Powered by a Soviet tank engine and weighing over 5 tons, the Panzerbike is the world’s heaviest rideable motorcycle. The story of the world’s heaviest motorcycle can be traced back to 2003, when bothers Tilo and Wilfried Niebel were in Halberstadt, Germany, where a former Red Army barracks was being demolished. They were there looking for parts to use in building their custom motorcycles. They happened across an impressive cutaway model of a Soviet T-55 tank engine and were so fascinated by it that they asked if they could have it. Little did they know that this would be the beginning of a very special project that would see them claim a Guinness Record and hold it for nearly two decades. The motorcycle is named after the German Panzer tank, built in Germany, but is mostly made up of Soviet parts. Weighing nearly 9,920 pounds, the Panzerbike is immense and requires a 2-person team to operate — one to handle the steering and one to manage the cradle. It took a total of 5,000 hours to build, during which its creators used about 264 pounds of welding wire. The bike's massive sidecar also has its own steering system, as the turning radius of the main front wheel of the bike is negligible. Although the world’s heaviest motorcycle is famously known as Panzerbike, its official name is “Katharina die Große” (Catherine the Great), a reference to the Russian origin of most of its components.
