HDT’s production apparently has been delayed due to the popularity of diesel motorcycles as military vehicles in Afghanistan and perhaps Iraq. Their latest newsletter mentions this, along with the use of biodiesel and tests to increase mpg. I was doing some reading and reasearch the other day and am sure that it is really a Kawasaki hiding in the HDT Bulldog. Anyway, while some might see their delay as negative, I like the idea that more testing will be done in extreme conditions before they are released for public consumption:

The text of the June 2006 Newsletter:

As most of you already know, HDT has had to delay production of the commercial D650 Bulldog due to recently increased orders for our military models.

During the last 6 months, in anticipation of our commercial model release, we have greatly increased production capacity with the completion of our engine and motorcycle assembly lines. Unfortunately, for our commercial customers, the expansion is now needed to fill our ongoing military requirements.

We maintain plans to produce our commercial diesel motorcycle, the D650 Bulldog, and are increasing our production capabilities as fast as we can.

I want to personally extend my thanks to all you who have shown interest in our diesel motorcycles. We will continue to publish updates of our commercial motorcycle release through our newsletter.

Fred Hayes
President
HDTUSA

Some good news: In the last few months, we’ve been able to improve performance and overall operability. We’ve been able to improve power throughout the rpm range and further reduce vibration at cruising speeds. Fuel mileage has also been improved. (See Economy Run in Upcoming Events).

Biodiesel: We’ve had a number of requests to do more testing using various blends of biodiesel, including B5, B20, and B99/B100. We’ll keep you up-to-date on the test results.

Motorcycle Assembly Line: We’ve started using our new motorcycle assembly line. It will allow us to improve efficiency, increase production rates and retain high quality.

Engine Assembly Line: We are just finishing our new diesel engine assembly line. It is a big step from modifying existing motorcycles to producing our own motorcycle engines. HDT is using innovative production techniques, such as these specially designed engine stands to try and keep costs down and quality high.

R&D Center. We finally moved into our new R&D Center where we’re continuing to find more power, smoother operation, better fuel economy and lower emissions. Currently we’re testing various blends of biodiesel. Very interesting stuff!!! More on
biodiesel later.

Dynos. We just took delivery of our 3rd Dynomite motorcycle dyno from Land & Sea. (www.land-and-sea.com) This makes our third dyno from Land & Sea. We have the original engine dyno, our eddy current R&D dyno, and the latest unit that will be used for final production testing.

News like this and more, all on DieselBike.net. They even have links to numerous diesel motorcycles of the past.