Rocket Scientist Builds the Tul-Aris with a 2-stroke 772cc Parallel Twin Engine

Tul-Aris Dr. Rob Tuluie (1999) - Blue/White Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

For this Throwback Thursday we decided to set our sights on the Tul-Aris. A unique 273lbs (dry weight) motorcycle with plenty of character.

A uniquely simply machine, the Tul-Aris.

The Tul-Aris is the child of Dr. Rob Tuluie. This two-stroke 772cc parallel twin (snowmobile) engine motorcycle produces 183 horsepower @8,700rpm is anything but ordinary. This bike has Formula 1 technology, carbon fiber tank and an engine which forms part of the entirely carbon fiber chassis. For something designed pre-2000’s this bike was definitively outside the box.

The Tul-Aris pictured here with an exposed side.

Another innovative aspect of the bike is the frame which also doubles as an air intake. The air comes in right through the forks into the radiator which is located right behind the engine. Tuluie thought that a radiator will not be much more effective if you’re going 40mph or 200mph. Once you have a certain speed going through the radiator that is sufficient, any more will not result in more cooling. This approach focuses on the speed of the flow instead of the area. As it requires speeds of over 40/50 mph this type of radiator is inefficient for street use due to the slower vehicle speeds. There wouldn’t be nearly enough air supply necessary to control the engine temperature and radiant heat.

The dual exhaust runs underneath the seat and out from behind.

Although this may sound like an ideal track bike, one of its biggest drawbacks may be the vibration. Even its creator terms the vibration as “not great, but not bad,” and “quite tolerable” personally, that would make me question how bad the vibration actually is. That being said, the bike is still an engineering piece of work.

No space for headlights. This bike was made for racing.

Instead of built from “intuition and guesswork,” the Tul-Aris was engineered. Although, intuition and guesswork are required to build a good motor, for a great motor from scratch you need to engineer it.

If you are looking to pick yourself up one of these, you might be out of luck. The bike costs around $10,000 just in materials, however, with all the hours and effort put into creating this bike puts the price tag well over $100, 000 (in 1999). On top of the hefty price, the bike is also not for sale.

The Tul-Aris has some wild and unusual features, even for today’s standard.

Images courtesy of Roadracing World.