Inline triple, turbo-diesel CVT Adv bike
 

Track Dieselmotorfietsen - Track T-800CDI 1E - Dieselmotorfiets

215kg, 100mph and 66mpg it says

Just heard about it - apologies if mentioned already on HU.

Chris S

Whats up with the lowlevel side exit exhaust?
Surely that won't cope too well with water crossings?
Interesting. Is it a copy of the daihatsu 3cyl diesel I wonder?
Ugly engine but if it works then....

Will the turbo be reliable? Overlanding 4x4 types as far as I know favour non turbo versions of the Toyota Landcruiser Diesels as turbos tend to bite the dust with poor fuel and high temps. But I guess the majority of sales, like the BMW Adventure 1200 series will be for tarmac use.

Even if that is 66 miles to the US gallon it is appalling, I would want over 100 mpg from a diesel.

That is one ugly looking moto! :biggrin:

The figures also seem heavy, slow and well, thirsty!

Its an 800cc Smart Car engine made by Mercedes/Daimler - common rail, alloy construction. I think the Daihatsu was made of heavier cast iron?

N

Overlanding 4x4 types as far as I know favour non turbo versions of the Toyota Landcruiser Diesels

Agree with the probable buyers, but IMO a low boost turbo is always better than aspirated - especially at altitude. It helps emission too. Only locally abused fleet cars in Africa tend to be aspirated (like IHZ TLC).

I agree too that 66mpg (Imp) is not so hot but then it is an auto. I'm sure a BMW F650 twin will get that; my old XT660 averaged 66.

For a diesel triple, I wouldn't say 215kg is heavy at all. Is that not the same as a GS12 when they came out? I think the big question is will this adv bike run on any old (high sulphur) diesel, not the ULSD required in Europe and parts of US. Short HU discussion on that here. The short pipe could be a particulate filter.
Unleaded petrol is pretty much worldwide now, but diesel is no longer diesel like it used to be.

Ch

Was thinking about this .... but as you mentioned Chris ... pretty much any modern 650 single will do 100 mph and get 66 mpg or better, and do it in a package that 50-70 kgs lighter.

Something like a BMW F800 will get 66 mpg, be capable of 125mph and still weight 30 kgs lighter.

So am struggling to see the rational justification here.

The bike looks like its made from a KTM 990 Adventure chassis and front end (and some rear plastics) with a custom front fairing.

Bearing in mind the LC8 engine is a very light unit (58 kgs) and this diesel bike only weighs 15 kgs more than a 990 adventure, they have done a good job minimising the weight of the powertrain. I amazed they have kept the weight that low. [edit] Just read Neil mention above its an all alloy diesel. I guess that is a big part of explaining it. How reliable (strong) are full alloy diesels?

I think the 66mpg is US rather than imperial? In saying that my own bike (NOT a Track) got 102mpg imperial average (85mpg US) on our trip from UK to Nepal.

No engine reliability data yet though they seem to last pretty long in the Smart car!

N

It's another diesel ------------- by Ovik
 

Seen at the recently finished UK bike show -----

Track Diesel UK - Diesel Motorbike

Looks a bit like a KTM 950/990, but it isn't. The company are part of Ovik which makes specialist vehicles for various markets and this diesel engine probably comes from the Smart car. Some sales have been made, to the police going by one of the bikes on display, and the asking price is around £15K.

Some tech stuff from their handout.
800cc 3 cyl inline Mercedes B engine. About 45 HP & 100 Nm torque.
Shaft drive, CVT transmission.
Dry weight = 215 Kg.
Seat height = 830/880 mm
Fuel tank = 19 Litre.
Fuel consumption = about 28 Km/Ltr. ("currently")
500W alternator.
WP suspension.

The Track has been around for a few years. It is the Smart Car engine. I love it, but too risky to punt that sort of money on a company so small with no dealer back up. If one of the big boys brings out something similar I may just go for it. Top speed means nothing to me.

Way to heavy and I've had that mileage on my F650

I was going to add that bit about the mileage and I thought I had! It equates to nearly 80 MPG (UK gallon) and, yes, my F650GS can do about 75 MPG, sometimes better.
Talking with the guys on the show stand, they are hoping/expecting to make it more fuel efficient.

As for the weight, well loads of new bikes at the show are well over 200Kg which, as lots of other posts have said, is a trend for the European market with its' emphasis on cat converters etc.
Note the exhaust on that Track bike; as a diesel it doesn't need a cat.

Also, yes 15K is a lot for a bike but Yamaha & Ducati (to name a couple) want that for some of their current models and BMW want about £18K for their latest grand tourer (1600cc petrol).

Yep, it has been around for a while but it may have more backing than the average small manuf (whatever that is defined as). The links within the UK website indicate that this bike originates from the Netherlands.

Gents

Thanks for debating the TRACK T800 CDi, which as pointed out, was recently 'launched' onto the UK market at the Motorcycle Live event.

The bike is generating a phenomenal amount of interest. We have test rides booked up until Christmas and various organisations (Police, Fire, Driving Standards Agency) all queuing up to take a bike for evaluation. It's the start of a long road for us in the UK, but one we are relishing.

We have literally only just launched the bike here. It has been in development in the Netherlands for the past 6 years, where it's undergone rigourous trialling and testing to get the bike to the refined level it is at today. It is now in production with a large number sold around the world since early 2011.

Once the UK ownership market grows we (TRACK UK / OVIK) will naturally look to appoint a nationwide service and dealer network to support those customers. Indeed we are already in discussions with some existing Motorcycle dealers/servicers about this. Until that time we will obviously commit to providing the necessary after sales support and service ourselves.

I must address the SMART engine issue - it's a common misconception. The engine block is obtained from Daimler-Benz and a large amount of work, design and engineering goes into making this fit for purpose on the TRACK. Daimler Benz sell this engine block to a whole host of companies for a whole host of uses (aircraft, ships, cars etc). Whilst derived from the DB block, it is not a SMART car engine.

We don't believe the weight to be an issue. The bike's dry weight is comparable to other bikes on the market of it's size and class. Indeed it's lighter than many. The CofG is also sat low for a bike, which provides exceptional handling.

As a company we are steering away from giving fuel consumption figures. We have not conducted the motor industry default test at 56mph etc. In respect of which our consumption figures vary hugely depending on numerous factors. We have some customers regularly achieving over 100mpg, whose bikes are completely bedded in - 30-40,000km on the clock. When new, for the first 15,000km the bike won't achieve this, more like 80-85mpg, but again, there are a huge number of influecing factors.

In addition to the immediate fuel economy benefits, there is the longer service intervals and cheaper servicing costs (still to be determine in the UK).

Equally as importantly as the engineering....it's a beautiful looking machine that is an absolute joy to ride. We at TRACK UK are seasoned bikers with penchants for Harleys, Sports Bikes and the like, but we have all fallen in love with it.

It's unique, it's different and it's a whole lotta bike for the money. Why own another 'variation on a theme'? Be different and explore the world with us...we dare you!

Thanks again gents and hopefully you'll keep 'tracking' us.

TRACKDIESELUK

I know I would love it without even riding it. I currently run (amongst other things) an old 1100GS and it has proved to be the most `real world useful`bike I have ever owned so the weight and lack of outright power is not a big concern to me.
I have been following the evolution of the bike for the last few years with interest. I know the engine isn`t lifted straight from the Smart, and I know you have done a lot of work on the mapping to get the best from it in a two wheeled application.
I wish you every success as it is most definately my kind of bike however I think you will have your work cut out to get the average biker to put that sort of money into a product from a new company (to the British biking market anyway), particularly in this current climate. Yamaha are, not surprisingly, discounting the new S10. I have yet to see one on the road.
Having said that, plenty are still buying the 1200GS despite the huge publicity over what appear to be commonplace failures to key components so I guess anything is possible!