WHAT do you get if you cross a microlight with a motorcycle? Probably something quite like this propellor-powered Honda CB125F that was created by a Brazilian engineer and YouTuber!
Crazy YouTuber creates propellor-powered Honda CB125
To create the ‘bike’, Professor Pardal (we’ll just call him 'The Prof’) has taken the engine of the diminutive Honda out of its traditional location and mounted it ahead of the riders with the output shaft pointing in the direction of travel. He’s then bolted on a kind of homemade boss, which helps to deal with the forces of the wooden microlight propellor.
Bonkers yes, safe, probably not, but as the video shows, The Prof has actually created a machine that seems to work, albeit probably not quite as efficiently as a stock CB125F. To help show the power of the machine, he carries out a series of demonstrations on the bike, before actually taking it out on the road. Not only can the dinky 125cc engine develop enough thrust to turn an umbrella inside-out, but it can also inflate a full-sized parachute. Impressive stuff from the 125cc unit.
Once the static demos are complete, he takes his creation for a test ride, on what we assume is a closed road. And it does seem to work fairly well. In the video, you can see him riding the bike at what looks like around 30 to 40mph in a straight line. What isn’t tested though, and we’d actually quite like to see this, is how the bike handles in a corner. With that propellor dragging the bike along, it’d be interesting to see how the dynamics of the bike are affected when the handlebars are turned and the front wheel is pulled in a different direction from the rear.
