ROCKET CYCLES! #3: the 1970's

Nowadays it seems like rocket-powered and jet-powered motorcycles are commonplace, with the principal domain of rockets being, naturally, sprints, where such machinery holds the current world record for two-wheel speed.
Arvil Porter built several Rocket Bike dragsters around 1975, which reached speeds of 200mph in the 1/4 mile. Some interesting problems arose, not so much during construction of these specials (after all, they're basically just a rocket engine with two wheels...), but during their use on the racetrack. First, it appeared after every run that the rear wheels had been locked the entire time... which turned out to be the inverse problem of most sprinters; rather than wheelspin, they had wheel DRAG, as the wheels weren't keeping up with acceleration! When the rocket ignition button was pushed, the tires would squeal as if they were spinning under power, but they were spinning to catch up (there is no drive through the wheels on a rocket bike).
Second issue, and much more dangerous, was the g-force affecting rider consciousness during a run; ie, the riders would often pass out from their blood flowing into their legs and away from their brain...some early remedies included using duct tape very tightly on their legs! The ultimate solution was the purchase of surplus Soviet jet-fighter pilot g-suits, which pressurize around the legs to keep the blood 'up top'.
A couple of interesting websites, if you have an interest in how Archibald Low and Fritz von Opel's ideas have developed:
Great website from the designer of Evel Knievel's X-1 Skycycle, with lots of archival photos of construction and design.
Tecnologia Aerospacial Mexicana makes rocket belts (which you can buy!), and has built a rocket sprinter, among other fascinating projects.

Rocket Powered Vehicles is a website of Ky Michaelsong, who has built rocket bikes and cars since the 70's, including one built for 'Super Joe' Einhorn (shown above), and the 'Human Fly', shown in flight below, jumping over 27 buses in 1977.

ROCKET CYCLES! #2: Archibald Low

Record-breaking, while a logical use of a rocket-assisted motorcycle, isn't the only possible venue... in the 1940's 'Professor' A.M. Low thought speedway racing in England could use a little boost, and arranged a demonstration at Wembley track, with 90,000 people watching.

British motorcycle racer Bill Kitchen (see photo - looking bemused) was protected by a steel shield over the top of the rocket bodies; the speedway JAP motorcycle used four solid-core rockets, angled downwards (to prevent lift-off, no doubt). Kitchen used switches on the handlebars to ignite the candles, and said 'acceleration was absolutely terrific' when the rockets lit off.





Archibald Montgomery Low was a pioneer of rocket exploration, and is considered the father of radio guidance systems for rockets, planes, and torpedoes. He was a fascinating character; in 1904, when he was 16 years old, he invented the first 'pre-selector' gearbox. In 1914, he invented an early form of television (which he called TeleVista, or 'seeing by wireless'). In 1917, during WW1, he created an aerial drone plane for the Royal Flying Corps, which was radio controlled and intended as a guided bomb - during this experiment he also built the first electric/gyroscopic plane control system. Also in 1917, he created a radio-controlled rocket. In 1916, he published a book, 'The Two Stroke Engine, a Manual of the Coming Form of Internal Combustion Engine'...which I've ordered - it's still in print... try bookfinder.com for a new reprint, or an original. He authored something like 40 other books on technical matters, and a few sci-fi titles and held nearly 100 patents.

While the British military authorities thought him something of a crank, the Germans realized how dangerous his inventions could be... so after trying twice to kill him (first using an assassin with a gun, then a strychnine-laced cigarette), they used his research during the 1930's to create their 'V' bombs.

In the 1920's, one of Low's projects which came to commercial fruition was a scooter, built by the Low Engineering Company, with funding from Sir Harry Norman (no relation to Norman motorcycles); several patents from around 1922/3 indicate that the scooter would have had a monocoque chassis of pressed steel panels (as shown, from his patent application of 1923, and looking remarkably like the Ascot-Pullin motorcycle of the 1928), possibly with 'sprung wheels'... I'm still looking for some photos.

Low was a Brooklands habitue in the 20's, and gave a 'Professor Low' cup for a 3-wheeler handicap race on July 29, 1922. He was Chairman of the ACU for 24 years.... certainly a fellow who deserves a bit more attention, or maybe a feature length film starring Russel Crowe... I'll add more information as I find it.

ROCKET CYCLES! #1: Fritz von Opel

It's summertime, and a young man's fancy turns to... attaching rockets to his motorcycle! Except, in each of these cases, a middle-aged man is actually behind the project, which lends a Freudian question mark to their motives...

In 1928, Fritz von Opel, founder of the Opel car and motorcycle works, began experimenting with attaching rockets to his racing cars, a special high-speed train car, an airplane, and a Neander/Opel motorcycle. The bike in question was a MotoClub 500SS (Opel bought out Neander and badged the bike as their own), to which 6 solid-propellant rockets (with a thrust capacity of 66lbs combined) were attached. The rider activated the rockets with a foot pedal, after using the motorcycle's engine to reach 75mph; Opel calculated that 220km/h (132mph) was then possible. The World Motorcycle Speed Record in 1928 was held by O.M. Baldwin on his 996cc Zenith- JAP, at 124.5mph (taken at Arpajon, France).
On May 19, 1928, the machine (dubbed 'the Monster', for obvious reasons) was demonstrated at the Hamborner Radrennbahn, so much smoky effect, before a crowd of 7000.

Note in this photo that a dozen rockets have been added - doubling the capacity from the above photo. It was thought the machine would be used for a world's land speed record, but obviously, strapping on rockets isn't a guarantee of success even in a straight line... German authorities thought so as well, and forbade the use of the rocket-cycle for a speed attempt on the grounds of safety. Opel had success with his other rocket-propelled experiments (the car and airplane - -RAK1- especially), so was satisfied to lay the motorcycle aside after a few demonstration runs.
[This info comes from a fantastic book; 'Opel-Motorrader aus drei Jahhrzehnten', 2001, by Jurgen Noll, published by Heel]