Mike Fobes originally wanted a new Harley. He hadn't had a street bike since before his kids were born and now they were nearly grown. But his wife would not abide it. Rather than get into a drawn-out argument, he relented. He wouldn't buy a motorcycle. But he never said he wouldn't build one. And as a further concession to his wife's safety concerns, he decided he wouldn't even build a bike. Technically. Rather, his chopper would have four wheels. The 55-year-old master mechanic and auto-tech instructor looted a rotary engine from an old Mazda RX-7, put in a two-speed circle-track racing transmission, and attached two independent front wheels and two Avon 250 tires in the back.

For something that looks like it's straight out of hell, Fobes's bike is appropriately named—he calls it Twisted Evil. With all the tweaks and improvements Fobes has put into the engine, it can get up to 200 miles per hour. Though he wouldn't try it. It's more of a show bike, with the turning radius constricted by the forks and rakes in the front end. It took him four years to build. After his wife saw the finished product, she finally caved, and Fobes went out and got a Harley. Twisted Evil remains a trophy of marital compromise.

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