Bangalore, May 17: Developed by four students in Bangalore, this prototype runs on diesel and gives a mileage of 110km/litre.
The diesel bike developed by the students of M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology. In the last two years, the petrol price in Bangalore has gone up from Rs 46.28 to Rs 71.10 — a whopping 65 per cent increase. While the best brains across the world are working hard to make vehicles more fuel efficient, four engineering students in the city have come up with another alternative: a bike that runs on diesel.
Besides running on diesel, which costs Rs 42.34 per litre, Rs 29 less than petrol, this prototype gives a mileage of 110 km/litre — almost double that of an average petrol bike.
Naveen V V, a mechanical engineering student at M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT), said, “Bikes that run on diesel are rare. So we decided to develop a diesel-run two-wheeler as our final year project. As far as we know, we are the first in the country to come up with a diesel-engined two-wheeler with automatic gears and automatic clutch.”
Their aim was to reduce the running cost as there is a huge difference in the prices of petrol and diesel. “The fuel expense of our bike is just 40 paise per km, while it costs Rs 1.70 on an average petrol bike. So our model will help the middle-class bring down its travel expenses.”
Tony Paul, a part of the team, said they used the chassis of a Kinetic Blaze and a Bullet engine to develop the bike. Nadeem Anwar, another member, said they did all the alterations to the engine and gearbox at workshops in Bangalore and Coimbatore.
Sanjay Bhushan, another team member, said it took them only four months to complete the bike. “The automatic gear and automatic clutch work smoothly, making it easy to ride in the traffic,” he said. “The engine is capable of producing better torque as compared to other diesel engines and the bike gives a mileage of around 110 kmpl,” said their project guide Dr S V Prakash. Since their exams are beginning on May 25, they are planning to go for patenting later.
–Agencies–