MEAN, MENTAL AND MASSIVE
Mean, mental and massive, this car-engine powered motorcycle or more precisely a quadricycle (owing to its four wheels) happens to be the most expensive bike in the world! It is powered by a large 8.3 litre (8,300cc) V10 engine from the Dodge Viper car that pumps out over 500 horsepower. The four wheel configuration was needed to handle the enormous amount of power produced by the engine that can propel the Dodge Tomahawk to a furious 100km an hour from standstill in just 2.5 seconds. Each of the four wheels has its own individual suspension to smoothen out the ride and increase stability at high speeds.
RIDE THIS ROLLING SCULPTURE
It is not a road legal motorcycle, which means one can only ride this rolling sculpture on a privately owned road like a private air-strip or maybe around one's backyard, of course that is if, the backyard can handle 482km/h (300mph)! Yes, that is the theoretically claimed top speed of this mechanical marvel! The Tomahawk’s performance claims have not been road-tested and validated in any country yet! Must be difficult to find a brave or dare we say, insane enough soul to testify the said claim.
TYPHOONIC TOMAHAWK
Speed is an addictive drug and those who sport it as a tag on their brave hearts would be raring to try this typhoonic Tomahawk.
The V10 engine is said to consume about 10 litres of coolant and about 8 litres of engine oil in order to keep this 600kg behemoth running hassle-free. Interestingly, the Tomahawk engineers have used the more-common chain and sprocket configuration for the final drive instead of a more suitable drive-shaft mechanism. There are four disc brakes employed, one for each wheel to bring the Tomahawk to a halt just in case…just in case, one gets too bored of travelling at supersonic speeds.
‘CAUSE ONLY ONE CAN BE KING
Hand-crafted out of high-grade aluminum, the Tomahawk can seat just the rider. Worth mentioning here is that the Tomahawk does not need a stand as the hydraulic system of the bike ensures that it remains upright without any support. It has no aerodynamics of any sorts, which means that if one ever tries to test its actual top speed, then he probably knows very little about real-world fast bikes and he did be happier (read ‘alive’) playing MotoGP or Tourist Trophy on the gaming console in the comfort of his bean bag.
FOR THE SUPERSONIC WALLETS ONLY
This is just the beginning. There will soon be bikes that will fly at double the speed and speed-addicts will have to fill their castles with the greens.
Reports state that the company has managed to sell nine replicas of this ultra-radical concept motorcycle to some elite customers with Marina trench-like deep pockets through the Christmas Book of Neiman Marcus, a US-based firm specializing in retail of luxury brands. With a top-speed that can challenge the sound barrier and an astronomical price-tag of 555,000 American dollars (private airfield not included!), is there any doubt that this will be the ultimate furniture in your living room and probably at that cost, the only one!