The Roadog

Roadog was built over an 8-year period in the 1960's and features a 4-cylinder, 2490cc Chevrolet automobile engine. It weighs a mere 3,280 lbs, is 17' long, has a 5-gallon fuel tank, and could cruise at 100+ mph. Wild Bill reportedly put over 40,000 miles on the beast and happily rode it from state to state on a whim.

The Chevrolet engine was water cooled (no motorcycle featured this until 1970's).
The four cylinder engine had far less vibration than a Harley-Davidson or Indian.
The powerful engine was easier and less expensive to maintain than most bikes.
The Chevrolet engine could be tuned or repaired anywhere by ordinary mechanics.

Automatic transmission with reverse:

This has not been available ever on any production motorcycle.

Shaft drive:

Only BMW featured shaft drive at the time.

Disc brakes (from a Corvette) at front and rear:

All production motorcycles used drum brakes until the 1970's.

Steel 4140 alloy tubing frame:

The same strong and lightweight tubing used for aircraft at the time.

Trailing-link front suspension:

Other motorcycles used springers, telescopic forks, & leading-link swingarms.

Spare tire:

Not available ever on any production motorcycle.

Other features:

Instead of a kickstand it featured hydraulic jacks at each corner.
He kept a large tarp on board to cover the bike when he stopped for a beer.
Four coilover shocks for each wheel.
The rear differential came from a truck.

Roadog is now owned by Buzz Walneck, publisher and founder of the Motorcycle Trader magazine, and he occasional hauls it around to bike shows and state fairs. Years ago, Buzz let one of the writers for Cycle World give it a try but the writer crashed at low speed and Roadog tipped over, yet was mostly undamaged. The above photo has been reprinted countless times over the years (I remember seeing it as a kid) and now I have a 3-foot tall by 6-feet wide reproduction of it proudly displayed inside the Design Lab.

The Roadog: a unique American icon