Back in the 1980s, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations began an effort to streamline fueling in their militaries. The logic was that it was easier to have one fuel to power every vehicle rather than drag jet fuel for the planes, diesel for trucks, and gasoline for motorcycles into the field. One of the results of this effort was the Hayes Diversified Technologies M1030M1, a combat motorcycle that’s nominally a gas-burning Kawasaki KLR650, but modified with a multi-fuel engine capable of burning jet fuel, diesel, any many other flammable fluids. While the M1030M1 is undeniably cool, it’s also ugly – but one person fixed that by turning America’s fightin’ weirdo diesel bike into a rad scrambler.
Diesel motorcycles have always existed as a strange part of motorcycling history. Most people in America ride motorcycles for fun, while our European friends enjoy two-wheelers not only for enjoyment but as practical transportation. For many, adding a clattery and smoky diesel engine to their two-wheel experience isn’t exactly their vision of fun. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising, then, that despite the attempts of so many ambitious projects to make diesel motorcycles popular, there are only two diesel motorcycle models on the planet that were built in enough numbers to be called “mass-produced,” and the bikes exist for purely practical reasons.
One of those bikes is a dream machine of mine, the Royal Enfield Diesel, which existed specifically to save riders in India oodles of cash oodles of cash. Then there’s this, the Hayes Diversified Technologies M1030M1. Like the Royal Enfield, the HDT M1030M1 was not built for fun, but to solve the military’s desire for one fuel to rule them all.
These former military machines are now in private hands, and most owners seem to enjoy the M1030M1 as the oddball that it is. Not this HDT bike, however. Someone went through the work to turn this thing into a diesel-powered scrambler, and I cannot stop smiling.
The Jet Fuel Combat Bike
I’ve written about these diesel bikes before, but here’s a quick review if you’ve missed that post:
It’s known as the Single Fuel Concept (SFC) and the fuel selected for the task is JP-8 fuel, which is similar to commercial aviation Jet A-1, but contains a corrosion inhibitor, a lubrication additive, and an anti-icing additive. The advantage of JP-8 is that it could be used to fuel a jet and also be used to fuel a truck. Our Jason Torchinsky further notes that this stuff is similar to the fuel used to heat some homes. Or, in this case, JP-8 also fuels a motorcycle.
The HDT M1030M1 is the work of Hesperia, California-based Hayes Diversified Technologies and the UK’s Cranfield University. Founded in 1961, Hayes had previously worked on other military motorcycles like the M1030, a 1980s and 1990s Kawasaki KR250 adapted for military use. The company also built the M1030B1, a gas-engine Kawasaki KLR650 adapted for military use.
Hayes, along with Cranfield University, would take the M1030B1 and develop it into a motorcycle that fit the Single Fuel Concept. In November 2004, the EurekAlert! science journal reported that the first diesel-powered KLRs hit the road. It was hailed as the world’s first production diesel military motorbike, and the first motorcycle of any kind to have a diesel engine built for the purpose. Hayes and Cranfield University had a tall order with this motorcycle. The M1030M1 had to be sufficiently lightweight and powerful enough for tactical use, all while being reliable. And of course, it had to be able to run on diesel or JP-8.
What HDT USA achieved was nothing short of amazing. Common motorcycle knowledge at the time said that diesel engines just wouldn’t work for motorcycles because diesels are huge and heavy, and nobody wants to ride a bike that weighs a million pounds. Fred Hayes, founder of HDT, turned this idea on its head.
The M1030M1 is powered by a 611cc single-cylinder indirect injection multi-fuel engine with 30 horses in its stable and 33 pounds of twist. This engine wasn’t just a converted Kawasaki engine, either, but was designed in-house by Dr. Stewart McGuigan. Hayes mentioned in 2008 that the M1030M1 was also built to what were California’s emission standards back then, too. The engine makes a bit less power than the 42 horses fired out of the base Kawasaki KLR650 that the HDT is based on, but only one digit below the Kawasaki’s 34 lb-ft torque. In practice, HDT says, this means acceleration to 60 mph in 9.7 seconds. So, sure, you’d beat the guy driving an old Toyota Prius, but not anything faster. The power isn’t impressive, but the rest of the machine is. Check this out:
HDT advertised that the motorcycle was capable of achieving 96 mpg at 55 mph and had a top speed of 86 mph. That wasn’t just a claim, either, as HDT says it verified the bike’s fuel economy. The motorcycle also has 60 percent gradeability, has an equipment rack that can hold 50 pounds, can ford water as deep as two feet, and has a 4.2-gallon fuel tank. For those of you counting, that means a range of around 403 miles.
But one of the most important parts is that Hayes achieved all of this while maintaining the packaging of the original gas bike. The multi-fuel engine wasn’t huge, and the completed machine weighed 369 pounds dry, or only 32 pounds heavier than a KLR650.
It’s unclear exactly how many M1030M1s exist. Period sources say that the military ordered 522 of them, but some reports suggest that HDT delivered only 440 copies. Either way, there are fewer than 1,000 M1030M1s in existence, and the military had already retired them from service years ago. I remember seeing these for sale in surplus auctions back in 2018, but it’s been a long time since I last saw one in such a setting.
What is clear is that these motorcycles are a ball of fun. YouTubers love picking up these bikes and playing around with them. It’s easy to see why, too. Unlike the Royal Enfield Diesel, the M1030M1 can go highway speeds and can do real off-roading. I mean, they were mil-spec bikes, after all. Of course, then there’s the novelty that, technically, you can fill your motorcycle up at the airport.
However, for how cool the M1030M1 is, one of the things you wouldn’t say about it is that it’s beautiful. No, like many military machines and the KLR650 that it’s based on, it’s all function over form.
A Scrambler-Inspired Diesel
Then there’s the 2008 HDT M1030M1 that’s for sale on Facebook Marketplace. It’s been converted into a scrambler and, honestly, I’m shocked that I have not seen this before.
Whoever performed the modifications on this bike ditched the original tank, side covers, rear rack, exhaust, and seat. These parts were then replaced with a scrambler seat and a vintage-style Kawasaki tank. I can’t put my finger on exactly which Kawasaki this tank came from, and would love to know if you have a good guess.
The other major changes include a small mudguard, a megaphone-style exhaust, and what appears to be some attempted tidying in the rear portion of the frame. Otherwise, this is just a stock HDT M1030M1. Even the instrument cluster, visor, and headlight are unchanged.
I have reached out to the seller, Jon, to get the story on how this conversion came to be, and will update if I hear back. Otherwise, Jon’s listing just states that they moved back to Delaware from Arizona and have no off-road places to ride the bike, so now it’s being passed on to a new owner.
Update: Jon returned my message, telling me that most of the conversion work was done by Brogue Motorcycles. He tells me he has other diesels too, like a rare Track T-800 CDI-based custom motorcycle and a Kawasaki with a Kubota diesel!
What’s really cool here is that this bike isn’t just for show. Jon’s social media pages are full of his off-road motorcycling adventures. This bike shows up in them, as does another unmodified HDT diesel.
Jon is looking to get $10,000 for this motorcycle, which is a lot, but sadly, that’s pretty much the going rate for these HDT bikes. Perhaps that’s the byproduct of these motorcycles going from obscure deals that only weirdos like me knew about to something that a lot of folks are hunting for thanks to articles like this one and YouTube videos. Oops!
At any rate, I’m still salivating over this motorcycle. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. I would have gone further and swapped out the headlight and maybe relocated that filter, but that’s just me. I love the idea that there’s a diesel-powered scrambler-inspired machine out there, and had I not been spending a ton of cash on car imports, I’d probably be headed to Delaware right now. You should do it for me, instead.
Diesel motorcycles will continue to exist as a weird part of history. They seemingly go against everything motorcyclists love, and yet, they’re still alluring. Then again, who wouldn’t want a motorcycle that gets 100 mpg, runs on jet fuel, and will go darn near anywhere?
On a totally different subject, that video of the jacked up Toyota FJ Bruiser that I’ve been seeing in many stories this last week really does read as “Toyota FU Bruiser” and I fully approve because that’s what it would say if it could talk.
The added complexity over the stock KLR isn’t worth it to me. That being said if Kawa came out with a stock diesel I would 100% buy one, even if it was 10k.
I think a decent colour scheme would help the standard HDT M1030M1 a lot already.
Get rid of all the silly lettering, give it a nice two-tone finish, done.
So given how stout the KLR650 bottom-end is and how common Chinese mechanical-injection diesel engines are, I would imagine that a conversion kit might be possible these days. Heck, there’s a lot of thumpers out there that could be converted.
Interesting thought, but I can’t see much of a market. ,
Purely for the kind of hobbyist/weirdo who comments on articles like this. 🙂
I’ve seen several videos on these diesel bikes and they’re quite interesting, but not easy to repair.
I have a KLX300 that gets 75-85mpg, goes 80mph, and is about 300lb. It is quite capable off road and easy to maintain.
KLX300’s can be much more fun with a few engine mods that don’t affect reliability (ECU tune, airbox, secondary throttle plate, and exhaust mods).
I have a DR-Z400 that weighs a lot more than that and performs almost as well, you’ve got me tempted to upgrade.
If you’re okay with marginally higher maintenance needs, you can also get lightly used KTM 350/500 EXC-Fs for reasonable prices. Then you have a street-legal machine that’s 240 pounds with quite a bit more power than a DRZ400.
Ohh myyyy…
I was looking at DR-Z’s too, but they were significantly more $ and still carburated at the time.
klx300 is a great package. I was actually looking at the smaller kawas when I got my 22 KLR650 but they didn’t have fuel injection yet at the time. Same or better power to weight ratio 2x the mpg and much easier to muscle around offroad.
The tank appears to have come from a 1981-ish Kawasaki KZ650.
It has the raised gas cap and the newer-style emblems and doesn’t appear to have any significant body lines. That tank also has a capacity of 4.3-4.4 gallons, depending on the source, which is pretty close to the 4.2 gallons mentioned above.
Weird, that was my first thought, because that was the only Kawasaki I ever owned.
I think you are close with the tank id.
I thought a 1978 KZ400 twin because I have one left by a friend in my cellar since 1984.
Looks similar, but only 3.6 US gal., so not that.
It looks a lot like my old ’78 KZ750 Twin tank…
Meh. I prefer it in its unmolested “ugly” state.
It’s funny people think of jet fuel as this fancy thing when it’s basically diesel.
But because it’s for aviation, it costs way more.
You priced lamp oil these days?
Cool, yes.
But Kawi’s KLR650 is pretty bulletproof, suitable (with the larger tank) for touring, and with gobs of cheap spares/repair parts exist, it’s pretty much the apocalypse bike suitable for daily use by anybody/anywhere in the world already.
The “Bikes and Beards” YouTube guy got one, and he had to track down the ONE guy in the country who has the knowhow and parts stash to get it running. It’s neat that it exists, but it would be difficult to own.
I think these bikes are actually kinda’ toilets. Every Kawasaki HDT I’ve seen on YouTube is either catastrophically broken, has been catastrophically broken, or just really doesn’t seem to quite run very well …and that’s just how they seem to be. Then on top of that, parts are literally impossible to get, and only like three people have the know-how to set up the injection pump and time the engine properly.
Well like any former military equipment… Who knows how much they were used and what kind of care they received, that’s like saying the m9 Beretta didn’t seem like a good gun because the military surplus ones you’ve seen are all worn down rattle traps that barely run
But you can buy a new Beretta and there are lots to choose from used. In this case, assuming OP’s observations match the reality, military surplus are all that’s available, so being a mess is kind of the standard an interested party faces whether it’s inherent design issues and/or due to abuse and neglect that’s common to all or nearly all of them.
I agree with this. Military equipment is designed to be used, abused and eventually discarded when upgraded or no longer fits the mission. Notable exceptions are some multi-million dollar systems like the B-52. When buying surplus you have to understand it may not perform to expectations.