Dodge's Four-Wheel Motorcycle! (The Tomahawk)

Popular Science ^ | April 2003 | by Dick Teresi

[vannrox]

500-300-200. That's horsepower, miles per hour and thousands of dollars: the oversize numbers for Dodge's 4-wheel Tomahawk "motorcycle" prototype (named for the cruise missile), which the company says it may bring to market.

Dodge's Four-Wheel Motorcycle! (The Tomahawk)

by Dick Teresi

The biggest news out of DaimlerChrysler this spring is not a sport-utility vehicle or a sports car. It's a motorcycle. A big, weird motorcycle.

The Dodge Tomahawk is auto erotica for the customizer and power freak. An enormous 500-horsepower V10 Viper engine sits on a billet aluminum body, each part a one-off custom design, machined to order. The exhaust note reminds us of a light aircraft's, with enough crackle to rattle windows.

A noticeable departure is the four wheels. OK, a four-wheeled motorcycle is an oxymoron, but in this case the wheels are closely paired, giving the vehicle a motorcycle appearance if you squint hard. Dodge sees the four wheels as an advantage, noting that the bike stands up on its own. (Customers willing to shell out $200,000 should be happy to learn that they won't need to buy a kickstand as well.)

So what happens to this 4-wheeler when you lean into a turn? Similar designs have rolled up on just two tires when banking, then dropped back onto all four when the bike straightens out, sometimes with uncomfortable results. Thanks to an inventive suspension, all four of the Tomahawk's tires remain in contact with the road even when the bike is cornering. Yet it's no car. You lean and counter-steer, just like on a bike.



The bike's name was inspired by the Tomahawk cruise missile, and it may be equally ridable. Dodge first announced a top speed of 420 mph, then dropped that to "300+." DaimlerChrysler spokespeople proved unable to illuminate us further. Can we ride the bike to check the speed? we asked. "No." Can we talk to one of your company riders? "No." Can you give us some riding impressions? "No." Can we use your bathroom? "No."

Desperate for expertise, I called my brother, Joe Teresi, whose Easyriders Streamliner bike holds the world speed record: 322 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats, set in 1990. Looking at photos of the Tomahawk, Joe was dubious. Dodge computed the Tomahawk's theoretical top speed only from horsepower and final drive ratio. Joe says this ignores other critical factors, such as frontal area and drag and the coefficient of tire friction to the ground. Joe offered Dodge the use of his Dyno-Drag, a motorcycle dynamometer/simulator, to ascertain the Tomahawk's top speed. When I relayed the offer to Dodge spokesman David Elshoff, he said, and I quote, "No." Elshoff did say Dodge would someday take the Tomahawk for a run at Bonneville.

Dave Campos, who was onboard the Easyriders Streamliner for the world record, predicted the Tomahawk wouldn't do well in the real world -- and that the rider would do worse. The Teresi/Campos bike was powered by two 91-cubic-inch Harley Shovelhead engines and enclosed in a fairing. The Tomahawk Viper engine is 505 cubic inches; the rider is exposed. Campos said he would be foiled by air resistance. At high speeds, "your back acts as a wing. It'll lift you right off the bike." Campos was also skeptical about the four-wheel steering, and said he doubted the bike would hit 200 mph. Still, he wishes the Tomahawk team luck at Bonneville. "Let nothing but fear stand in your way," he said.

Many bikes today are built for show, not go, and even if the Tomahawk never breaks 55, there are a lot of guys who'd like to trailer it to Sturgis or Daytona during Bike Week just to fire up that motor and drown out the Harley crowd. Or, as my brother says, "It's a nice engine stand for your Viper V10."

[boris]

I briefly saw a shot of a motorcycle with a very unusual front wheel. The wheel was stationary and the tire ran in some sort of track around the periphery of the 'wheel'. I saw this in a 'flash' on one of those Discovery channel ads and never saw the actual show. Wish I could find out more about it.

I am aware of experimental vehicles consisting of a single wheel in which the driver sits; I've seen a couple of concepts. This idea appears to adapt the rolling rim to a cycle (the one I saw, that is)...

--Boris

[plusone]

At 200 grand, how much will the insurance be?

[MississippiMan]

I would think some motorcyle manufacturer could strike gold if they developed a commuter vehicle that used motorcycle components but had none of the (perceived) drawbacks of a motorcycle.

Maybe a modernized version of the funky little ultra-mini car that was sold in Europe back in the sixties and seventies. I'm pretty sure BMW sold one. I've seen one but can't remember the name of the thing I'm talking about. The front opens up on the thing and you back into it to sit down. I'd love to have one. There's also the weird enclosed motor-trike that Domino's pizza had designed to deliver pizza in. They couldn't get affordable insurance for 'em and the idea fell apart. I've seen one of them too.

MM

[TADSLOS]

If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

[Jhoffa_]

A great way to get from one gas station to the next..

[Eastbound]

I knew I shouldn't have ripped up my CIA credit card. Bummer!

[Lx]

Very cool but for us old guys, a Kauwy 500 triple with chambers and a little porting will kill you just as fast. And I believe in getting value for my money.

[Jhoffa_]

Very cool but for us old guys, a Kauwy 500 triple with chambers and a little porting will kill you just as fast. And I believe in getting value for my money.

You're refering to a old Suzuki "water buffalo" here, aren't you?

[Lx]

No, although those Suzuki triples were nice. I'm talking about a 500cc Kawasaki triple two stroke, I think it was an H1, the one that had a distributor. I rode one and it must have felt like what those guys catapulting off of ships feel. I've ridden bigger and supposedly faster bikes but the scream, vibration and the fact that your front wheel is in the air for the first three gears is quite a rush.

With the correct mods, it would outrun a 750 triple. The downside was that it couldn't corner worth a damn.

[Jhoffa_]

One of the fastest older Kaw's I ever saw was the Z1. Guy up the road had one.

Never encountered a triple other than the two stroke, water cooled Suzuki.

[Lx]

Check out:
http://wsamel.50megs.com/cgi-bin/i/cycles/kawa500.gif

This is the one to own. You can't read it but it says electronic ignition on the side cover. It also has the stock exhaust. The later ones didn't have the distributor and were much milder. If you wanted to live, you put the disk brake front end on one from a 750.

Z1's get up and go too.

[lsee]

It's a Tron Lightcycle!

More concept drawings here Tron Movie Production notes

Bruce would be proud!

[IronJack]

I specifically called for a commuter vehicle with none of the drawbacks of a motorcycle. That means no mopeds.

[IronJack]

Something along those lines. I was thinking more of a tube framed with a fiberglass shell. Top speed of maybe 40-45 mph. Thousand cc rear engine hooked to a transaxle. Something that would do for a 10-mile daily commute, would keep you out of the rain, and would get mega mileage but still have enough zip to be enjoyable. Strictly a one-person urban transport, a bicycle with a roof.

[killjoy]

Maybe a modernized version of the funky little ultra-mini car that was sold in Europe back in the sixties and seventies

Check out the Smart Car:

http://www.thesmart.co.uk

It is a join venture between Mercedes and Swatch. If might be what you are talking about. They are quite popular in Europe and Asia.

[BOOTSTICK]

So let me get this strait. You pay $200,000 so some German engineer can kill you.

[Salman]

I would think some motorcyle manufacturer could strike gold if they developed a commuter vehicle that used motorcycle components but had none of the (perceived) drawbacks of a motorcycle. Sure, it would be nothing but a very small car ...

The Izetta

[griffin]

"Wonder how much rubber I'd leave on the road"

All of it. Plus some aluminium and twinging flesh. Can I ride after you get done? :))

[griffin]

That isn't a 'samrt car'. It is a 2 door "Speck". Ask me. I know. I saw it on SNL! LOL! :)

[DoughtyOne]

There you go!