[malky]

Anyone else got any oddball motorcycles? that got off the drawing board?

[Vince]

     During the Carter Administration, in 1979 NHTSA under Joan Claybrook designed and built a backwards steering motorcycle. Front wheel drive. Steering via the rear wheel. They thought it would be safer. Unfortunately, they could not find anybody that was able to ride it.

[Richard230]

     During the Carter Administration, in 1979 NHTSA under Joan Claybrook designed and built a backwards steering motorcycle. Front wheel drive. Steering via the rear wheel. They thought it would be safer. Unfortunately, they could not find anybody that was able to ride it.

Nothing like a government getting involved in the design of a two-wheel vehicle that won't stand up by itself.  Maybe they should have added a couple of more wheels. 

[malky]

I couldn't resist this one.
My winter wheels.

[ace.cafe]

[malky]

Couldn't find the NHTSA bike.

[tooseevee]

           Jesse James built a Rotax bike a few years back;

             http://www.cycleworld.com/2007/04/01/radial-hell-cw-exclusive-feature/

[mattsz]

Not a motorcycle, but odd...

[dginfw]

This is so bizarre, yet stylish.  I like it

[tooseevee]

This is so bizarre, yet stylish.  I like it

             Did you look that bike up? For those who didn't, it's a 1930 Henderson.

      http://www.knucklebusterinc.com/features/2010/07/15/1930-art-deco-henderson/

[malky]

That Henderson is mindblowingly beautiful. I think I'll get one to go with my car.

[mattsz]

I love my local museum, the Owls Head Transportation Museum!  There I've seen in person, the only existing 1913 Scripps Booth Bi-Autogo. (Larger image attached below...)



The Wiki entry is PC, just the facts:

Designed and built by Detroit artist & engineer James Scripps Booth, it had the usual two wheels (37 in. {94 cm}, spoked wooden ones), plus two pairs of smaller, retractable outrigger wheels (an idea that has resurfaced since) in the three-seater body. Fitted with wheel steering, it had a 45 hp (33.5 kW) V8 engine (3.5"x5", 384.8in3, 6.3Li), the first of its kind from a Detroit company, with an external copper tube radiator, and a weight of 3,200-lb (1451 kg). Just one was built. it is in the collection of the Detroit Historical Society.

Time Magazine online, in their 50 Worst Cars Of All Time list (http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1657686_1657674,00.html), wasn't quite so kind...

A 3,200-lb. motorcycle with training wheels, a V8 engine and enough copper tubing to provide every hillbilly in the Ozarks with a still, the Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo was the daft experiment of James Scripps-Booth, an heir of the Scripps publishing fortune and a self-taught — or untaught — auto engineer. The Bi-Autogo was essentially a two-wheeled vehicle, carrying its considerable heft on 37-in. wooden wheels. At slow speeds, the driver could lower small wheels on outriggers to stabilize the vehicle so it wouldn't plop over. This is not a case of the advantage of hindsight; this was obviously a crazy idea, even in 1913. The Bi-Autogo does enjoy the historical distinction of being the first V8-powered vehicle ever built in Detroit, so you could argue it is the beginning of an even greater folly.

If you like to look at unusual cars, check out this forum thread:

http://rctruth.com/index.php?topic=2521.0

[Uncle Billy]

[The Old Coot]

Got to love what some people will come up with. I wonder do you take it to a tire shop or shoe shop for a flat?

[malky]

I love this I'm assuming by the primary cover there's a Harley lurking underneath?