Not a Plane: 1986 Pulse Autocycle
The ingenuity of mankind attempting to get from here to there has spawned occasionally astonishing solutions. Here on eBay is a 1986 Pulse Autocycle, with spirited bidding to $17,895. The Pulse is located in Galion, Ohio, and it’s largely roadworthy. The engineer responsible for creating the Pulse was James Bede who formed the Tomorrow Corporation with Stan Leitner to produce what he called the Litestar from plans for a similar contraption that Bede called the BD200 (mostly sold in kit form). The manufacturer was – eventually – Owosso Motor Car Company after a prior maker couldn’t scale up. This web of inventor/co-conspirator/contractor/producer is typical of small-batch car-making. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who did what. Anyway, about 326 of these were made. The frame is tubular steel and the body is fiberglass with in-line seating for two. A motorcycle engine was fitted from the factory, usually a Yamaha 400.
The motor in this one is a fuel-injected, water-cooled Honda Silver Wing. The fuel-injected version of this motor is probably from the scooter made starting in 2002; if we’re right, it’s a 582 cc twin-cylinder motor with about 50 hp. (No photos of the engine are supplied.) The seller indicates that the cooling system has been newly updated and the exhaust is new. The transmission is an automatic. The seller notes that its reverse motor doesn’t always work. A big selling point for this invention was its excellent gas mileage, and while the marketing claim of 100 mpg was aspirational, owners did manage at least 50 mpg. The vehicle weighed about 1000 lbs, so it wasn’t necessarily logical to claim that making a heavier motorcycle would result in higher mileage than the motorcycle itself. A Yamaha 400 cc bike gets about 60 mpg.
The interior provides everything you need to roll down the road, including tunes and a heater. This one really couldn’t be neater inside, having been redone recently. The windshield is glass and there are signal lights, a wiper, and one headlight.
Despite low production numbers, Pulse Autocycles come up for sale regularly. Here is one, sold at $55,000 but granted a premium for prior documented Coca-Cola ownership; here is one complete with a trailer that sold for $45,666. Even this project was pretty pricey compared to the one on offer. Aside from the “weird” factor, these are reportedly fun to drive and a thriving club will help get you out on the road. Can you see yourself jetting around in this spacey vehicle?
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Comments
Not a bird, not a plane,,not a comment,,well, I’ll tell, ya’, east is east, and west is west, and never the two shall meet,,,meaning, leave planes for the sky. Crossing the 2 never worked well. I think it’s neat, kind of the 3 wheel predecessor, but you wouldn’t catch me in one. My feelings on motorcycles are well known, but this goes beyond anything I’m used to. The whole point of motorcycling, is being in the open, I don’t do well in tight spaces. I’d have to wear a bag over my head, further restricting the view. I read, most of these had GoldWing motors, not sure where the V-twin came from, a crappy motor, if you ask me. Apparently, the outrigger wheels are only for turns, IDK, sounds like a $50,000 PITA to me. For some reason, P.T. Barnum comes up again and again and again and again,,,although, there’s no real proof he actually said, “A sucker is born every minute”,
Jim Bede designed and kitted aircraft in the 70s. His early BD-5 design would eventually be modified into the BD-5J, one of which is pretty well known as the Coors Silver Bullet microjet. There is a family resemblance between it and the Pulse that I never noticed before.
These types vehicles both enthrall and intimidate me. I’ve often thought it would be quite cool to have a Peraves Monoracer, which to me is an expensive, but better alternative to the Pulse Autocycle, but holy smokes, the idea of two wheels and an inability to use your feet to balance at a stop light seems counter-intuitive. At the same time, the outriggers on the Pule suggest a whole lotta drama in corners, to me. but, then I’ve never driven one, so maybe my fears are unfounded.
I guess it’s a fancy motorcycle, but I’m like Howard in that I’m not a cycle fan and I also don’t like really tight spaces. Seems to me your vision behind you is severely limited.
I’d tend to think this is a bit safer in an upset, at least it’s enclosed, be a heck of a ride, that’s for sure. I don’t like cheesy renditions of things, I mean, if you want to fly, then fly, not this or want to go on the water, get a real boat, not an Amphicar. I suppose, the vision logic is, who cares what’s behind you. I’d have to think, hitting someone from behind, and it’s entirely possible with this, would be a mess.
I like the craftsmanship, but I am wondering about the handling. Looks to me that most of the weight rests on the nose gear and the outriggers. If that’s the case, the traction relies on the weight of the motor. Also, the motor has to be hinged, otherwise the whole thing teeters from wheel to wheel.
Looks like a death trap to me! Especially in wet pavement.
Reading the Autocycle website in interesting. Seams like the outriggers can have issues. https://www.autocycles.org/pulseoutrigger.html
Low miles, ends tonight, lets get those bids in.
Looks like the Hot Wheel you see an abundance of on the shelf because they dont’t sell.
$10 to the guy who can wind his way up thru all the levels of a parking garage without touching the walls….
Went to $19,500 reserve not met.
I can remember seeing a silver one along side the road with a for sale sign on it traveling between Tidewater VA and Washington DC in 1989. Rob and I walked around the outside, both of us having our motorcycle licenses. It had the outriggers, and we decided while it did look cool, it would probably be a beyotch to register, insure and simply drive. It def wouldn’t be a daily drive