Germany's Neander Motors plans to change all that, thanks to a unique new 1430cc turbocharged parallel-twin diesel engine that's been developed for them by Rupert Baindl. The twin-crank 750cc BMR Supermono single, which actually got built and produced an amazing 115 bhp at 12,000 rpm, according to Rupi, then morphed into a projected 990cc four-con-rod parallel-twin MotoGP racer that never got past the CAD stage, and thence to the prototype of what promises to be the world's first turbo-diesel production motorcycle. Indeed, the incredible diesel device I found waiting for me to ride in the Bavarian countryside south of Munich, masquerading at a swift glance as an American-style cruiser with a big parallel-twin motor that could easily resemble Triumph's forthcoming 1500cc custom, is a bike literally unlike any other, and not only because of its choice of fuel. That's because the hefty 1430cc air/oil-cooled parallel-twin motor with 108 x 78.2 mm cylinders and 360-degree crank throws, employs twin crossways-mounted contrarotating crankshafts, coupled together by gears, and each carrying two steel con-rods (so, a total of four, two for each cylinder). Each pair of these jointly supports a lightweight three-ring steel piston with ultra-short skirts via twin staggered gudgeon pins, resulting in minimal piston side-thrust as on a conventional motor.
