3WD Motorcycle? Who knew.

What an awesome piece of equipment. I bet it's a nightmare to work on. I still want one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTYQVzvZPw4

Was that designed as military vehicle, a farm implement, or is this completely home brewed?

cool. I'd like to take a closer look at that front wheel setup.

I can see where Vodka played a central role in the design team.

I am betting military

It has a cart from the 1800s attached to it.

Didn't KTM experiment with a hydraulic powered front wheel fairly recently? (like 5 years).

Edit: I guess Yamaha is/was the real pioneer there.

I know the KTM dealer here has a fwd setup on display. They didn't bring it to the motorcycle show, no idea why. As I recall it wasn't theirs, it was an aftermarket thingie. Hydraulic up at the top of the triple tree with a shaft going down the fork tube and a gear & sprocket drive at the wheel hub?

foxtrapper wrote: I know the KTM dealer here has a fwd setup on display. They didn't bring it to the motorcycle show, no idea why. As I recall it wasn't theirs, it was an aftermarket thingie. Hydraulic up at the top of the triple tree with a shaft going down the fork tube and a gear & sprocket drive at the wheel hub?

I saw one of those bikes at the Minneapolis motorcycle show this last weekend. http://thekneeslider.com/ktm-300-exc-all-wheel-drive-conversion/ It uses a chain drive up to the steering head, goes through a U-joint there, and then another chain goes down to the front wheel. It also has a Hossack front suspension system.

Sort of like a Rokon with a sidecar.

I did a little digging, it's a Ural M-67 AWD.

With a M designation, I'm betting military as well. Probably Cold War era. They must be rare as hens teeth, I can't find much info on them.

I've seen hydraulic front drive 2WD dirtbikes before, but a shaft drive to the front is a first

Urals with sidecars are always 2wd, first I have seen an AWD. He'd have been better off with momentum and real knobbies than the AWD setup.

Rokon built the first production 2wd motorcycle. Christini here in the States does 2wd conversions on Honda and KTM bikes, all the major manufacturers have experimented with it at one time or another on both street/dirt bikes.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

He'd be better off with a 4WD truck.

I bet it rides worse than a totaled moped. I can imagine the vibration and weirdness that front shaft transmits into the steering. But I love strange things, if I could find one for cheap, it would be very hard to pass up. Very cool.

I found another interesting Russian contraption in the suggested videos: http://youtu.be/fks7OWG7Gh0

I think I would rather ride the motorcycle!

You've gotta love Russian freeways.

bgkast wrote: I found another interesting Russian contraption in the suggested videos: http://youtu.be/fks7OWG7Gh0 I think I would rather ride the motorcycle!

Weird Russian contraptions for $1000 Alex.

watches video

What happens if you take the blades and controls from an old helicopter and add in some scrap steel and a rotax?

In reply to Toyman01:

Naw. With a 4wd truck he'd have had to yank it out with a winch.

And yeah, get that front wheel cranked, say, 20 degrees either way then gas it and all kinds of weirdness would happen the least of which would be it trying to yank the bars out of your hands. A typical Cardan joint like that won't take more than about 10 deg angularity without shaking itself to death, I don't even want to know what 20 deg would do.

Any crappy 4WD atv would have ran right through there no problem.

Works terrific, if you are willing to put on your hip waders and push a bit.

Mechanically cool, but not very serviceable.

I am thinking too much weight, too much complexity, too little tire width, and too little tread for what he is trying to accomplish.

I think this is the one the KTM dealer here had on display:

http://www.christini.com/bikes/christini-awd-framekit

Curmudgeon wrote: Urals with sidecars are always 2wd, first I have seen an AWD. He'd have been better off with momentum and real knobbies than the AWD setup. Rokon built the first production 2wd motorcycle. Christini here in the States does 2wd conversions on Honda and KTM bikes, all the major manufacturers have experimented with it at one time or another on both street/dirt bikes.

Not all of them, and I believe those that are can be switched between one and two wheel drive.