unlike many motorcycles that are designed to be light and nimble,
photographs Harzer Bike Shmiede, this one is heavy and cumbersome, it is known as “Katharina die Große” (Catherine the Great) a reference to
the Russian origin of most of its components, or the Panzerbike, built by brothers
Tilo and Wilfried Niebel of the Harzer Bike motorcycle shop in Zilly, Germany,
the
38,000 cc T-55 engine comes from a Soviet tank, the giant sidecar was cut out
of the transport case of a Russian medium-range missile, and the headlight
comes from a Soviet border security point operated by the German Democratic Republic
(GDR) during the Cold War,
it
took a total of 5,000 hours to build, during which its creators used about 120
kg of welding wire. It was all worth it, though, as in 2007 they set a new
Guinness Record for the ‘world’s heaviest rideable motorcycle’, (5.5 tons) a
title that remains uncontested to this day, the bike needs 2 people to drive
it, the front wheel is not up to the task of steering so a passenger in the
sidecar has to decide where to go, photos and videos of the Panzerbike in
action regularly go viral on social media, but if you want to see it in person,
your best bet is the Harzer Bike Schmiede yearly motorcycle show in Germany,
where it always makes an appearance, well it certainly has a road presence!
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