a late breakfast, there was a steady stream of other bikers slowly wandering over to stare at the Royal Enfield. Then they would make their way to our table to say..."what the HECK is that?"...

Oh and I lost my gearshift rubber. I had a lot of trouble with first gear; it still isn't properly adjusted on the shift plate