Filed under: Motorsports, Trends, Etc.
Rapom V8 bike produces 1,200 horsepower and loose bowels
What to do with that spare Mopar big block you've got left over from your monster truck project? Why, let's build a motorcycle! We're not using our arms that much, anyway, so we might as well just tear 'em right out of the sockets; it's not like we perform manual labor, we're keyboard jockeys. Voice-recognition software will ensure our job security once the old extremities are history, anyway.
Bike owner and builder Nick Argyle got out of the monster-truck business but still wanted a nice toy. He'd downsized his shop, so the available space dictated a motorcycle. Nick's wife was down with it as long as he used the engine he had sitting around -- an 8.2-liter supercharged Mopar V8. Whooee! That's a lotta iron to climb over just to get to the drag strip. It's road legal, and some ingenuity led to the engine being used as a stressed member of the frame. Note also the routing of the supercharger drive belt through the front forks.
Basically, the bike looks like a couple of wheels bolted onto an engine. Sure, that describes essentially every motorcycle on the road. In this instance, however, it's supremely cool (and strange) to see an engine sitting there looking just as it would under the hood of a car, but with a set of handlebars and a drive chain connected to it. There's no performance data, but some rough math assuming a 1500lb total weight (blown Mopar big blocks aren't light -- the engine alone probably weighs 1000 pounds) and using the provided horsepower figure of 1200 gives an estimated quarter-mile ET of 6.27 seconds with a trap speed of 217 MPH.
Damn.
We'd be curious to see actual ETs, as we just scratched a few things out on paper without knowing gearing or the actual weight using the handy formulas in our Auto Math Handbook. Even if it didn't go fast, it looks mean, and we bet it sounds even meaner with those wide open headers. WHAT!?
More photos after the jump
[Source: Carscoop]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jason 9:51AM (1/25/2007)
This thing looks like eventual death to the rider. I hope that guy has life insurance. What a ridiculous bike.
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Eric B 9:57AM (1/25/2007)
Holy Crap!
The rear tire is so wide, the bike doesn't even need a stand. That's hilarious.
Noticed also, there's no gearbox. Mind you, I think there's enough torque to not stall on takeoff...
I pray the blower belt doesn't let go too often - he's gotta take the whole front end apart to change it!
Forget about taking corners at any kind of speed, though - how the hell do you lean a MT anyway??
Yeah, hug your hubby tight, cuz he may not be around for long if he's actually thinking of starting that bad boy up and letting the clutch out.
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no5 10:56AM (1/25/2007)
what's 'trap speed'
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Chris 11:28AM (1/25/2007)
He basically took the Chrysler Tomahawk design and went a little nuts. I just pray that the guy doesn't open it up on the highway... I think the look on his wife's face pretty much sums up her feelings on the matter.
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Lynn Reid 12:51PM (1/25/2007)
How can this bike be road legal? I don't see turn signals, mirrows or mufflers. The new EPA rules are really changing on one off bikes like this. Its getting tougher. Hang it on the wall as useless.
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Kevin White 1:14PM (1/25/2007)
A 50cc moped would smoke this thing on any kind of twisty road...
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MikeW 2:11PM (1/25/2007)
What no drive chain on both sides of the rear wheel? [2 chains]
It is not legal in the US, no anything [mufflers, lights, etc.]
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Colin Smith 2:28PM (1/25/2007)
How useful!
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Din 2:39PM (1/25/2007)
I am not an expert in transmissions, but it's hard to believe that this bike actually transfers 1200 HP to the back wheel via a chain. All I know is that chains are just not suitable for the torque produced by this engine.
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C'est Raoul 3:07PM (1/25/2007)
Some say masturbating can lead to deafness...
This too...
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Steve 3:43PM (1/25/2007)
no5, trap speed is the speed at the end of the measured distance, in this case quarter mile.
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Manish M. Patel 4:52PM (1/25/2007)
Not enough horsepower.
Does the supercharger doubles as a headlamp?
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James Sonne 4:53PM (1/25/2007)
How on EARTH do you "estimate" to three significant figures, to 1/100th of a second? That's meaningless.
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Tim Reinhardt 5:13PM (1/25/2007)
I can imagine driving this at WOT. A blower explosion is not a pretty site on a funny car. I don't think a helmet will be enough to protect this guy
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damn_fast 5:23PM (1/25/2007)
Hah.Even dragster bikes are pritier than this "bike".
When i heard for 3.0l bike i laughed.
I knew that american felows like big choppers but this is more than stupid.
That thing (whatever it is) can not be handled on road.For example - see 1.3l - 499hp Hayabusa how hard handles.
By the way i know some 14,4l V8 diesel plants - does someone wants build a "super bike"?!? :D
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Dan O 8:00PM (1/25/2007)
1200 hp is a theoretical number because there is no way to put those ponies to the ground without torching the rear tire.
It's simply saying "I've got 1200 horses here but a 1000 of them are completely useless".
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mikeb 12:29AM (1/26/2007)
how many minutes will it idle before it runs out of gas the word burnout comes to mind in order to do a burnout do they have to keep it filling at the gas pump? when and where will the funeral be? at last, backflips form a standstill. is it possible to stall it?
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Larry Edgarton 5:44AM (1/26/2007)
I don't care what all of you pansys say, real men don't need a reason other than it can be done.
Cool Beans!
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amp 10:56AM (1/26/2007)
Not all of the power is delivered through the MT rear wheel. I'm guessing a fair amount of thrust comes from the exhaust exiting the headers.
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Kevin Mac 2:09PM (1/29/2007)
One or two comments smack of 'Blinkered Jealousy'. I think it looks cool even if the guy is as 'mad as a box of frogs'!
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