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USMC diesel motorcycle sold on GovDeals. 2003 Kawasaki KL650-A17

simp5782

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Ryan,

Desotromic or something along those lines from NYC

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desmodromic

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It was not me, I gave up when the bids hit mid-six grand. If you look at the bidder history, you can tell the winning bidder was p*****1. Govdeals has sold a number of the USMC motorcycles - the diesel versions seem to go for high sixes to mid sevens, while the gas versions go for just over three grand. I’ve had civilian KLRs since 2000 and actually used to buy new take off body panels from the company that did the military conversions.

And NormB is spot on, I have a few Ducatis as well. ;)
 

mp_tx

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Just saw a handful of these bikes with low miles pop up.


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Bradyrw625

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Those are the diesel ones. Basically Hayes built the gas one and it was designated as the M1030B1. Then the Marines gave those bikes back to Hayes around 2003. Hayes then restored them and threw in the diesel motors and it became designated as the M1030M1. The parts for the diesel one don’t exist. Hayes is the company and then a year later that company went under. I connected up with Hayes’s old riding buddy and said there might be a warehouse in California with those parts sitting around.
 
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glcaines

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Those are the diesel ones. Basically Hayes built the gas one and it was designated as the M1030B1. Then the Marines gave those bikes back to Hayes around 2003. Hayes then restored them and threw in the diesel motors and it became designated as the M1030M1. The parts for the diesel one don’t exist. Hayes is the company and then a year later that company went under. I connected up with Hayes’s old riding buddy and said there might be a warehouse in California with those parts sitting around.
There are no more parts for the diesel engine in California or elsewhere. Fred Hayes sold the company to a company in India that was going to produce a diesel motorcycle. That company never proceeded and disposed of all parts, of which there were very few.
 

MWMULES

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Those 2 sold last week for 12K+ each. Too rich for my blood!

m1030M1511.jpg

This one only had 511 miles $12.7k plus fees
 

joelaw

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Bumping an old thread because I just picked up one of these Kawasaki bikes that only has 100 miles on it. Does anyone have access to any maintenance manual or spare/nos parts?
 

MWMULES

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The Corps never came out with a manual and they never got far enough along to have spares. The company that made the bikes owner died this year and the company that made the engines are both close and out of business.
 

glcaines

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The one exception on manuals may be European sales. About a year ago someone in the United Kingdom was trying to sell an M1030M1 and he states that he had a set of manuals. I have no idea if his manuals covered the engine or just the standard KLR650.
 

patracy

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I've wanted one of these since they started coming up at auction. But my pockets never have been deep enough for them. I guess I need to sell off a truck or something to get one. This just checks all the boxes for interests for me. (Motorcycles, Diesel, Military vehicles, off road)
 

glcaines

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I've wanted one of these since they started coming up at auction. But my pockets never have been deep enough for them. I guess I need to sell off a truck or something to get one. This just checks all the boxes for interests for me. (Motorcycles, Diesel, Military vehicles, off road)
I'm bringing mine to the GA Rally this year. They are definitely different!
 

Trailboss

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I'm like patracy, I'd love to have one. I keep hoping I can find one for a couple $K, but that's just a dream. They keep popping up on auction sites, but usually over $12K. Being retired has really cut down on my acquisition funds. Getting old sucks!

Looking forward to seeing yours run at the GA Rally, Gary.
 

sandcobra164

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Information for those who are looking for these, I had an entire 1 acre bay in a warehouse of these. They were mostly picked up by local Sheriff's Offices in the lower 5 Eastern States since they can get surplus for free. They hang onto them for a year and are free to do what they want. If they sell them, it will be listed on GovDeals so search there when looking. I think the highest odometer reading I saw was 1012 and most were in the 38 or so mile range. I think they are neat but reading the comments about the unobtanium replacement parts for the diesel engine would turn me off. I'll stick with my 2014 CBR-650F for my 2 wheel joy.
 

R Racing

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I remember a few years ago the company that made the engines was up for sale on Ebay. It caught my interest as I hadn't heard anything about them prior to seeing the company for sale on Ebay. Don't know if the company ever sold or not. Or what happened after that auction. They pushed the fact that they had a government contract for the bikes.
 

bikeman

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I've wanted one of these since they started coming up at auction. But my pockets never have been deep enough for them. I guess I need to sell off a truck or something to get one. This just checks all the boxes for interests for me. (Motorcycles, Diesel, Military vehicles, off road)
You and me both! Just not ~$12k worth!
 

MWMULES

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The one exception on manuals may be European sales. About a year ago someone in the United Kingdom was trying to sell an M1030M1 and he states that he had a set of manuals. I have no idea if his manuals covered the engine or just the standard KLR650.
I contacted him back then and offered to pay "whatever" he wanted for a copy of the manual and it never went anywhere. The USMC maintenance site always had a note that, "it was under development". sandcobra164 if there happens to be any left down there and if there is a manual/CD lying around... hint hint!
 
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