William “Wild Bill” Gelbke built the Roaddog without plan or blueprint, but with a lifetime bent as a tinkerer, and a spare Chevy Nova drivetrain. An engineer at McDonnel Douglas, he had the know-how, but as evidenced by the end result, lacked a proper sense of proportion or restraint. Regardless, the Roaddog may be the most insane street-worthy motorcycle ever built.
Image source: [msichicago.com]
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See, this is what happens when cost accountants DONT get involved!
My first thought was of the Scripps-Booth, but perhaps Schilowsky's gyroscopic motorcar is a better parallel.
http://books.google.com/books?id=xZTPAAAAMAAJ&…
The line between insane and awesome is blurred with this guy.
Looks like he was setting his sights on a styling and design job at Spagthorpe Motorcycles. Sadly, Spag was on corporate hiatus in 1964 after the complete loss of the factory TT racing team and both Spaniel racing bikes in a bizarre shipping accident en route to the Isle of Man.
Sadly, the Spagthorpe corporate website went puppies-up in 2009, but it's still available on the Internet Wayback Machine http://web.archive.org/web/20090516181328/http://…
Perhaps the rider is in fact Edgar Jessop,The famous TT rider,international spy,womaniser and of course Spagforths test rider and development engineer.
A little more info on the bike: http://www.walneckswap.com/miscpage_001.asp
I remember in the early 1990s it was just a weird picture that was circulated, but little was known about it.
My Dad had a poster of the pic above in our garage for years. I remember as a kid being fascinated with it.
Looks like he was setting his sights on a styling and design job at Spagthorpe Motorcycles. Sadly, Spag was on corporate hiatus in 1964 after the complete loss of the factory TT racing team and both Spaniel racing bikes in a bizarre shipping accident en route to the Isle of Man.
Sadly, the Spagthorpe corporate website went puppies-up in 2009, but it's still available on the Internet Wayback Machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090516181328/http://…
This thing is just plain awesome. I remember reading about it in Walnecks, apparently the guy rode it all over the country. Great stuff.
It weighed as much as the engine's donor car.
I have one of the Gelbke AutoFours (silver with black flames) and the Gelbke Grasshopper for sale. Anyone interested call me at 630-215-3676.
Bob
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