48-Cylinder Monster Motorcycle Breaks World Record - You Won't Believe the Engineering Feat!

World records can be wild feats of courage, exhibitions of mental fortitude, or the outcome of years of patient practice. They can also be a person concussing themselves by breaking open 49 watermelons with their head. Or marvels of engineering that carefully coordinate the movement of 48 pistons into a functional machine. Both the melon mashing and the multitudinous-piston motivation are real world records, and one of them can be yours if you play your cards right—no head slamming required.

This 48-cylinder creation—the official record for vehicle engine with the most cylinders—is the manifestation of Briton Simon Whitelock and is an exercise in solving problems to build the absurd. The project started in 1999 and seems to have been constructed in a typical UK workshop, which is to say a small shed packed full of stuff. Whitelock has posted videos of the build on a YouTube channel, and they are fascinating to watch.

Engineering Marvel

Sixteen Kawasaki KH250 bikes, which were three-cylinder affairs, contributed their engines to this build. The original cases were cut to remove the transmissions and then welded together, forming inline-eight engines that were then stacked and lined up using large aluminum plates at either end. With three inline-eight two stroke engines on each side, the rear mounting plate aligns the engines so they could be linked with a gear drive that feeds into a BMW K1000 transmission, and subsequently a shaft drive to power the rear wheel.