Pulsejet Powered Bicycle
May 14th, 2008 by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider"
Feeling depressed because you can’t afford a turbine motorcycle? Don’t despair, you can have a pulsejet bicycle instead. It may not be quite as impressive but if you tell folks you have a jet bike without giving them too many details, they’ll think you’re a real rocketman. 
Robert Maddox builds pulsejet engines. Pulsejets, for those of you not up on your aviation history, were the power used by the infamous German V1 buzzbombs in WWII. The buzzbomb got its name from the buzzing sound of the pulsejet engine and the engines Bob builds, true to form, sound exactly like you would expect.
He’s selling the engines and the photo here shows one attached to a bicycle, though he’s attached them to go karts and all sorts of other things. This version puts out 50 to 60 pounds of thrust, enough for 75 mph or so on the bike but he builds bigger ones, too, up to 1000 pounds of thrust, for your larger projects.
He has some videos and it’s very cool how they glow red when running, you might want some heat protection on your pant legs but there’s a pretty high cool factor here. Experiment at your own risk.
Link: Pulsejet
Posted in Alternative thinking, Motorcycle Builders
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16 Responses to “Pulsejet Powered Bicycle”
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May 14th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Does anyone have a URL or contact info? Definitely interesting and would be fun to play with for awhile.
May 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
This definitely not the sort of thing to start up and ride through the neighborhood early on a Sunday morning, or any other morning for that matter.
The guy has an interesting imagination to come up with bicycle mount. I, however, prefer to have my jets mounted in something a little more aerodynamic, like a T-38 Talon.
May 14th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Speechless………
May 14th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
what type of fuel? i see the bike has a fuel tank.
May 14th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
If loud pipes save lives, then this one should provide eternal life………
A J85GE-5 does, indeed, work best on a jet (ex AT-38B mechanic…)
May 14th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
yeah, like that’s safe….
May 14th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
watch out for Doodlebikes!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxuUjlTzLy0&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFv1Yu-KxZ8
Might wanna watch you legs with the engine glowing red hot, least you not gonna be cold
May 14th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
usually these pulse jets run on LPG, or good old propane tanks. This one probably runs on kero, since he says it needs a fuel pump, the kero is injected in with an automotive injector.
At 1/2 gallon per minute.. I dont think he is going to reach the 400 or so MPH limit a pulse jet has
May 14th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
If I ever discovered I had inoperable cancer, I’d build something like this in a heartbeat. If at first you don’t succeed, at least leave a crater.
P.S. See the big duct in the background? I’m guessing that’s the jetbike’s big brother. That thing looks like it could move some metal.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
“If loud pipes save lives, then this one should provide eternal life………”
The neighbors might kill you, if the cantilever rim brakes don’t melt and kill you first.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
first Y2K turbine engine, now pulse engine, what next? rocket engine that someone bought from NASA?
hmmm.. i wonder…
May 15th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Next option for the terminally ill or terminally insane would be the JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) bottle mounted in the trunk of your car. I remember suburban legends about such doings. The car was going so fast that the driver failed to negotiate the 5 degree right bend in the road….
But, then as I just stated, I think it has been done already.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
The most dangerous two wheeler since the Harley covered in porcupine skin.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Steve, pretty sure that Mythbusters proved that the Chevelle with the JATO rocket was nothing more than urban myth. Fantastic story but didnt work in practice. IIRC they ended up with two or three JATO’s on the beater car they were using and still couldnt break orbital velocity. Im such a sucker for Kari Byron it is disturbing…..
May 15th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Lets hope those are V or Z rated bike tyres, too. I’m sure such a safety conscious designer would have thought of that…..
May 15th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Take this Jet Bike contraption and then put Mr. JetMan on it and have the ultimate first-stage tether-line launch trolley-dolly. But like free-climbing redwoods, what goes-up…. The next techno-trick is the stall-landing on roller-blades or whatever….
The Jetmans videos are awe-inspiring….
http://www.jet-man.com/actuel_eng.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Jet+man%22