I’ve featured a few diesel-powered motorcycles on Bike-urious, but they are typically gas-powered bikes that have had a diesel conversion. Here’s a rare example that was fitted with a diesel engine from the factory – an experiment that Royal Enfield tried between 1993 and 2000. They called it the Taurus.
The Taurus was the only production motorcycle offered in India with a diesel engine, and Royal Enfield claimed just over 150 mpg and some riders were getting over 500 miles per tank! As you can imagine, a motor yielding that much mileage isn’t making much power…Royal Enfield claimed just 6.5 horsepower. Some riders say that with the 4-speed transmission, cruising speed is basically 40 mph. Let’s be real, no one was buying this for speed, they were buying it for running costs, especially when you consider that diesel was significantly cheaper than gas in India back when this bike was released. But now the bike is in America, where that sort of top speed limits it to a novelty.
This example has 2,500 miles and the seller says that he bought the bike new in India before importing it here. Find this Enfield for sale in Lubbock, Texas with a BIN of $10,000 here on eBay.