+ Click to Enlarge BIO-DIESEL RECORD-BREAKER: This one-off bike with a BMW diesel engine clocked 210km/h in speed trials on the Bonneville salt flats in Utah in the US and its builders are hoping for 265km/h next time out.

September 16, 2007

A specially built bio-diesel bike has set a world speed record for diesel motorcycles at the 2007 Bonneville Salt Flats speed trials in Utah with a two–way average speed of 210.203km/h.

The bike started life as a BMW R1150 RT but was fitted with a two-litre turbodiesel engine from a BMW 3 Series car and ran on Greenline Industries' B100 biodiesel.

It was designed and built at "The Crucible", an industrial art school in Oakland, California, and ridden by founder Michael Sturtz.

He said: "It's great to know we have the fastest diesel motorcycle in the world - but it's about so much more than that.

"Greenline and The Crucible share the commitment to address the world's environmental and socio-economic issues and to promote bio-diesel as a viable alternative to diesel.

"The challenge was to demonstrate the capability of bio-diesel and call attention to the need for automotive technology to integrate environmental responsibility with performance.

"We've proved that style, speed, and environmental efficiency can come together in one vehicle with more than 210km/h already achieved with only 22 percent of the emissions of a standard diesel engine."

The Crucible’s volunteer team – skilled professionals in engineering, motorcycle mechanics, design, fabrication and environmental health who were nicknamed "The Diesel Dozen" – built the bike from a BMW R1150 RT using a 320d turbodiesel they found in a scrapyard in England (the 320d isn't sold in the US).

The result looks like an early 1950's GP racing bike with its gleaming, hand-crafted aluminium "dustbin" fairing enclosing the front wheel.

Sturtz said: "Bringing this bike 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.

"Bonneville is all about high octane and there we were with this machine that can run on vegetable oil, bio-diesel or straight diesel!"

The team wanted to go for records running on conventional diesel and pure vegetable oil as well but stormy weather at the salt flats prevented any further progress.

"We're not done with this project," Sturtz warned. "We've set the bar for other alternative-fuel vehicles to compete in speed tests – and we expect to get more than 250km/h on our next run!

"We've had a few problems with the car's computerised engine management system – it sometimes just shuts down as if somebody was tampering with the key. We're also running about 700rpm slow but once we sort out these computer glitches I'm hoping we'll see 265 km/h."