The TMC Dumont

Looking like something ripped out of a science fiction movie, retired Formula One driver Tarso Marques has created an incredibly sleek and low profile motorcycle that sports an airplane engine with silver hubless wheels.

Tarso’s creation includes a 300 horsepower, six-cylinder Rolls Royce Continental engine widely used in aviation during the 1960s. While the engine draws the immediate attention of motorcycle enthusiasts, the wheels catch the attention of anyone who sees this most inventful of machines.

Two massive 36-inch hubless silver wheels appear to be magically attached to the bike, giving the TMC Dumont an incredibly futuristic appearance. Adding to the outstanding performance of this machine of tomorrow is the bike’s continuously-variable transmission or CVT, a transmission designed, developed and manufactured uniquely for the Dumont.

The CVT has no clutch or manual gear shifting, allowing the driver to simply roll the throttle to engage the bike, much like the operation of a scooter. The name Dumont is a tribute to Alberto Santos-Dumont, who is a national hero in Brazil, and believed by many Brazilians to have beaten the Wright Brother’s historic 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

How the bike drives on the street is a bit of technological wonder, employing pivot points on the front suspension, which helps the rider navigate the bike through turns. While Tarso had conceived and continuously refined the Dumont in his mind for the preceding fifteen years, the TMC Dumont made its debut at Daytona Bike Week 2018, where the futuristic machine won best in show over hundreds of competing motorcycles.