Bryan's Blog

I love bike shows. There’s no shortage of creative minds out there working to take our industry where it’s never gone before. Custom bike shows allow builders to showcase their talents and gives us a chance to inspect and appreciate their work up close and personal, to talk to the craftsman first-hand about their work and to compare what they’re doing with others working in the same class.

Out of all the shows I attend yearly, the Rat’s Hole World Famous Bike Show ranks among my favorites. Ted Smith has done a great job of bearing the torch that his father, Big Daddy Rat, established 38 years ago. But this year I ran across a motorcycle that even had me shaking my head. It’s not every day you run across a bike that’s 24 ½ feet long, but that’s exactly the dimensions of The Timeline Motorcycle, the zany creation of Steve ‘Doc’ Hopkins.

Squeezed into those 24 ½ feet of motorcycle are seven V-Twin engines. But not just any engines – these are all air-cooled Harley-Davidson Big Twin engines, from 1909 to the present. They are a functional, chronological history of The Motor Company’s work, starting with an F-Head IOE (1909-1929) to a modern Twin Cam Fathead H-D started using in 1999. Each engine has its own oil tank and contributes power to the motorcycle. Connecting the primaries is over 40 feet of chain. Nine gallons of fuel is stored in the top frame rail and a rear reserve tank. Cumulative, The Timeline Motorcycle has 538 cubic-inches and 8,790cc of power. And the bike will need it seeing as how it seats 10 riders. Crazy stuff.

And even though it sounds like a museum piece, fire this baby up and it rides. Wouldn’t have believed it myself if I didn’t sit watch and watch the video repeatedly of it rolling down the road. It’s got two big wheels up front and two in back with a couple of small wheels on the side that appear to work as rudders.

That Doc’s a crafty guy. I give him props for making something extraordinary. I mean, what better way to learn the different styles of engines Harley-Davidson has produced over the years. They’re all right there, side-by-side and ready to ride. Be sure to check out Doc’s rolling museum in the video below.