10-seat Harley en route from Bonduel to Germany

BONDUEL, Wis. (AP) - Doc's Harley-Davidson's Timeline motorcycle is going on its longest road trip yet - a trek that will lead to Chicago, to the East Coast and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Germany.
    
Steve "Doc" Hopkins, owner of Doc's Harley-Davidson of Bonduel, said the bike is headed to the Essen Motor Show, one of the largest motor shows in the world.
    
"We had a promoter find out about the Timeline motorcycle online," Hopkins told the Shawano Leader "They saw this bike and they're just desperate to have it in Germany."
    
The bike was loaded into a trailer early Tuesday for its trip to Chicago, where it will be placed into a large cargo container and then hauled to New York via train. From there it will be placed on a boat and shipped to Germany.
    
"It'll take three weeks to make it over there by boat, then it has to sit in customs for five days and will then arrive in Essen, Germany, a few days ahead of the show," Hopkins said. "They want me there before it arrives to talk about it on German television and other public relations projects for the Essen Motor Show."
    
The nine-day show opens Dec. 1.
    
Hopkins built the 10-seat, seven-engine Timeline motorcycle in seven months in 2009. It is 25 feet long, seats 10 people and weighs approximately 3,000 pounds - 5,000 with a full crew on board.
    
"The whole theme of the motorcycle is that it shows the rolling history of all Harley-Davidson engines," he said.
    
Harley-Davidson began manufacturing motorcycles in 1903, but had only single-cylinder motorcycles until 1909 when it released its first V Twin.
    
The Timeline motorcycle has all seven engine models the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company has ever used, from the F-Head IOE engine in use from 1909-1929 to the current Twin Cam (Flathead).
    
"They all do run, they all power the bike," Hopkins said. "It was quite a chore getting them all tuned to run together and be happy together, but we do run all seven engines at once. I have a huge clutch on there that will handle 1,000 horsepower."
    
On long road trips, Hopkins can disconnect the first six engines and run just the rear, most modern, motor.
    
"If you run all the motors all the time down the highway, the heat will come back into the next engine and it would harm the engines," Hopkins said. "For the short periods of time it's OK to run all seven."
    
Above each engine is a plaque that describes the motor and its history.
    
The Timeline, obviously, is unique in many other areas, as well.
    
It has four wheels, two front forks and two rear wheels, because it has to bear so much weight. Hopkins put aircraft wheels on the rear of the bike to help the driver.
    
"When you have all 10 people on and you take off, you're a little sideways on one aircraft wheel," Hopkins said. "The more people you have on there, the more speed the motorcycle needs in order to get balanced. The guy in the front has to balance everybody and the motorcycle."
    
"When you're up and going, the aircraft wheels stay off the ground," Hopkins said.
    
The motorcycle takes about a 60-foot radius, the same as a semi-truck, to make turns.
    
"It's a challenge to drive this thing," Hopkins said.
    
The Timeline holds a little more than nine gallons of fuel and got about 22 miles per gallon on a trip to Sturgis, S.D., in 2009.
    
Hopkins has taken the Timeline to shows in Boston, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Ames, Iowa. It has been to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee several times.
    
However, none of those shows required Hopkins to show proof of ownership - a title.
    
"It wasn't licensed or titled or anything," Hopkins said. "We did drive it to Sturgis one year, but I just put a dealer plate on it and away we went."
    
Getting it through customs for an international trip has required a bit more.
    
"It's been months and months that we've been working with the state to get a title for this thing," Hopkins said. "It has seven VIN numbers on it, plus a frame number."
    
Hopkins said when he first showed up at the Division of Motor Vehicles in Green Bay, the employees were unsure how to classify the bike.
    
"They were all freaking out because it has seven engines on it, 10 people can ride it, and it's this long and this heavy, and has four wheels," Hopkins laughed. "There was no category left for it; they were out of boxes to mark."
    
After a call to the Wausau center, DMV officials sent a State Patrol officer to collect VINs from the engines and the bike frame.
    
"On Monday I picked up the title," Hopkins said. "They had to create a whole new category just for this bike. . It was quite a process."
    
Hopkins' most famous bike will be gone from his Timeline restaurant for about two months, but he has a stand-in.
    
"We'll have the 45 Motorcycle that I built in August 2008," Hopkins said.
    
"That motorcycle I built in 17 days, it seats five people, is 13 feet long and it has four 45-inch Flathead motors on