The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) has come and gone for another year of raising funds in support of men’s health – and accompanying the millions of memories is a collection showing off a brain-boggling bike build.
The “Radial Nerve” is a unique product of Marcellous de la Rosa, a man who tinkered with pony power and created a seven-cylinder UMS radial aircraft engine… which he then plopped into a motorcycle frame.
The end result is surprisingly sexy:
The Radial Nerve’s custom chassis also holds a large-and-in-charge fan (to cool the engine), a belt final drive, and panniers sourced from “repurposed Bakelite hair dryer boxes from the 1940s.” A kick-starter gets the thing going, though we’re also told by RideApart that Marcellous also stashed a hand crank in keeping with the vintage aesthetic.
Why Choose Radial Power for a Motorcycle Engine?
We did some digging, and apparently, these things are notoriously reliable; visuals aside, a radial engine’s design allows for easy cooling, generous yank, and, arguably, lower fuel costs/greater fuel efficiency.
A big congrats to DFX Moto for the completion of this build! Be sure to check out DFX Moto’s Facebook page for the full build process.