The behemoth you see in the photo is what's called the "Roadog", a motorcycle built back in 1965 by a guy named William "Wild Bill" Gelbke. It's 17 feet long and weighs 3,280 pounds. He put over 20,000 miles on it in just the first year alone.

With "ROADOG" Bill wanted a bike that wold cruise indefinitely at 90+ MPH. He wanted a bike as reliable as could be made. With an "IRON DUKE" 4-cylinder 152 cubic inch Chevy II engine, a Powerglide transmission, a modified Chevy differential and Corvette disc brakes, that type of reliability was accomplished. ROADOG had no side stand, but was parked with the use of four hydraulic rams, which were individually deployed by the driver. After touring the country, Bill went to work on the production model which was called the "Gelbke Auto-Four". While larger than a big Harley, they were quite a bit smaller than ROADOG and employed an Austin Mini engine and transmission. About 8-were produced and sold.

Labels: Buzz Walneck, Roadog, William Gelbke