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Homemade motorcycle ad on Craigslist

Mark Frauenfelder at 2:28 pm Fri, Jan 2, 2009

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Funny ad for a homemade motorcycle on Craigslist.
200901021427 I have a homemade bike me and my brother built many years ago. Runs and drives but the back tire kind of rides sideways. The seat blew out a few years ago and I made do with a sofa cushion, duct tape and a couple of 2x 4's ( the ultimate fix! ). It runs like a champ but does smoke alot especially if you are hard on the gas. Uses about a quart of oil for each gas fillup. I usually just put the oil directly in the gas as it is going to burn it anyway and that way it is easy. Can't drive over 12 miles or so at a time as the motor gets red hot and starts loosing power so probably a good bike for someone who drives locally. Does backfire and squeel pretty loud occasionally so I usually wear earplugs of some kind. DOES NOT pass emmissions so would need to be registered in a county without emmisions check. Great first bike otherwise!
(via grow-a-brain)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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  • PrettyBoyTim

    I’m astonished that this thing could be legal to use on a public highway…

  • andrewm

    Uh, the same photo made the rounds over three years ago:

    http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/05/homemade-motorcycle.html

  • seyo

    I posted a similar joke ad on CL using the very same pictures, probably about 3 years ago or so.

  • Strangepork

    “Great first bike otherwise!” if you overlook EVERYTHING! Yikes!

  • Anonymous

    I remember this photo, actually a series of photos, surfacing a few years ago. I have a feeling this is a hoax, as I think the maker of this mad max cycle lives somewhere in Asia. At least, I think… I would be very surprised if this is legit. As Eustace alludes to, the kind of guy who would make this crazy ride is probably not going to sell it to just any joe, and hopefully not as a “first bike”. BUT if it is for sale, I’M TOTALLY ON THAT SHEEIT!

  • semiotix

    When will people learn. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

  • Avarice

    The picture has the name of a website on it.

    Hoax.

  • flyingdutchman

    Prettyboy, it sure as hell isn’t road legal anywhere in the world.

    Most likely some joker built this as a “funny bike” for drag racing or something. And since it has truck wheels, the rider will be having a hard time even only keeping it going straight for a quarter mile. I wouldn’t want to be going round any type of corner at speeds above 10mph on that thing.

  • Amylopan

    I hope the seller gets what it’s really worth! Surely a bike enthusiast like Jay Leno would pay a hefty sum.

  • Agent 86

    If you want quality, you simply Have to go Hand-Crafted.

  • aldasin

    Great last bike!

  • sdt

    I’ve been playing Fallout 3 lately, and this bike looks perfectly suited for the Wastelands :)

  • eustace

    I just can’t believe it. The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse is selling his ride. Must be really hard up. Damn.

  • Takuan

    better
    http://www.boingboing.net/2006/04/17/wooden-motorcycle.html

  • saint_al

    Damn! So that’s what happened to my ’70 Coupe de Ville.
    “Uses about a quart of oil for each gas fillup.”~ identifier.

  • SFRT4

    I’m in south China right now, and you just have to get out of the big cities to see literally dozens of motorcycles like that on the street, every day. Many of them come with a homemade side-car full of vegetables or propane containers or pig carcasses.

  • Anonymous

    @ #10. Yes this bike was built a few yrs ago by a guy in China. I believe there are extensive pictures on http://www.ratbike.org (a site full of insane Mad Max style bikes)

  • a_user

    the guy is a born salesman – enhancing the positive and back grounding the negative.