Too cool: Turbo diesel chopper with hydrostatic drive
Click above for more shots of the hydrostatic chopper
The group that introduced the world to the hydrostatic motorcycle powered by a diesel engine has now made a chopper. Regardless of what you may think of the chopper culture that has proliferated the airwaves these last few years, this machine features quite a bit of novel engineering. For instance, the single-sided rear swingarm completely hides the hydrostatic transmission from view and supports the rear wheel and suspension system. The Kubota three-cylinder diesel engine has been turbocharged and feeds power completely automatically through a hydraulic motor to the rear wheel, making this machine completely automatic.
For the technical folks among us, there is an entire thirty-seven page thread on the build-up of the bike -- one that I spent about a few hours going through. Be sure to take a look at our gallery of the bike and watch the videos after the break. There is lots of impressive working going on in garages all across the country, as this machine clearly demonstrates. Good job, guys!
Gallery: Hydrostatic Chopper
[Source: Hydraulic Innovations via The Kneeslider]
Video 1:
Video 2:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian Drake 1:18AM (6/28/2008)
Hey, look at that! Preston Tucker's idea for a hydraulic transmission applied to a motorcycle! Too bad he never got to put his cars into mass production, we might not be in such a mess if the automakers had adopted more of his ideas.
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why not the LS2LS7? 2:13AM (6/28/2008)
Hydrostatic drive is used in 4-wheelers too. In materials handlers on construction sites.
Moving liquid rapidly is too inefficient to use as drive in road-going vehicles.
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