Motorists might think twice about opening their car door on this monster bike

Daily Mail, By DAILY MAIL REPORTER, 20th June 2010

Here is one penny farthing you won't see in a museum.

The monster bike took three months to build and is made from steel tubes, bicycle parts and a tractor tyre.

It is the brainchild of Wouter van den Bosch, a Dutch art student and former mechanical engineer, who made the 450kg colossus from parts donated to him from friends and a tractor company.

The 29 year old, from Arnhem, in the Netherlands, has become a YouTube sensation after a video of him pedalling the creation received more than 600,000 hits in two weeks.

Wheelie big: Wouter van den Bosch with his monster bike, which took three months to build and is made from steel tubes, bicycle parts and a tractor tyre

He said: 'For the the past few years I have been into making mechanical mutations - changing the purpose devices or parts are designed for. Since this is my final year on my arts degree I wanted to plan something big.

'Six months ago I made some drawings for a bike, that soon started out to be a really big bike. I started harvesting parts from people I knew, so it was cheap to make, and began putting it all together.

'It was fantastic when it was ready and I took it out for the first time. I'm not sure if it's legal but I drove it around the block a couple of times to see if it works and to see people's faces.

'Some people look pleased and some were annoyed, saying "Hey get out of the way".

'I can understand it might be annoying for someone travelling to work on a Monday morning to have a monster bike blocking their cycle lane.'

On yer bike: Wouter shows how its done, riding his creation around the streets. With its top speed not much more than a crawl, it might not be best for rush-hour traffic

Before Wouter went to university he studied mechanical engineering and worked in a factory making equipment for oil rigs.

He is interested in creating hybrids, and last year transformed a set of kitchen devices into driving, drawing and flying machines.

He added: 'By blowing up the front tyre I wanted to add humour as well as social criticism.

'For example, the Hummer car is designed to be a flashy vehicle to show off in, but it weighs about 2,500kg and is normally used to transport just one person.

'The amount of petrol it uses is completely unnecessary.

'But with a little person like me, on this ridiculously big vehicle, doing all the pedalling myself, I hope it's also making a point as well.

'I try to think outside the box, I don't need to place my stuff into categories. My family and friends know I'm pretty crazy but they were still amazed at this latest effort.

'Is it art? I don't know if it is art. I just like to build stuff and make fun, I dont need to call it art.'

Since the video clip of Wouter went online he has had offers to exhibit the bike at museums and music festivals.

He said: 'The response has really amazed me. Now that the bike is finished and I am almost done with school I don't know what to do with the bike.

'Maybe the owner of Michelin will see the video and ask for his tyre back.'