Britain's most powerful motorcycle, the Rapom V8

IF YOUR IDEA of 'modified' is an R6 with a slip-on can, a steering damper and rim tape, then take a look at this. After spending hours in the garage trying to get your end-can to fit properly, you'll appreciate the work that's gone into the UK's most powerful motorcycle, the Rapom V8. Created by Nick Argyle, a 44-year old engineer from the Cotswolds, the huge 8.2 litre supercharged engine comes from Argyle's 'Monster Truck' and produces over 1000bhp, which we need not mention, is a figure more than five times more than the output of Kawasaki's ZZR-1400, the world's fastest production motorcycle.

The Rapom V8 was created in Argyle's garage after he sold his 'Monster Truck' chassis and wanted to build another small project. A bike it had to be. Argyle told Visordown: "I didn't have the same workshop space I had when I built the truck. I only had the house garage so it had to be a bike. I was going to buy a new engine for the project but my wife told me to use the one that was still in the garage " the monster-truck engine! Despite its size, I thought 'Why not?'"

The Rapom V8 runs on pure alcohol and cruises at a bank account-draining four miles to the gallon. The bike has been built to fly up the local drag strip, although it is ridden to the circuit, 10 miles down the road. We can't quite figure out how you'd leave a T-junction or negotiate a roundabout with those tyres and not to mention the exhausts. Still, if the owner fancies coming on a Visordown rideout, we straighten up the route just to see him tickle that 1000bhp down a dual carriageway.