THE GELBKE ROADOG! JUNE 2008

June 1, 2008 12:47 PM AWST

Billed as the world's largest motorcycle when it first appeared in 1962, Roadog was 17 foot long and weighed 3,280 lbs.\nConstructed over 8 years in Gelbke's Chicago factory, it was powered by a four cylinder OHV engine from a Chevy Nova, had fully automatic transmission and could cruise easily at 100 mph. Four hydraulic jacks kept Roadog upright when stationary, and could also right the bike in case of a fall.

Roadog cost $40,000 USto build, with the frame constructed using aircraft tubing.

The bike was driven over 20,000 miles in its first year alone, and despite its "junkyard dog" looks was outstanding on the highway, designed for high speed, long distance cruising. The Roadog was claimed by Gelbke to feature the world's first automatic transmission on a motorcycle, and also came with crash bars front and rear, exceptional braking with hydraulic discs on front, full instrumentation, electric fuel system, plus provision for the removal of the motor, transmission, driveshaft and rear end within 15 minutes.

Before he died in 1979 - shot by police - Gelbke built nine slightly smaller Auto-Four motorbikes with a iew to a regular production program. They were actually tested by Yamaha in America, with Yoshi Tayanara the Testing Engineer stating, "They will never believe this in Japan!" Perhaps they still wouldn't today!