I Bought a Diesel Dirtbike from the Marine Corps(1 of 214)

I was an instructor for the MILMO program for the Marine Corps. We taught how to ride and maintain both the diesel and the gas KLR. I was an instructor from 2006-2009 at camp lejeune NC. That was one of my bikes. 599133

For what it's worth, I am a mechanic in the Marine Corps. If you're able to find a USMC serial number on it, I may have some information. Also, the blackout lights display light not visible to the naked eye, they are designed to be used with night vision goggles.

The decompressor lever is to enable you to spin the engine freely without compression on starting. Once the engine is spinning, release the lever so that it fires up on compression. You can also stop the engine by pulling the lever in.

The decompression lever is used because the starter would have to be massive to over come the compression, so you let it gain some inertia and you release the lever and it should start.

This one will definitely be a cool one to get going!

I LOVED the KLR-250! The tactical driving course at Camp LeJeune was a BLAST! Driving across Saudi Arabia with random invisible wadis that collapse into a “sand slide / sinkhole” when it’s too late? Not so much….

Klondike is dead wrong for discontinuing the Choco Taco.

The diesel KLR has an almost mythical status in the community. I'm a little jealous. My first bike was a 2011 KLR650. Did the doohickey and thermobob myself. Love it!

The blackout lights are also useful in convoys so you can stay behind the vehicle in front of you. The forward light gives just enough illumination to see hazards at low speed without giving away your location.

I was going to say it looks like a KLR. Great video. There used to be a Dutch-built diesel adventure bike called a Track T-800 CDI. It was turbo-charged, the engine was an inline triple used in Smart cars. The company is now defunct, unfortunately. Have a look at it. What a brilliant bike.

What I learned about those blackout tail lights is that when you see one red light you are too far away. When you see two lights you are Just Right and when you see all four, you probably hit the person in front of you already.

The cliffhanger made me laugh so hard. After relentless work-filled 1.5 week, this felt good!! Thank you guys. Best luck with this (kind-of) unique motorcycle!

On other note, I got my crappy 110cc scooter serviced today, so it rides a little better. Crossed 35K km, targeting 50K and then get rid of it.

I own one of these. DO NOT use ether to get it running. I learned that lesson the hard way by shearing the woodruff key on the flywheel (which coincidentally resulted in the exact same sound you're currently hearing when you crank the starter). I know the guy on ADVrider you're talking about, he's a great dude and a wealth of knowledge. Good luck getting her running!

Edit to add- that motor sounds like it's spinning really fast to have full compression. Once you get the fuel and starter situation sorted out, make sure the decompression lever is fully disengaged when starting. On mine it has a tendency to stick so push it as far forward as you can on the side of the cylinder head; if it's partially open you should feel it snap into place and seat firmly. There is a very large bolded CAUTION in the operator maintenance manual saying the decompression lever is to "only be used for bleeding the injection system and for help in push starting" and "not to be used for normal, electric starting" (all bold, italic caps in the book). Good luck!

The last 30 seconds were the BEST. You guys Rock and thanks so much for all the hard work and FUN that goes into this Channel. I love KLR’s and cannot wait to see this one run.

I was in contact with Hayes back during the introduction of these. He invited myself as a rep for the company to come see them. It was not a public event, but a closed Defense Government contractor type event. If I remember right, Hayes was making them to run on any type fuel.

I read about these bikes when i was younger, i was fascinated by it, i hope yall can find parts to fix it, i have always wanted one of these, but was sure they were extremely limited military use only. I never expected to see one or even a video of one. I wish i could help you guys fix it up, this is a cool project.

I owned a 97' klr 650 for 5 years . That bike was amazing . Not too fast , not too complicated . Just perfect. I had the smaller acerbees tank that still took the fairing pieces from the metal tank .

It's brilliant guys you do have to come out of your comfort zone eventually.....firmly delivered anticipation for part II

The headlight is an IR light that is meant to be used while you are wearing NVG’s (night vision goggles). It’s invisible to the naked eye but when you’re wearing goggles, it makes it look like daytime. Same with the tiny little taillights. This was the same way that we flew helicopters at night when in combat.

I love how Craig’s asking permission to try to start it after his last accident start up😂