Why don't bikes have diesel engine?

Diesel engines, in spite of their higher fuel economy and longer engine life don’t find a place in today’s motorcycles. There are a few bikes, but the number is negligible compared to the number of gasoline run bikes. In spite of being fuel efficient, diesel engines have a long list of disadvantages which make them less worthy to be installed in a motorcycle. The list is as follows:

• Heavy: Diesel engine have a higher compression ratio (16:1 to 20:1), therefore it tends to be heavier than a petrol engine.


• Less power: Diesel engine’s compression ratio, weight and diesel fuel’s density (832 kg/m³) makes it a ‘slow burn’ engine. Diesel takes more time to burn compared to gasoline in an S.I engine. This ultimately reduces the maximum speed of a diesel engine. As a result, diesel engines produce higher torque, but lesser power compared to gasoline engines. Since many bikers prefer bikes with better acceleration and to high speed, diesel engines are not preferred.


• More Pollution: Diesel engines produce more exhaust gases. With more number of bikes on roads in developing countries like India, we definitely don’t want to contribute more to the already polluted air.


• Heat: As diesel engines have higher compression ratio, the temperature inside the combustion chamber can reach 600°C or beyond.


• Noisy: Diesel engines tend to be noisier and vibrate more.


• Expensive: Diesel engines use more materials and also have advanced fuel injection system which makes it expensive.

Bikes with Diesel Engine:

Royal Enfield is the only company to introduce its bike ‘Taurus’ equipped with a 350 cc diesel engine for mass production in 1993. However due to high pollution level, the bike was removed from the market. Sommer diesel 462 and Track T-800 CDi are some of the other diesel bikes.