World-first tandem rear-wheeled Hayabusa: almost completely useless

Nick Dagostino is one of a new breed. For decades, insecure men with money to spare have been able to gain themselves attention at biker meets by spending inordinate sums on a shedload of performance and aesthetic mods, gaining them credibility as ‘bling kings’ whether or not their riding ability is up to the mark. But it seems that disposable dollars have become so plentiful in the U.S. that you can drop 10 grand on custom sparkly bits and extended swingarms, and *still* feel like your precious snowflake-mobile isn’t unique enough.

Dagostino was tired of his own chromed, dropped, extended and painted Hayabusa blending into the custom bike crowd, so he came up with the idea of running a purely cosmetic second rear wheel behind the driven one on a custom-built tandem swingarm. The logistics of suspending the rear end while keeping the swingarm horizontal proved too complicated, so it’s rigidly mounted on a strut much like hardtail choppers sometimes use. Likewise, there was a chance he could have fitted at least a brake system to the rear wheel to make it useful for *something,* but no proportioning valve could be found that looked good enough to fit.

Dagostino is delighted with the results: “I wanted a bike that would be talked about long after Bike Week, and long after Laconia,” he told the guys at Super Streetbike. “I want people to go home and say, `You aren’t going to believe this sick, three-wheeled Hayabusa I saw. It looked like a 200-mph rollerblade!’ I love having that effect on people.”

With no rear suspension, an extra-long wheelbase and a lowered front end, the bike is no longer able to be used as a fast cornering machine. It’s also unlikely to be any use at the dragstrip where traction is at a premium. It certainly won’t be a comfortable cruiser. But it’s not entirely useless - it does seem to be an effective way of getting its owner the attention he so desperately needs.

You may have seen these photos around the net - for more close-ups of the bike and a full interview with Dagostino, see Super Streetbike.

Via Faster and Faster.