Cambridge's Chris Minnee is the first man in New Zealand to successfully put a helicopter engine into a motorbike.

The project has taken him about three years and although he still has a few things to debug, the bike is up and running.

Chris co-owns Rotorcraft, and is a self-confessed "petrol head" of many years. A motorcyclist for the last 40 years, he came up with the idea of putting a helicopter engine into a motorbike while doing a ground run with a helicopter that had just been inspected.

Emma James/Fairfax NZ The motorbike can run on diesel but traditionally runs on Jet A1 fuel.

"I thought 'this would sound cool in a bike' … I kept thinking about it so then I said why not," he said.

READ MORE: Kiwi building helicopter-powered motorbike

The engine is made from expired parts he retrieved from scrap.

"They're perfectly good to use, they're just out of time."

After buying the Triumph Rocket III, he replaced the blown motor with a Rolls-Royce Allison 250-C20B - the same engine used to power a Bell 206 (jet ranger) helicopter.

Next up is getting it road legal.

"It's got no real practical use whatsoever but I'm hoping to get it certified," he said.

The bike's distinctive noise will have to be tackled for that - Chris must get it down to 100 decibels before he can continue the certification process.

Once legal, he might look at street racing the bike, and perhaps take part in events such as the annual toy run.

But with it using 40 litres of fuel an hour, it's not going to be an everyday mode of transport. The bike can take diesel, but traditionally runs on Jet A1.

He reached about 100kmh on the bike's 'test flight', but will do further inspections before trying to top that.

"It's all homemade, so I want to pull it apart and make sure it's okay first," he laughed.

Proud of his accomplishment, Chris said the death of his son in a motorbike accident two years ago made him even more determined to finish the project.

"I've built something that no one else has, and I'd like to say at my own funeral that yup, I'm the silly bugger that built that," he laughed.