Someone Swapped a Superbike Engine Into a Reliant Three-Wheeler, and Took It Racing

Because why the hell not?

Photo by: Hillclimb Monsters

By: Enrico Punsalang

Nov 21, 2024 at 7:13am ET

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We’ve seen a whole bunch of engine swaps in the past, and a lot of them involve some kind of motorcycle engine being plucked out of a bike and stuffed into some other sort of vehicle. From R1-swapped golf carts to Hayabusa-swapped micro-cars, the internet is truly a wonderful place.

And while a majority of these engine swaps are badass, grin-inducing abominations at best, this one just has to be the most legit. How legit, you might ask? Well, I’m talking race car legit.

Oh, and it’s a frickin’ Reliant Rialto.

This is probably the most badass Reliant on the face of the Earth.

Photo by: Engine Swap Depot

Those of you who watched Mr. Bean growing up would be familiar with this car, as the Reliant Rialto is the passenger car equivalent of the Reliant Regal three-wheeled van that was shown rolling over again and again in the animated series. Heck, this thing was a meme long before memes were a thing, so much so that the folks at Top Gear even went as far as testing if the thing was actually as rollover-prone as people said it was. And many years later, Donut Media conducted a similar test, with some pretty surprising results.

As it would turn out, Reliant’s three wheelers aren’t as rollover prone as we initially thought, and this Honda CBR1000F-swapped Reliant Rialto is living proof of that because it’s a frickin’ hillclimb racer. Not a drag car, not an autocross racer, but an actual go-flat-out-around-the-bends hillclimber.

What do you think?

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According to the Instagram page Hillclimb Monsters, this CBR-swapped Rialto pumps out 110 horsepower at 12,000 rpm. However, other sources suggest that the number might actually be closer to 130 ponies. Now while this may not seem like much, it’s important to remember that the Rialto weighs in at a svelte 436 kilograms, which is less than half that of a conventional family hatchback. Plus, straightline speed isn’t what this thing’s about—especially once you hear it banging through the gears while carving up the canyons.

This thing is owned by a dude named George Rogers who goes by 3_wheeler_twat on Instagram. And though it seems that his profile has gone quiet, it’s clear that his crazy Reliant Rialto’s screaming CBR1000 engine will continue to be heard for years to come.