Twin Jet Engine Board Tracker Harley – Bike Find of the Day

If you want to experience the thrill of flight, while mounted on a motorcycle, have we got the ride for you.

Robert Maddox built this beautiful and wacky machine, which he bills as the world’s first and only twin-pulse-jet-engine motorcycle, and it’s on the auction block right now.

Originally built by Maddox with the idea of making a machine capable of reaching 200-mph, but with a retro look,  Maddox took a 1929 Harley-Davidson flat-track racer as his source of inspiration.

In case you’re wondering if the thing actually works, worry no more. Maddox, 48,  of Medford, Oregon, has been building roadworthy machines with pulse jet engines for 10 years now. The former cabinet maker turned to the two-wheeled world when his carpentry business went south in the poor economy.

How did he start? He bolted twin engines to an old bicycle – and then took it up to 73 mph on a lightly-traveled stretch of road in southern Oregon. Once he got a load of what 80 pounds of thrust can do, Maddox knew he was on to something. At 50 mph, Maddox said he started to seriously consider how fast a bicycle should go, and at 70, he decided it was time to get off the throttle and call the test a success.

According to Maddox, the technology he uses on his bikes comes from work done in early-20th century Sweden, and the pulse-jet technology is essentially the same as that used to power Germany V-1 “buzz bombs” during World War II. The technology itself is pretty elemental stuff and uses internal combustion engines to ignite air and fuel in “pulses” which happen something like 70 times a second.

Maddox sells the bicycles on eBay for $8,500 a pop, so the extra cash you’ll have to spend for the “motorcycle” version might be well spent to get a frame which will hold up at 200 mph.

Robert Maddox and his very, very cool pulse jet engine bicycle:

If you want to get your bid in, or just gawk at a twin jet engine motorcycle, you can check it out here…

Insuring your collectible or vintage motorcycle

As for insurance for your collectible motorcycle? You should be able to get Agreed Value coverage on a classic 1959 BSA Gold Star Catalina valued at $15,000 for somewhere around $25 a month, and that gives you the whole shooting match of coverage.

You can spend a lot less, but if you plan to ride the bikes in your collection, the above pricing is a reasonable approximation of what you can expect to pay.