January 25, 2007 Squeeze a massive 8.2 litre supercharged V8 monster truck engine with as much power as a Bugatti Veyron into a motorcycle and you have the Rapom V8, the product of the vivid imagination of 44-year old British engineer Nick Argyle. Unlike many who design such wilderbeasts , Argyle has manifested a fully functional and road registered version of what is world’s most powerful roadgoing motorcycle. Running on alcohol, the 1000 bhp returns just four miles per gallon, and it’s transportation brief usually only covers the 10 mile journey to a local drag racing strip. With that sort of power available at a twist of the wrist, the monster bike requires a super long chassis end every bit of its kerb weight of 1000lb in order to stop the bike flipping under hard acceleration.
The unique bike was created in a small garage in the Cotswolds, its conception spawned from the unusual marriage of convenience and naivety, says its builder.
After selling the chassis of his monster truck, Nick Argyle was searching for a much smaller project. He said: “I didn’t have the same workshop space I had when I built the truck. I only had the house garage so it had to be a bike. I was going to buy a new engine for the project but my wife told me to use the one that was still in a garage – a monster truck engine! Despite its size, I thought why not?’
The impressive Rapom V8 will make its public show debut at the MCN London Motorcycle Show on the Harrison Billet stand at ExCeL on February 1-4, 2007.