Well, this looks like a particularly interesting way to end up in the hospital. It’s effectively a bicycle with a knock-off Harley-Davidson panhead engine.
If you’re looking at that V-twin and thinking,”That looks kinda like a Twin Cam,” you’re not wrong. The engine maker, Ultima, acknowledges as much on its website. Confusingly, the engine is from the company’s “Ultima Evo” line-up, which would make me think that it copies Harley’s Evolution V-twin.
I can find no information about this 88 cubic inch (1442cc) version of the engine, though. The seller says it’s a panhead copy and they’ve worked on it, so I guess they’d know.
Anyhoo, this deathtrap of a custom motorcycle was reportedly inspired by a 1913 boardtracker. Board track racing was a wild and ridiculously dangerous sport that involved screaming around on tracks made of wooden planks, wearing little more than a chunky sweater and a leather helmet. Riders and spectators were frequently injured or killed. The press referred to tracks as “murder-domes,” and the sport all but disappeared by the early 1930s.
But one man’s brazen stupidity is another’s heroic bravery, so boardtrackers have remained a strong part of the motorcycling psyche ever since.
In 2009, the now seemingly defunct Lonesome Road Choppers, Inc., of New Jersey built this one-off salute to the era, but chose to give it an engine many times more powerful than any board track rider would have ever imagined. Sure. Why not?
“In my opinion this is… not a daily driver,” observes the seller. “I took it down the road, carefully… takes some getting used to, for sure.”
I’ll bet. I’m having trouble figuring out how it stops. It appears to be relying solely on a bicycle drum brake in the rear. Yikes.
Still, there’s no denying that this thing is unique. And in a controlled setting, it would probably be ridiculous and thrilling. Just make sure all the beneficiary info is up to date on your life insurance before throwing a leg over.
With uncertainty as to its actual mileage, this custom boardtracker is for sale for $18,500 in Pahrump, Nevada, here on eBay.