In the over 20 years since inventor Simon Whitelock worked to bring his dream of a 48-cylinder Kawasaki custom into being, it's delighted the imaginations of many a person around the globe. If you're motorcyclicly-inclined and live in the UK, you may even have seen it in person at one time or another over the years.
For those of us located elsewhere, thankfully there's YouTube to give us a more up-close and personal perspective with machines we might otherwise not get the chance to lay eyes on quite so easily. The beauty of a one-of-a-kind machine is that it's one-of-a-kind, but that also makes it more difficult if you're an enthusiast to see everything you might want to see.
Back in February 2024, we told you that this bonkers 48-cylinder Kawasaki two-stroke custom was about to go under the hammer at the Bonhams Spring Stafford Sale. It's an annual event that showcases a wide variety of collectible motorcycles, but this is the first time that the Tinker Toy would grace its catalog.
Gallery: 2003 Whitelock 4.2L 48 Cylinder Tinker Toy Custom Kawasaki
Fast forward to the back half of April 2024, and we're checking back in to tell you that it's now officially been sold. How much money did it take to send this massive machine on its way to its new home?
According to Bonhams, the total selling price (including the buyer's premium) worked out to £92,000. For those of you in the US, that's about US $113,427.26 at the time of writing. And if you're wondering how much that is per cylinder, I'm happy to tell you that it's a cool US $2,363.06 for each and every bore. You can fan yourself now if you like; just like you, this bike is air-cooled.
More About This Massive 48-Cylinder Kawasaki Custom
This 48-cylinder behemoth was carefully crafted using 16 different Kawasaki KH250 two-stroke three-cylinder engines. Whitelock then arranged them into six neat banks comprised of eight cylinders apiece.
He says that it's road-legal in the UK, but if you're the kind of maniac who wants to take this out on public roads, you should probably check that information thoroughly if you're its new owner. (What would insurance even be like, is a question I'd definitely have to ask.)
It started and ran at the time of the auction, and it weighs about 600 kilograms. Over here on the US side of the pond, that's about 1,322 pounds. But you probably weren't expecting me to list a dirtbike-like weight figure here, so I'm sure you're not surprised by the sheer scale of that number.
Notably, there's actually a 49th Kawasaki single-cylinder utilized in the creation of this bike. In an interview with the dirtbike channel 999 Lazer, Simon Whitelock detailed the use of a bitty little thumper taken from a Kawasaki 125 as the starter motor for this monstrosity. Or, as he calls it, the 'donkey engine.' With a machine this massive, you could hardly utilize the same type of starter motor as more plebeian machines, could you? Clearly not.
