There Are No Diesel Motorcycles for Several Reasons. This American Brand Doesn’t Care About Any of Them

Motorcycles run on gasoline for a reason. Diesel engines have long been considered incompatible with the basic demands of two-wheeled vehicles. But one small U.S. manufacturer is determined to defy that logic.

Why motorcycles don’t run on diesel. There’s a long list of reasons why motorcycles are almost universally powered by gasoline. First, weight matters. Motorcycles must be compact and light enough to remain agile, and diesel engines are inherently heavier due to their higher compression ratios. That means thicker, stronger materials—and added weight.

Diesel engines also operate at lower revolutions per minute (rpm), which helps with fuel efficiency but sacrifices the responsiveness and high-revving performance motorcycles are known for. This lack of throttle response makes diesel less suitable for the quick, nimble behavior most riders expect.

It’s about performance—and business. There’s also the issue of complexity. Diesel engines are more expensive to produce and maintain. That’s a dealbreaker in a motorcycle market that sells far fewer units than the automotive industry and relies heavily on affordability and scalability.

Gasoline engines deliver a better power-to-weight ratio, perform more smoothly, and are simply better suited for vehicles where the engine sits directly beneath the rider. From both a design and economic standpoint, gasoline wins.

Diesel bikes have a long (and failed) history. Attempts to create diesel-powered motorcycles go back more than a century. In 1904, engineers in the Netherlands built a single-cylinder diesel bike producing just 2 horsepower at 700 rpm. It was essentially a motorized bicycle.

More from Xataka On

The World’s Fastest Electric Car Looks Like Something Out of Batman’s Garage. Its Secret: It ‘Trains’ in a 19th-Century Tunnel

Later efforts didn’t fare much better. Even Royal Enfield—a storied name in motorcycle history—attempted a 350cc Bullet Diesel. The company ultimately abandoned the model after it failed to gain traction.

“Though sale of our petrol bikes has been on the upswing in line with the market growth, the diesel motorcycles have not been able to match the pace. It was a product targeted at a niche segment. But now we don’t think we will continue with the bike,” the company said.

But one company still believes. Axiom Diesel Cycles doesn’t share that skepticism. Founded by Matthew Lach in 2019, the American company builds fully street-legal diesel motorcycles. These machines are real, and if you can afford one, they’re available—at least in the U.S.

But they don’t come cheap. A single custom Axiom diesel bike sells for around $50,000. That’s far more than even the most elite superbikes or adventure motorcycles on the market.

What do you get for the price? Axiom offers exclusivity and craftsmanship, not performance. Its diesel motorcycles feature a three-cylinder, 1,000 cc engine that produces just 24 horsepower—numbers that pale in comparison to most mid-range gasoline models.

Still, Axiom isn’t chasing mass-market success. It’s building motorcycles for a very specific rider, one who values engineering curiosity, one-of-a-kind design, and the novelty of riding the rarest type of bike on the road. Whether that’s enough to keep the diesel dream alive remains to be seen.

Image | Axiom Diesel Cycles

Related | Harley-Davidson Went From Loud Motorcycles to Almost Silent Electric Alternatives. It Cost the Company $20 Million