Diesel motorcycles: why are there hardly any on the market?

Have you ever wondered why there are hardly any diesel motorcycles on the market? The truth is that these bikes are rarely manufactured. Let’s explain some of the reasons why!

When buying a car, one of the main features we look at is whether the engine is diesel or petrol. However, when we go to buy a motorcycle, this question rarely comes up, since diesel motorcycles barely exist on the market. But what’s the reason behind this?

You may never even have considered the presence of diesel motorcycles in dealerships, simply because there are so few that you may never have come across one. The truth is that over time, some diesel-powered motorcycles have indeed been built, but in reality they were mostly experiments or test models that ultimately never made it to commercial production.

The main reason? Several factors need to be analysed, but in short, we can conclude that motorcycles fitted with diesel engines offered low performance, greater weight and higher fuel consumption. In short, diesel motorcycles were not profitable for manufacturers.

Among other drawbacks, we must also consider that diesel motorcycles have a poor power-to-weight ratio, since diesel engines are much heavier than petrol ones. As a result, a bike with these characteristics cannot deliver top performance or the best riding experience. In addition, noise levels would be much higher than those of a conventional petrol motorcycle, and the level of vibration would directly affect the rider’s back, causing discomfort, pain and instability while riding. All of this without mentioning that the price of a diesel motorcycle would be significantly higher than that of a petrol one, as diesel engines are much more expensive to manufacture.

As you can see, diesel motorcycles are not a great option in the world of two wheels. However, as we mentioned at the beginning, some brands did try their luck and launched a series of diesel prototypes. Some of these brands included Yamaha, Honda and Royal Enfield.

It could be said that the Royal Enfield Taurus was the only diesel motorcycle to be mass-produced, launching in 1993. However, it was a complete commercial failure, as it vibrated heavily, was very noisy and emitted large amounts of smoke. Even so, it remained on the market until 2001.