Starting from scratch and looking for input: KLR 650 build

Great pictures and very enlightning

Notice the long stroke from the 350CC 15 HP engine ( the P112 )
On the system layout you see a “water or Oil drip” ( thats what is marked on the photo) just before the intake. On the bike however its located just left below/behind the seat. ( I did find the valves for the engine so its not a 2 stroker. with 2 stroke oil ) Trying to find more detail on the pictures.
Nozzle pointing frontwards, , flanged type with nice cooling fin’s
Crossdraft system with grate shaker and cleanout on the backside.
Hot gas filter with steel wool
After the cooler a simple cloth filter in the box

Those old days… most important lesson? they teach us that it can be done…

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I was just talking with an investor the other day about adding an oil mister in to the gas. The reason, is from working the GM engineer that helped me on the V8 machines. He came from development of gaseous NG engines and said the valve seats will crack over time. They used the GM 5.7 HD vortec truck engine with the hardened seats to overcome this issue. Later on once I am manufactured developed I may add on oil mister like quads and snowmobiles have for this reason. This could be a way to recycle waste engine oil.

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Great idea for any waste oil… if injected in the hot gas stream to carburate the gas, as described in old style gasproducers, you’l get carburated gas…

Kinky dough for filtering, but it also cools down the gas to lower temperature…

Maybe hot filter, then oil mist and cyclone ?

Thinking of building a bike similar as the KLR 650 project… i have a not so old CRF250 … i have to ask my wife first :wink:

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Just an idea, woodgas and straight ethanol both run best on higher compression and advanced timing. If it isn’t too late, you may want to check into a higher compression piston. I have no idea if one is available in that the KLR/PIG isn’t known as a performance bike. Yeah, I have one. They may not go fast but they do go forever!

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Tilman, thats a beauty. i really appreciate the builder keeping everything mounted low

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todd, a motorcycle mechanic was just recommending an aftermarket high compression piston for my rebuild so sounds like it might be a good idea…

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hey koen, thanks for the technical advice. i’ve been busy with work and haven’t had the headspace to engage for the past few days. ill look over your recs soon and probably have some questions!

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okay so i understand the simplefire (Charcoal) concept and design decently now. i definitely appreciate the simplicity. and…can anyone provide any links/info on what a straight wood system would look like on a bike? Has it been done recently? i’m curious how much more hardware it would add to the set-up.
one thing i’m surprised about with the simple fire is the use of foam filters and plastic pipes. intuitively i would have thought the gas would be hot enough to melt them!

The ascending gas from the gasifier gets cooled down with the descending fuel… all the process heat is used to preheat/cool down the fuel/gas

In my farmer setups, this plastic pipe also act as a passive , cheap, safety. if the temperature exceeds the melting point of the plastic, that will melt and glued together by the vacuum, shutting down the engine and gasifier.
Max damage = 10 cm plastic hose… no damage downstream…

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hello sir, i’ve finally got the free time to work on the gasifier. could we text-chat briefly about sizing components to get me off to a good start finding materials?

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@PeterBJanes Hi Peter, you can just continue this thread so you can keep all the information together on one thread. It is easier for all the members to follow your build this way.
To continue just hit the blue box Reply below.
I see that there is already some great information above.
Bob

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ok, yes that makes sense. koen has suggested an 8-10" wide and 24" long combustion chamber and xoie has suggested keeping all the piping the same or larger than the carb diameter. That’s a decent start. any other suggestions?

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Some of you may have seen this video on “My first small engine run” in the Small engine section. You can make several of these and add one as you remove one for cooling. You can do as many as can safely fit in the stove. I’ve only room for 2 or 3. NEVER leave these in the overnight operation of your stove!!! For those who haven’t seen it, here tis:

Thank you, America!
Pepe
Here’s some great info on gasification that new comers should watch. The answers are here from an expert.

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Hi Peter James
I hope you are still forging forward with your gasification project.
I got curious about the specs, history and durability of your Kawasaki KLR650 motorcycle.
Searched it up.
Surprise. Surprise. LONG production history. Long used as a world-wide adventurer traveler.

Even more surprising used as a basis for a JP-8 fueled military scout motorcycle. That says wonders on the durability of the chassis, tranny, ect.
Anyone interested search up M1030M1 by Hayes Diversified Technologies; or, Diesel Motorcycles.

Regards
tree-farmer Steve unruh

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There was some discussion earlier about the difficulties of gasifying a single cylinder…but the merits of the KLR650 aren’t in question! kawasaki has finally decided to discontinue the model after around 30 years of production with only cosmetic changes during that time!
i’m moving forward, but limited by the realities of life/family/farm/work…

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I’m back at the KLR now that the spring nursery rush has slowed down. Despite most of your best advice i’ve decided to go wood instead of charcoal. I am very aware of the reasons not to -but i’m doing it anyways! So, that considered i’m studying T. Reed’s Handbook and working on design layouts. What i’m finding is that there are different methods of calculating gas consumption/ requirements and thus the sizes of pipes and components. and as a newbie i’m finding this overwhelming.

Its a 47 HP single cylinder (at 6500 rpm) .
Existing carburator inlet pipe is 2" . exhaust is 1.5"

From T. Reed.: Using the calculation for down-rated actual HP = (mph x (hp-h/gal))/MPG

HP= (50mph x 10 hp-h/gal) / 40 mpg = 12.5 HP
This would allow keeping the RPM below 4000 easily

T. Reed’s book says this level of power would call for around 1gallon of gasoline/hour or around 22lbs of wood. Thus the imbert throat diameter would be around 2" and the hearth capacity would be around 140 KBtu/hour

Any feedback on this from those in the know before i commit to it?

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Use www.woodgas.nl guidelines instead.
More power-ran it; done it based.
Regards
S.U.

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That sounds about right. For hose diameter, if your inlet is 2" than you can run 2" or go even slightly larger. The easier it can breath the more you can get from it.

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Yes, by all means read the complete Micro-Gasifier section. It will give you a good idea of what is important!

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I’ve been studying the micro-gas notes and pics. Its been a bit of a brain work-out contextualising some of the vocabulary and cross relating the points!

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