There are some builds out there in the world that make a ton of sense. There are others that shy away from the mainstream, but end up looking very unique and novel. There are also others that are a bit questionable, but still far from being downright dumb.
This one, however, may just take the cake. Well, that’s a bit of an understatement. This “custom” bike took the entire cake, the bakery, the oven, and the baker. Hyperbolics aside, the video’s title tells you all about it, it’s definitely “the craziest motorcycle ever.” The poor Honda probably never thought that it would end up looking like this.
Posted about nine months ago from the time of this article’s writing, the video is still rather shocking, intriguing, or appalling, depending on how look at it. However, no matter how you cut it, this thing definitely cannot and will not ever be safe. Professor Pardal probably made a good call filming in the middle of nowhere because he and his colleague threw some stuff at the propeller, and it promptly shredded it to bits.
Following that, we have a literal parachute placed behind the “motorcycle” to see just how much air the propeller was moving. It didn’t take a huge engine to move that much air either as it sounds like a single-cylinder four-stroke from a small motorcycle (it’s probably the motor of the Honda base bike that they used). Prior to that, even, the wind generated by the wooden propeller was also enough to turn an umbrella inside-out.
Sane Motorcycle Builds:
What’s even crazier is that it’s actually “rideable.” I use that term loosely and with quotes because it can definitely propel itself (pun intended) in a straight line and is seen to be able to lean and turn, at least on a dirt road.
One thing’s for sure, however, this little custom motorcycle’s definitely not passing any vehicle technical inspection. I mean, aside from the giant propeller sticking out, what wheel drive is it even? No wheel drive? Let’s say that they passed this bike on to the Euro NCAP just for giggles, it’ll definitely fail with flying colors for pedestrian safety.
All jokes aside (to be fair, I did beat on it quite a bit), the build did its job, illustrating a very fundamental aeronautical propulsion concept, albeit on a motorcycle. Props to Professor Pardal for dreaming this design up and testing it far away from civilization, but the least they could have done was worn a helmet just in case. Oh well, what’s done is done, and the video has now climbed to 31 million views on YouTube.
Sources: YouTube - Professor Pardal Brasil , Moto Station