[Pierre_TerBlanche]

Love it - L-O-V-E it, and I want one. But even at $250k, I can't quite see the legal department, DOT and the EPA all getting together to allow this thing on the road.



And I'd really like to see how long the tires would last putting down 500 bhp.



And whether it goes 400 mph or only 300, that would be a challenge without a fairing.



I still want one.

 

[SeanAlexander]

Me too!



I wonder where I could mount the NOS bottle?

 

[rsheidler]

Apparently they can't decide if top speed in 400 or 300 -- both figures are listed in different places. Either one is extremely fanciful. Given the expected drag coeficient (gotta be waaay worse than the Viper Coupe) and frontal area that is maybe 2/3 that of the Viper, I'd be surprised if this thing could crack 200 (not that that is anything to sneeze at). In any case, at $250,000, KPaul will complain about it's price/performance ratio.



This would raise the bar for power cruisers though. Pitty the poor ***** on a wimpy little V-Rod or VTX1800!



You are right that it does cry out for a nitrous bottle though!



When can we expect the first test?

 

[13630]

WHY?

 

[19332]

Hell, Why not...

 

[7386]

Why not?

 

[rsheidler]

Power/Weight Ratios

The power to weight ratio is really not as impressive as it first seems. Per claimed figures, this is 500 hp and 1500 pounds. Both numbers sound pretty round, and power is certainly at the flywheel, as typically quoted for cars, rather than at the rear wheel. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, adding a 150 lb rider gives us 500hp/1650lbs = .30 hp/lb. By way of comparison, per Motorcyclist Magazine online data, a ZX12R has 162.7hp (at the rear wheel) and weighs 547. Adding the same 150lb rider gives us .23 hp/lb. If we could bump the Kwacker up to around 200hp, we would be in the range of the Tomahawk.

To make another comparison, current MotoGP bikes are believed to weigh around 330lb and produce over 220hp. With the same 150lb rider, this gives .45 hp/lb, half again that of the Tomahawk.

Yep, the Tomahawk DOES need the NOS!

 

[gooseman_1]

Re: Power/Weight Ratios

Interesting analysis Bob. Although its power/weight may not seem impressive, only its drag coefficient and its available power will determine its top speed.

 

[33342]

Orbit!

This thing is a highside waiting to happen!

 

[19011]

Buffeting aerodynamics



Give me break. This is a joke. Just pretend the bike could actually go that fast and the tires didn't fall apart, your head couldn't take the buffeting, your leathers would rip at the seams (in 1948, Rollie Free's leathers ripped apart at 147 mph - he ended up achieving 150 mph in a speedo which only stayed on due to the aerodynamics of his riding position), any exposed skin would immediately chafe, if you rode in the riding position shown you be subject to well over a thousand pounds for horizontal force and would be blown off the bike. Give me a break on the zero to sixty too. How fast is the Huba - 0-60 in 2.6 seconds? How about the GSX?



I'll concede that it is an amazing concept, and I love the attention that it gets, but the odds of a street-legal version that even remotely resembles this product ever being produced are zero. Dodge is full of c***. This is not a motorcycle. It is an exercise in art. It is a car with a narrow wheel-base and no body. But it is not a motorcycle that can be ridden to the limits of a rider's ability and enjoyed. It's a hot woman with no ability to give you any pleasure.

 

[vigorito]

I want one, too. Judging by the number of times that photo has been e-mailed on Yahoo (5962 and counting), I'd say a few other folks are excited about the Tomahawk. I hope Dodge is planning a cruiser (missle) version.

 

[rsheidler]

Re: Power/Weight Ratios

True that. Since a Viper Coupe does something like 180-185mph, as I recall (too lazy to look it up), that same motor would have to be pushin' one hell of a lot lower frontal area with a much lower drag coeficient to have any shot at 300. Just from lookin' its pretty obvious it misses on both counts.

If you look at any of the motorcycle record holders from Bonnyville Salt Flats, anything that pushes close to 300mph is a 20ft long 18"wide cigar with probably more that 500 hp. Where is Don Vesco when we really need him?

If this thing is truely geared for the claimed 300 mph, and has only a 2speed gearbox, that V10 better have the flattest torque curve you ever say if its gonna have any acceleration though!

One Hell of an interesting design exercise.

Cheers

Bob

 

[dp5]

anything with 4 wheels is a CAR!

if you believe people like DOT, EPA and FIA that is. but what do they know.

400 mph in an airplane takes between 600 and 2500 hp, depending on a number of factors (the 600 hp version would be VERY cosy on the inside).

for another perspective, a very aerodynamic hayabusa will do about 200 on 180 hp. to do 400 the same hayabusa will need a hair over 700 hp. the chrysler monstrosity has about twice the frontal area and twice the CD, just eyeballing it. so something around 2800 hp will do.

with a meager 500, my guess is 250 tops, if the driver can manage to hang on.

 

[pbx]

Anybody have photos the bike leaned over, or tech details on the suspension system? That's really the most interesting part -- it's like a tilting three-wheeler but with four wheels.

The rest is just Boss Hoss and Road Dog.

 

[The_Aerodynamic_Head]

Re: Orbit!

Only if you use the front brakes...It's American, and we all know that real American Men never use front brakes...they take them off.

 

[gooseman_1]

Re: anything with 4 wheels is a CAR!

Actually doubling velocity requires 8 times the power, so the hayabusa would need 1440hp. While parasitic drag varies directly to velocity squared, power required varies directly to velocity cubed. (Those aerodynamics courses from college are finally paying off!) Well.....not really. Sadly, most of my fellow pilots never grasped them, and we certainly don't apply them while flying. Your numbers for the planes were accurate though, where did you get them?

 

[The_Aerodynamic_Head]

No, no no...you guys...geez.



It's not a bike...it's a four-wheeler.

Its competition is not the 'Busa or the Z-Rex, but the Bison and the Rubicon.



Mikey: Hey, Bubba, that new four-driver is real nice lookin', but don't you figure it's a little over the top fer huntin'?



Bubba: Well, mebby so, Mike, but with this here bush bar on front it sure takes the fight right out o' them 12 point bucks.

 

[Hadji]

Totally Cool...

Now, imagine class racing on these beasts! Or how about endurance racing at Le Mans or Daytona. And of course, top fuel drag racing at Pomona. Or dirt track racing! And just plain cruising the boulevard....wow! Big twins are cool, but an 8.3 liter V10 is way cool. The possibilities are endless.

Build it, build it, build it......my precious! Golem/Smeidl

OK, so you have to be filthy rich to own one, but it's still hella cool. And you would probably wreck rubbernecking if you saw one on the road.

Build it.

 

[11158]

"I can't quite see the legal department, DOT and the EPA all getting together to allow this thing on the road"



Jay Leno already has one of those helecopter jet turbine bikes. If they can make that thing legal, they could make the Tomahawk legal. I read the turbine bike exhaust will melt plastic on cars that get too close!

 

[36948]

Styling exercize designed (and working) to boost Daimler-Chrysler's performance image.