I just got out of the Marine Corps. Back in 2006 I was selected to get my operator permit for the M1030. Our unit had about 8 of these bikes, and I was one of the few licensed riders for them. They were going to be sent off for the diesel conversion, however I never saw that happen.
I first had to go through the abate course (both the pavement and the dirt bike school) on the bike, and then my unit was going to send me to the "follow on" school for the actual bike course that the military has. The "highest license" I had obtained for the bike only allowed me to ride on pavement and pre-made trails. Long story short, our funding for the follow-on school fell through, so I was never able to attend, but running the abate courses on the bike was a blast. I was really looking forward to the follow-on course. From what I was told, its extremely difficult and only has a 20% completion rate. The course is just insane...again from what I was told.
The bike is purely designed for one thing in mind, and that's for messenger purposes. Its cheaper and easier for a commander to send 1 or 2 people out on a bike than sending 2 or 4 guys out in a hummvee. Its cheap to run, its way easier to maintain, it can go more places, and its more versatile. I was a comm guy, and we had guys sent out to various remote places all of the time. Taking them small items...it was much easier for them to send me on a bike rather than load up a hummvee and all of the fun stuff that went along with operating a hummvee.
Any other questions about the bike, ill be more than happy to do my best to answer, from personal experience.
-Frank
