Ron Patrick's jet-powered Honda scooter

It seems that we humans have a strange fascination with strapping immensely powerful jet engines onto objects that were clearly never made for such propulsion, but that doesn't stop the engineering (and a bit off kilter) minds of the world from giving it a go anyway. We've seen jet-powered wheelchairs and even supermarket carts, but the current king of overkill in regards to horsepower is none other than Ron Patrick -- his rocket-infused Volkswagen Beetle, though deemed "completely street legal" by Ron, sports an extra 1,350 horses thanks to the massive blaster he attached to his ride. Obviously this little endeavor went over so well that he figured strapping dual JFS 100 jet engines onto his wife's Honda Metropolitan scooter would solve her complaints of it "only going 40 miles per hour." Since Ron estimates that one engine alone could get her ride over 60 mph, it's fairly safe to say she should be outrunning commuters (and police, or anybody else for that matter) in no time. Patrick's biggest challenge is compensating for the weight of the actual engines, because at 50 pounds apiece, they put a serious strain on the suspension. He plans to install an "air-start" that utilizes a "carbon fiber tank of compressed air" in order to remove the batteries currently on the vehicle. Regardless of Ron's sanity (or lack thereof), we can't argue with his determination, and if you happen to see a scooter in California with a curious looking device on each side (click through to see what we mean), don't even think of revving your puny engine at Mrs. Patrick.

[Via OhGizmo]

[joe @ Aug 17th 2006 11:48AM]

wow.

[Dimitri @ Aug 17th 2006 11:56AM]

I wonder if the tiny 1.3 gallon fuel tank is even enough to make it to the next gas station.

[weatherman @ Aug 17th 2006 11:59AM]

reminds me of the scooter from Daxter. Cool.

I can't imagine this is actually street legal. It's one thing to make a jet powered bike that uses a turbine to power a shaft to turn the wheel, it's another to be thrust-driven. I certainly wouldn't want to be behind this at a stoplight.

If it's going to be thrust-driven, why not put some wings on it? I'd love to have a little ground effect scooter to hop around on.

[Daniel @ Aug 17th 2006 12:07PM]

Firefly lives.

[boynamedsue @ Aug 17th 2006 12:17PM]

when i moved to cali i had to leave my motorcycle in michigan. So i picked up one of these until i could get another proper bike.

Theres a reason these things only go 40 mph. Good luck with potholes.

[PreGHz @ Aug 17th 2006 12:24PM]

I own the 2006 model of this beast. My ride tops out at 45MPH. That's not as fast as one would hope. Why not 60MPH?

He should try just a single jet on the rear of the thing. Although I wouldn't know how it would fit, I'm sure he could figure it out.

Put the jet in the trunk, and reinforce the lining with something that would keep the rider's tush from burning.

By the way,
Good luck with the MPG.

[Pinkerton @ Aug 17th 2006 12:39PM]

Sure, this will be cool for the wow factor, but will it outrun a Vespa Granturismo scooter? Prolly not.

[physics @ Aug 17th 2006 12:42PM]

Does it actually run?

Are those engines actually attached, or are they just sitting on those blocks?

[tim @ Aug 17th 2006 12:42PM]

Or he could, you know, spend that money to buy a scooter with a bigger engine. I have a feeling this might not be about practicality, though.

[Kennoy @ Oct 27th 2007 9:35PM]

Those "blocks" are 1 gallon cans of something.

[marshall @ Aug 17th 2006 12:42PM]

The coloring on the can that is propping up the (driver's side) engine reminds me of the cans that hold the various paint stripper type items at the hardware store, like MEK and Acetone. I don't know what the blue/brown one holds, but most of the items in those containers are flammable.

I suppose my safety concerns are misplaced though, as anyone driving a jet powered scooter has a lot bigger things to worry about.

[Stewart Foss @ Aug 17th 2006 12:59PM]

Is Ron a man or woman. Your post goes back and forth between Mrs. Patrick, He, and She when referring to this person.

[Seth @ Aug 17th 2006 1:00PM]

Is it just me, or are those engines not actually attached? It looks like these photos are just of a mockup of what it'd look like.

Nice example of counting your eggs, but besides that not much to report on here...

[Rich @ Aug 17th 2006 1:02PM]

Where in the hell do you buy little jet engines like that? My ZX-11 is begging for a pair.

[Di @ Aug 17th 2006 1:09PM]

I hope the tires are rated those kinds of speeds.

I want to see the news coverage of that police chase. lol

[austin @ Aug 17th 2006 1:21PM]

At least in these pictures, the engines are not actually attached. If you read his page about the jet-powered (VW) Beetle, you'll see the jet scoot is just an idea.

[DrunkenMessiah @ Aug 17th 2006 1:31PM]

Hahaha, you guys have had a bit of a misprint there. The JSF100 is a massive 3+ foot diamater afterburning turbofan engine that powers many F-16s, what this gentleman has botched onto his scooter are two JSF100 starter motors. They feature a free turbine that spins at over 70,000 RPM, and normally have a sun and planetary gear train with a 30:1 ratio used to start the collosal JSF100. This guy has converted them from turboshaft to a thrust turbine configuration, which is actually an innificient, but very fun use for them. I've seen a similar configuration attatched to an ultra-light class personal aircraft. The engine weighs 90 lbs. and at the shaft outputs 90 break horsepower and nearly 350 foot-pounds of torque.

[Austin @ Aug 17th 2006 1:33PM]

Whats the deal with the safety talk. He did it to the feaking Beetle. Why not a scooter. Mounting a front wing to keep it on the ground might be a good idea. Or mount side wings to put it into the air. I would like to see this thing fly. And if you look at his website they arent attached yet. He is trying to figure it all out still.

[snark @ Aug 17th 2006 1:33PM]

Just reminds me something Wile E.Coyote would build with his ACME kit but as always having the thing blow him up in the end.

[Ryan @ Aug 17th 2006 1:44PM]

He's not adding the air start to get rid of the batteries...you can't start a turbine with a battery. One of those engines needs to be running in order to start itself up, which is why you use compressed air to make it 'think' it's going forward, and then it will power itself up and start running.

[DrunkenMessiah @ Aug 17th 2006 1:51PM]

^true, you can't start a turbine with just a battery, but many turbines are run up with a conventional starter/generator, which can be used to spin the engine up to the necassary rpm (usually about 40%) then swithces gears and becomes and airplane's equivilent of an alternator. This is done to save weight. The JSF100 starter motor is interesting in that it actually has special air ducts that can direct pressurized air into the blades of the free turbine, replacing the pressurized air that should be coming from the compressor, thus building momentum and getting the engine up to speed.

[Tom Allen @ Aug 17th 2006 2:07PM]

Just put some wings on and, DUDE! A flying scooter!

[PreGHz @ Aug 17th 2006 2:08PM]

Without the battery, the system must be manually kickstarted. Hope he figures a workaround. The kickstart would be hard to reach with a jet starter sitting on top of it.

I still say go with just one engine. It'll still produce 90 break horses, like Messiah said. That's enough to kill oneself. That's good enough for me.

Think about the towing possibilities! ;)

If you rev the engine and then drop off the kickstand, this thing pops a wheelie. If the thruster activates (even if you're going top speed), wouldn't that force the front end up? Even with a front spoiler, I suspect that will happen. Now if you had racing tires and a humongus spoiler in front, that might be a different story...

[Eli @ Aug 17th 2006 3:00PM]

Jesus, check a fact or two some time.

First, this is ancient news, more apt to be reported by archeologists than bloggers. Second, if you actually RTFA you'll see that he's only speculating about the scooter, and the engines are in no way attached.

And to everyone else in the thread, you should RTFA too. It answers pretty much all of your questions.

[PreGHz @ Aug 17th 2006 3:31PM]

We did read the article, we're just speculating for poops and chuckles.

[AdamC @ Aug 17th 2006 4:04PM]

@ DrunkenMessiah: You have no idea what you are talking about do you? F-16s are powered by an engine called the F100, made by Pratt. You are correct in that is too big for a scooter. That is about all. The JFS (Jet Fuel Starter) 100 is made by Allied Signal, and is the size shown. It is used to start the F100 family of engines. I think you all rag on the editors of this site way too much. The comments section is usually populated by a bunch of circus monkeys that have never before enjoyed an English lesson.

[Orange County Toyota Honda Nissan @ Aug 25th 2006 6:05PM]

Definitely don't want to fall off the back of that without a padded firesuit. ; )

Toyota Honda Nissan Guy

[Electric Scooter Guy @ Aug 29th 2006 7:33PM]

I wonder how Ron's Honda scooter would do against this mutha of a tricked out Go-Ped that slammed a Trans-Am; http://youtube.com/watch?v=SkooEFgiaiE. Mrs. Ron and this guy should get together and race for pinks.

[Scooter @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:42AM]

If you find this blog interesting, check out this. We have all sorts of great info.

Gas, electric, scooters, mopeds, skateboards, pocketbikes, helmets, protective gear.

Scooter Jones

[Bryan @ Jun 4th 2007 4:42PM]

I am in the process of converting a JFS-100. Where did you get your nozzels cones made? Do you have a set of drawings for the nozel cones?

Bryan

[Cozmo @ Jan 14th 2008 11:33PM]

Man how did I miss this? Jet powered, right on!
Add some wings to it and make it fly ;)

[Eugene @ Apr 18th 2008 1:19AM]

Wow.. that is some super scooter.

Dear all,
I am seeking for a new unit of JFS100-13.
Can anyone tell me where I can purchase it?
I desperately need it for my final project on combustion studies.
Do provide me the contact or website.
Thank you.

[e-mail]