Motorcycle makers can get crazy when it comes to outright performance and the number of cylinders. The late 70s saw the Honda CBX 1000, a six-cylinder motorcycle that meant serious business, and in modern times, it’s the Kawasaki H2, a supercharged inline 4-cylinder. However, all these are dwarfed when it comes to the ‘Tinker Toy’ Kawasaki.
Created by custom motorcycle builder Simon Whitelock, the motorcycle in question features a 48-cylinder, 4.2-litre engine. The motorcycle uses 16 Kawasaki KH250 three-cylinder engines, and the best part of this craziness — the motorcycle is road-legal!
Whitelock says that the motorcycle was inspired by Second World War aeroplanes, and the name ‘Tinker Toy’ was chosen in honour of a particular B17 Flying Fortress, which was also called the same name by its crew. The motorcycle’s sole aim was to be recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as a ‘land vehicle to have the most cylinders’.
A 125cc two-stroke scooter engine is needed to fire up Tinker Toy and the motorcycle uses a custom BMW gearbox to send power to the rear wheel using a drive shaft. The motorcycle borrows a lot of components from the Honda Goldwing as well to make up the front end and Whitelock was assisted by Engineer Dave Sperry to put all of it together.
