It measures like a car, weighs 650 kilos and its wheels are bigger than those of a truck. It’s called the Gunbus 410 and it’s the dream come true of a German mechanic, who designed it from scratch. Pure excess.
Only in the head of a motorcycle and aviation enthusiast could such an invention fit. Imagining such an extreme vehicle is difficult, but bringing it to reality seems like an almost impossible task. However, the German Clemens F. Leonhardt has made it very clear that if something can be thought, it can be done.
A mechanic by profession, although already retired, Leonhardt set out one day to build the largest motorcycle in the world. How? In the most traditional way. Lacking computers and other current technologies, he used pencil and paper to design the main features. From then on, he began to bring it to life with his own tools, with the help of professional companies that supplied him with certain components.
After long hours thinking and developing, he finally gave birth to his creature, which responds to the name Gunbus 410. The Gunbus thing comes from afar, specifically from the First World War, and he owes it to a British military plane that fought in those dates. It also has something to do with the engine, which is nothing more than a section of a 9-cylinder star aircraft propeller. As for the number 410, it refers precisely to the displacement of 410 cubic inches (4,700 cc), which could very well belong to an American ‘muscle car’ instead of a motorcycle.
airplane engine
Of the 9 cylinders of that aircraft propeller, two were rescued to shape a 45-degree V-twin V-twin engine, with enormous pistons that each displace more than 3.3 liters of displacement. The power is 350 hp and the maximum torque is 710 Nm. A true bestiality if we think that its mission is to move a two-wheeled vehicle, although perhaps something more coherent if we take into account that the Gunbus 410 weighs 610 kilos! But is there really a single person in this world capable of keeping such a mass in balance? The problem is not so much rolling once launched, as its creator says, but maneuvering when stopped. In fact, it is considering expanding the catalog of options with a sidecar that would eliminate the problem at the root – the transmission has reverse gear – and would allow shooting with a companion.
As for the chassis, it is a handcrafted tubular steel framework, which supports the engine and the two huge 42-inch and 38-inch wheels on the front and rear axles. At first the idea was to mount the wheels of a Boeing 767, but later this possibility was ruled out and finally the Rigdon company was in charge of manufacturing them to measure.
It is obvious that nothing is conventional in this motorcycle that, by the way, is 3.45 meters long and has a wheelbase of 2.4 meters. The best thing is that it is not a mere object of exhibition, but that it walks and is also marketed. Whoever wants one just has to order it and put on the table an amount close to 200,000 euros. It may not be easy to deal with, but what is clear is that it will turn more heads in its path than any other vehicle.
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