kawasaki motorcycle sets world record as vehicle with 48 cylinders

48 cylinders for custom road-legal kawasaki motorcycle

A road-legal Kawasaki motorcycle revs to life with 48 cylinders courtesy of the special builder, Simon Whitelock. The custom ride holds the Guiness World Record as the land vehicle with most cylinders, and in fact, it does have quite several onboard. Simon Whitelock has managed to put sixteen KH250 engines arranged in six banks of eight on the Kawasaki motorcycle, and the result has him claimed the world record so far. The custom Kawasaki with 48 cylinders isn’t built for speed, though; the maker sets it up for the title.

all images courtesy of Bonhams|Cars

2003 Whitelock 4200cc Tinker Toy by simon whitelock

Simon Whitelock started building his custom Kawasaki motorcycle named ‘2003 Whitelock 4200cc Tinker Toy’ in 1998 and completed it until 2003 (80 percent of the work was carried out in the final year). Each of the 48 cylinders has their own ignition and Mikuni carburetor, and the exhaust is laid out as a 24-into-1 on each side of the motorcycle. Specs-wise, the tank is a stretched KH250 component, which doubles as a cover for the electrical and ignition components. There’s a fuel tank between the middle and lower cylinder banks made from stainless steel tubing and a 125cc single-cylinder, two-stroke scooter engine as the starter motor of the road-legal ride.

Simon Whitelock’s surname on the frame of the custom Kawasaki motorcycle with 48 cylinders

Engine without exhaust sounds like rolls-Royce merlin

For the other parts of the Kawasaki motorcycle with 48 cylinders, Simon Whitelock also customizes the frame, with the front end from a Honda Gold Wing. The wheel rims are laced with heavy-duty spokes, the builder takes the transmission from a BMW K100, and the electrical power comes from a car-type alternator. Overall, the motorcycle weighs 600 kilos and is road-legal. The builder says that when he first revved up the engine without the exhaust system, it sounded like a Rolls-Royce Merlin, and that’s a positive remark from him as a fan of WW2 aviation.

detailed view of the 48 cylinders on the Kawasaki motorcycle

Simon Whitelock is a fan of multi-cylinder aero engines during the period of WW2, so much so that he draws the name of his custom Kawasaki motorcycle – which is ‘2003 Whitelock 4200cc Tinker Toy’ – from a B17 Flying Fortress bomber (Tinker Toy is the American equivalent of Meccano).

This isn’t his first time customizing a ride because prior to this, he also built his first Kwacker special – a triple-based four-cylinder – around 1987, followed by a nine-cylinder triple-triple, a seven-cylinder inline triple, and then an H2R replica. So far, the custom Kawasaki with 48 cylinders went up for auction by Bonhams|Cars and is now sold.

the custom Kawasaki with 48 cylinders isn’t built for speed, but with the record in mind