. . . but I can still see every redneck in sight saying excitedly, "Hey, hold my beer and watch this!"
(Click the image for a larger view.)
That beast is the Lazareth LM847. It has four wheels, but they're set very close together in pairs, so it looks like a regular two-wheeler. It has the weirdest specifications, according to the Drive.
This French-Swiss machine is a pretty simple creation at heart. The transmission is a single-speed affair, with twin chain drives for the rear tires. The rear end is lifted from a Ducati Panigale 1299, and the brakes feature huge 8-piston Nissin calipers up front and 4-piston Brembos out back. More a quad than a motorcycle, the four-wheeled LM847 has to be leaned over to turn, if you've got the stones.
But ... the LM847 is all about the engine. In this case, it's a 32-valve, 4.7-liter Maserati V-8, cranking out 470 horsepower and 457 pound-feet. The rider essentially lies atop the intake manifold, feeling the beat of those eight pistons hammering away inside your ribcage as the Italian-made lump screams towards a 7,000-rpm redline. The rider, presumably, is expected to do some of the screaming as well.
Long and unwieldy though it may be, curb weight for this monstrosity is under 900 pounds, giving it a power-to-weight ratio normally reserved for the Apollo missions.
There's more at the link.
Here's a video clip of the beast in action. No fireworks - I suspect the authorities would frown on them on public roads! - but at least it can be seen in motion.
I don't want to know how fast it goes, particularly with a single-speed transmission. I already know I've got no intention of getting on it at all, let alone riding it!
Peter
15 comments:
I'm guessing at full speed, you will be left bereft of pants when driving into the wind. :^)
That is a beast of a bike, I agree.
Eh, I prefer the "original" - the Tomahawk. Has the motor from a Viper.
Although, honestly, I don't like either of those monstrosities as much as the MTT Y2K bikes - a bike with a helicopter turbine has the proper combination of "stupid" and "awesome" that appeals to me.
And here is the Y2K in action
https://youtu.be/aptp4QN1bAg
Is it called "Lazareth" because you're going to need a little help from the Lord after riding it?
@ junta The lisp in the word will be because all your teeth will be missing as well.
There was a viper powered motorcycle that Dodge was showing around a few years ago. the concept looks very similar.
The most fascinating thing about this is the suspension, the front similar to the Piaggio scooter with two front wheels. The back must work in a similar fashion. This is an interesting concept, the whole appeal of a bike is the G loads are straight down through the spine,in a turn, just like an aircraft in a coordinated turn. That is the reason most trikes do not appeal to me- as in a car, the rider is pushed sideways as the corning load increases, because they do not lean.
470 hp in a 900 lb machine- good power to weight, but a modern 180 hp, 450 lb sportbike would likely run away from it on any road with curves. This machine was shown only in tiny lean angles.
Peter,
"I already know I've got no intention of getting on it at all, let alone riding it!"
You big girls blouse! >};o) I think it is a tad impractical and as Raven said, a decent modern bike will outperform it on the twisties.
A more - Ahem! - PRACTICAL motor would be a rotary engine from an aircraft. THIS is the motor manufacturers website:
http://www.rotecradialengines.com/index.htm
And this is the engine in a chopper ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU_HYXOgbRw
Plenty more youtube clips if you want to search them out.
It's as mad as a box of frogs but why not? >};oD
Phil B
This is just the sort of thing that can happen when a mechanic has an extra engine over in a corner of the shop, and a stack of wheels over there, a welder, and perhaps a bit of metal stock. One must always be on guard against the extra parts.
I wonder if the state considers it a motorcycle or a car since it has 4 wheels?
It has three speeds:
Fast.
Faster.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here . . .
Stuff a Mr. Turbo installation in a used Hayabusa and you'll run away from this thing on any but the straightest of roads, for a tenth of the price. And be able to drive it to work the next day.
As has been pointed out, I doubt it really rides worth a damn. On anything but an airport runway, I could probably smoke it with my old '82 CB900F--& that isn't my fastest bike.
As an example of "just doing it 'cause we could & felt like it", it takes one of the higher-placed prizes.
--Tennessee Budd
Shades of E.J. Potter !!
Others have done it since, and in most cases done it better (for various values of "better") but back in the late '60s E.J. Potter put an Allison V-12 aircraft engine (originally used in the P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning, but later replaced with the British Rolls-Merlin) in - I think - a 1959 Plymouth and stuck a 283 Chevy V-8 in a motorcycle frame.
Both were answers to questions no one had ever asked, but some people dedicate their lives to that particular mission. It's somewhat refreshing to see those sort of people are still around.
Kudos to anon @ 0418 for the E.J. Potter reference. The Michigan Madman died a few years ago, but I remember discovering him as a child (born in '65) in my uncles Hot Rod magazine. It was focused on the Chrysler (my memory says Dart or something small like that, but I was 6 or 7, so may be wrong), but it did have a pic of the V-8 bike. I remember a feeling of awe that a man could think of that, & dare to do it, damn the consequences--"let's see what she'll do" in the South, it's known as "hold my beer & watch this"). May have made a difference in who I now am.
--Tennessee Budd
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