Jet engines have been with us for a long time and after many hours in the air they are eventually retired, past their flying days, perhaps, but perfectly functional in every other way.
Terrafirma Jets in the UK seems to have quite a business in reselling these old engines and this jet bike is what happens when you decide to fit one into a minimal frame with a wheel on each end. The builder says he’s not particularly good on bikes, …
I don’t quite know what to say.
Thanks for the tip, Andy!
Link: TerrafirmaJets
george says
won’t the rear wheel melt down when you start the bike? cool bike though!
kneeslider says
I’m guessing an exhaust deflector of some type will be added.
Mule says
Ouch ouch owww! My tire is on fire! He can only think outside the box becuase the box was destroyed in a shop fire.
mark says
That looks like a really comfortable riding position.
sluggish says
Not to mention that if the compressor ever sheds a blade there’s an excellent chance it will depart through your torso.
jeff_williams says
Pretty sure that guy is setting himself up for a darwin award. Even if it stays upright if that’s his seating position, he’ll have some rocky mountain oysters soon enough.
doug says
Talk about lighting up the rear tire…
DMiller779 says
Doesn’t a deflector kind of defeat the purpose? Kind of like trying to lift yourself off the ground by pulling up on your boot straps while you are wearing them! He needs to convert this thing to a trike …and then get someone else to ride it.
Denis says
Are we missing the point here? This company refurbishes and sells jet engines. It must be well aware of the heat issues that occured to all of us, and the impracticalities of its jetbike as a vehicle. I’m sure they know more about the difficulties and drawbacks of using jet engines than most of us ever will. So, giving them credit for even no more than average intelligence, the logical conclusion would be that this two wheeler is not intended to be ridden, or even taken seriously as a vehicle. It must have been built strictly as an attention getting device, and in my case at least it is successful in that. If we think of it as advertising rather than some form of transportation I believe we’ll be on the right track.
Thure says
I can just imagine the warning stickers on this thing…..
WARNING
No long hair allowed
can result in death or serious injury.
Looks like a blast though (not the Buell kind)
akaaccount says
Heat + thrust aimed at part of yourself is not good. I’m all for crazy builds as long as they theoretically would work if some lunatic decided to take a joke seriously. It seems like a little too much build effort has been put into this to just laugh it off.
Mule says
I also think if you lit the engine on this thing, it would have to be pre-pointed in the desired direction, because you could probaly turn the bars/front end 90 degrees and it wouldn’t change this monster’s mind on which direction it was gonna want to go!
Like the movie, “Gone in 60 seconds”, except it will be your life and more like 14 seconds!
Ok, next?
FREEMAN says
Pretty ridiculous. I’d like to meet the guy that rides this thing.
Escortbike says
Wouldn’t it be rather impossible to turn this jetbike around??
And I thought it was tough trying to turn my BH around !!
Derek Larsen says
Can I just say I love how the guy’s draped on his bike like those bikini clad models that litter lesser bike blogs?
Oldyeller8 says
Prolly great for winter riding! Would keep the entire neighbourhood warm! Not to mention your junk!!!
“We don’t need no stinking Snow Plow!!!”
coho says
They wanted to build it so they did.
Good for them.
kim says
There’s already a few jet powered streetbikes around, like the Y2K and the one Arlen Ness built for a customer. Drag bikes and the like occasionally also appear with jet engines, so it’s not that it’s impossible to ride the things. Just a bit impractical, and the mileage sucks.
Yeti B. says
This thing is all show and will never be ridden. I read an article on a functioning jet turbine motorcycle that was built for Jay Leno. It seemed impractical for use as daily transportation but it was functioning and street legal. Can’t recall the name of the company that built it or if they made more than one, but it used a jet turbine engine from a helicopter.The thrust from the jet motor didn’t directly power the bike, it simply used the thrust to spin a turbine fan hooked through a variable power converter to a drive shaft which powered the rear wheel like any other motorcycle. The jet exhaust vented through a diffuser duct out the side of the bike.
Davidw says
Will it be available here in the USA or just another Europe only machine?
Kai says
Great!
I see it also has a detachable rear wheel :p
Jason Omer says
The tires are only used for take-off.
darryl says
well, at least it has dual rotors up front.
rohorn says
Well, his site has links to this bloke and another famous effort:
http://www.jet-pack.co.uk/content.aspx?guid=d5ad22d3-4de0-4cab-ad6b-4efa101a795f
As far as deflectors & thrust go, sorry – most of a jet engine’s thust comes from the compressor (and fan, if it has one). The only time the exhaust contributes a significant amount of thrust is if it has an afterburner.
woolyhead says
Does it have provisions for a touring package ?
Paul Y says
There are a lot of misconceptions about jet engines. This looks like a non fan engine where ALL of the thrust is from the exhaust and that can be as much as doubled with an afterburner. This would need a bifurcated tail duct to go around the rear tire to avoid torching it. With the prodigious rate of fuel consumption of these engines I doubt this could carry enough to run for more than 15 minutes at low power settings. You would also need some serious heat shielding to straddle it, he’s sitting right on the hot section (burner cans/combustion chambers).
All that being said, what an outrageously cool beast!
rohorn says
“This looks like a non fan engine where ALL of the thrust is from the exhaust”
Then my textbooks on aircraft jet engine theory and design are wrong…
Dawg says
TOAST!
Justin says
Just imagine the torque reaction on this thing when you spin that turbine up. It would make a Guzzi/bmw seem very tame. Then again it would make nearly everything seem tame.
Paul Y says
Rohorn: turbojet (all early/first generation jet engines) – all thrust is from the exhaust.
turbofan (all modern commercial and bizjets) – as much as 75~80% of the thrust is from the fan, which is the also the first compressor stage.
turbo prop and turbo shaft – energy from the turbine section is taken to run a gearbox and then the propellor/rotor or whatever end user. the engine in Jay Leno’s bike is a turboshaft helicopter engine.
the compressor only compresses air before it enters the combustion chamber, and provides bleed air for running accessories. it’s function is like a turbocharger on a piston engine.
rohorn says
Pual Y: I appreciate the cut’n’paste of Wiki material. But it is missing about a semester’s worth of material and oversimplified to the point of being useless.
Yes, gas turbines are interesting. Given the money, I’d develop a turbine driven generator for a hybrid motorcycle. ‘Til then…
Happy Thanksgiving.
Paul Y says
No Wiki, just off the top of my head from 30 years in aerospace, including time spent in a jet overhaul shop and schooling at Pratt & Whitney. It’s just that most folks have no understanding at all. Sorry if you felt I was talking down.
A turbo generator driven bike would be very interesting, but why not do it with a small diesel and keep the problems of noise, cost and fuel consumption manageable? Or is it just the engineering challenge?
Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to you too!!
rohorn says
I was wondering where your enthusiasm for the subject came from – cool! Got to appreciate your handiwork 20 years ago running up F100s in the F-15A/B on the flightline at Holloman. Rattling the hangar is a lot of fun when they were using it for “change of command” ceremonies. Gotta cool it down before you chop the throttles! Not a big fan of the JFS on those, but that was another matter.
You’re right – a small diesel would provide better efficiency (spec-fuel) than a turbine. But a turbine would provide a better power/weight/size than the diesel. Plus I’d love the sound, simplicity (on paper), and smoothness of the turbine. However, my last name isn’t DARPA, so it probably will never happen.
My apologies for oversimplifying the differences between TF & TJ engine thrust.
For anyone who cares, NASA has a good introduction to engine theory – with math!:
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/shortp.html
Scotduke says
Hmm, not too practical. The Y2K bike is about the best attempt at a gas turbine bike I’ve seen so far. I’d like to test ride a Y2K but I’d pass on an offer of this.
Grumpy Relic says
As there doesn’t seem to be any room for a fuel tank in the “usual position” I guess they will be installing it in that cute little space between the engine and the back wheel…
It really looks more like a 2 wheel dolly to move your spare engine around the hangar. They haven’t added the outriggers yet.
Scotduke says
Maybe be best to put a big bagel on that rear rim – be nice and toasted in milliseconds.
Forzaman says
Should name it the Sixfeetundertheterraferma. Suck up some FOD into the compressor and you’ve just been food processed.
Byrd says
If he’s looking for a name for this bike “I hope to die soon” seems apropos.
Jeram says
There are lots of bikes like this already running, mostly at american drag strips
there is one painted with an american flag and an eagle that works…
ducting will route the exhaust gases over the rear tyre… simple
Kerry says
What could possibly go wrong……..?
Andy says
Reminds me of a seasonal song “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”
Brij says
LMAO! some of the comments on this thread are just priceless!!!! Andy!! yours takes the cake! LOL!!!!