Motorcycles

TMC Dumont sits 36-inch hubless rims either side of a roaring aircraft engine

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The TMC Dumont's 36-inch rims make it look like a rolling pair of spectacles –and a spectacle it certainly is
One of the most outrageous custom motorcycles in recent years: the TMC Dumont
Tarso Marques
TMC Dumont: does not look practical, but who cares?
The TMC Dumont's 36-inch rims make it look like a rolling pair of spectacles –and a spectacle it certainly is
TMC Dumont: 300-horsepower Rolls Royce aircraft engine makes a heck of a racket
TMC Dumont: the work of Brazilian former F1 driver Tarso Marques
Tarso Marques
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Impractical? Sure! Vulgar? Most certainly. Unique? In every sense. This staggering custom motorcycle uses the biggest pair of hubless wheels we've ever seen, as well as placing the rider astride a snarling, 300-horsepower Rolls-Royce aircraft engine. Live in fear – of corners, if nothing else.

The TMC Dumont is the work of Brazilian ex-Formula One driver and champion motorcycle custom builder Tarso Marques. Its name is a tip of the hat to Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, who Brazilians believe got an airplane aloft before America's Wright Brothers.

Hence the aircraft engine – a monstrous Continental flat six from the Rolls-Royce aircraft company that was lifted from a 60's-era aircraft and polished within an inch of its life.

Three hundred horsepower (224 kW) is a heck of a lot for a motorcycle, and it's even madder when you look at the bike's signature feature: gargantuan, hubless 36-inch wheels that sit high enough to block the rider's view, and connect to underslung swingarms by the flimsiest of connections.

Here's a video of this bizarre contraption on the road, in which you can watch the rims flex and wobble at a standstill, without any of those 300 horses wreaking vengeance upon them:

And if you'd like to watch a time-lapse video of the build, check out the video below!

Source: TMC

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17 comments
Sonofdawn
That's a flat 6, not a v6.
toyhouse
The engine he chose isn't really made for revving or higher rpm's at all. The opposite of a bike engine mostly. He cruises it very slowly so I guess it's purely an art piece. It's unique, I'll give it that. I tried to hear it but they kept throwing heavy electric guitar music over it. From what I could hear, sounded like it was doing little more than idle.
David F
But can it go round corners...
MQ
Yes, Continental engines Some of which were produced by Rolls Royce, are horizontally opposed, not V engines....
No One in avitation running a Continental engine tries to Brag about their Rolls Royce.... Continental or Lycoming; Experience, Preference and Luck will play a part in which engine is in your aircraft...
Martin Winlow
Quite why he didn't make it electric drive is a complete mystery!
cesar
" who Brazilians believe got an airplane aloft before America's Wright Brothers". The Wright Brothers flew a plane couple of feet above ground. Santos Dumont flew his around Eiffel tower.......
HalSlater
Why no pictures or video of it turning? Can it? What is its tightest radius? Kind of dangerous to everyone around if it cannot.
bergamot69
Er, how does it stop?
And as for drive, am I right in thinking that the drum-like mechanism attached to a chain serves for driving the back wheel by friction, like a bicycle dynamo in reverse? Does this also serve as a brake?
Paul Anthony
Looks to me like if you leaned back a little too much to get sucked into that tire spinning around right at your back
Martin Hone
Certainly is an amazing piece of machinery, art even. Practical ? Not in the least. Can't go around corners, can't put all that low revving Continental grunt to the ground, and brakes ? Who needs 'em ? But looks awesome......