From the Only in America files comes this, the Tailgunner Yamaha R1. Well, it was and R1 before the gun nuts at Tailgunner Exhaust in the USA got their hands on it…
Words: Mat
It doesn’t take much more than a cursory glace to see that this doesn’t really bear much resemblance to your everyday R1. Knowing this, the lads at Tailgunner have dutifully rechristened their R1 with a more appropriate name: the Tailgunner / Dillon Aero M134X High Speed Interceptor (but we’ll just call it the Tailgunner R1 because it is less of a mouth full). It takes its name from its rather obvious key feature; a massive M134 Gatling gun strapped to the front of the bike, and before you ask yes, it is fully functional!
Why you would want, let alone need to put an Mini Gun on the front of a motorcycle is anyone’s guess, but I’m thinking it probably has something to do with the designer getting cut off one too many times on the freeway.
Apart from the rather frightening level of firepower above the front wheel, Tailgunner have lengthened the swingarm to help counter the added weight of the gun, and added a nitrous oxide system to put the power in firepower.
The Tailgunner R1 brings so many questions to mind such as: How does it handle? What’s its fuel economy like? What’s its top speed? But most of all it makes us wonder why?
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When it comes to a bike with firepower, I think I’d still prefer to have Batman’s Batcycle from The Dark Knight parked in my garage. Batman’s ride just seems a lot less… threatening.
For part two in the series on this incarnation of “Death on Two Wheels”, click here.
