Ignorant. Let's face it, I'm pretty ignorant. Now to tell you the whole story, a friend of mine sent me one of the videos below of this bike rolling on city streets but I decided to ignore it. Yeah, I thought it's a pretty well made 3D video animation. Yeah, me... the exact same person who writes and posts dWrenched machines. Ironic, much ?
Anyway, since then I stumbled across this creation more than once. The cool part of it is that it's really real. Called TMC Dumont, it's a 15 year old dream of the Brazilian Tarso Marques, a pretty exotic gringo, racing car driver, designer and TV star.
The first and most striking part of the project are the wheels. Huge hubless 36 inches skinny tires. After that, what gets the most gear heads is the power-plant; a Rolls Royce Continental V6 aircraft engine from the 1960s with 300hp's. Everything is put together in a very futuristic design using carbon fiber and chrome. I can't wrap my had around the man hours needed to make the whole package functional. The bike's name itself has a story behind, being a tribute to the father of the Brazilian aviation, Alberto Santos Dumont.
It took Best of Show this year at Daytona Bike Week in March 2018. And quite frankly, considering it's originality and the wow factor, that was an expected turnout.
I really think that somehow TMC Dumont it's way beyond it's time. It's a lesson of how dreams, sponsors and hard work can push the envelope of what we call modern or even futuristic motorcycles.
I mean, it got me fooled...
Tarso Marques Facebook / Instagram / Website
Photo credit : TM and Alexandre Volpe
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