Post Listing Update: The seller lowered the asking price to $14,000 from the original $30k but that still wasn’t enough to attract any attention.
KLR fans, take a close look at that motor. If it looks different than what you’re used to, it’s because this is a diesel-powered Kawasaki built by Hayes Diversified Technologies for the US Marine Corps. Hayes actually built 3 military Kawis – a gas-powered bike based on the KLR250 (M1030), another gas-powered bike but based on the KLR650 (M1030B1), and the diesel-powered M1030M1. The diesel converted bikes were created as the military uses JP-8 diesel for nearly everything, and while it was the most common of the trio in military service it is probably the hardest to civilians to find.
Read more about the conversion here on the New York Times – apparently at 55 mph the diesel bike could achieve 96 miles per gallon! The military bike received other upgrades over the civilian bike, like a AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery that won’t spill upon tipover, Progressive suspension, Acerbis 6 gallon fuel tank, wider foot pegs, skid plate, and plenty more.
This bike (VIN: JKAKLEA15YA058559) is being offered by a seller who actually has three of them, though he’s unsure if he’s going to sell all three or just two. He claims that just 4 have ever been transferred to civilian ownership, including his 3. A reader actually sent over one in an auction a few weeks ago so I suspect there might be a couple of stragglers out there, but either way this is a rare bike. This has less than 2,000 miles and everything is said to work.
Find this diesel Kawi for sale in Max Meadows, Virginia with an unmet opening bid of $30,000