Tiny but mighty: watch the world’s smallest motorcycle in action

In 2003, Tom Wiberg (Sweden) set a Guinness World Records title that no one has managed to beat since, even after more than 20 years. 

Tom managed to beat the record for smallest motorcycle by creating a tiny vehicle with a front wheel diameter of 16 mm (0.62 in) and a rear wheel diameter of 22 mm (0.86 in).

He successfully built the vehicle and managed to ride it for more than 10 m (32.8 ft) with the help of special attachments on his shoes.

The motorbike that he named “Smalltoe” can reach a speed of 2 km/h (1.24 mph) when powered by its 0.22 kW (0.3 hp) engine. Tom recorded parts of his record-breaking attempt and uploaded them to his YouTube channel.

The video that he titled “Smalltoe in action” shows Tom positioned with his feet on the footrests and revving the motorbike. After a couple of seconds, Tom and Smalltoe are on the move, at a rather slow pace, but just enough to ride into the record books.

With a wheelbase of only 80 mm (3.14 in), and a seat height of 65 mm (2.55 in), the world’s smallest motorcycle is so small that Tom can even fit it in the palm of his hand.

Read about more record-breaking inventions in our Science and Technology section.

When tested on the scales, the mini motorcycle weighed a grand total of 1.1 kg (2.4 lb) which is equivalent to roughly two bags of sugar.

Tom was the first person to beat this record in quite a while. The previous record holder attempted the title on 1 January 1990 and managed to ride it for 1 m (3.2 ft).

The previous record holders were Simon Timperley and Clive Williams (UK), and they designed the motorcycle while working at Progressive Engineering Ltd, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, UK. Their creation was built with a wheelbase of 108 mm (4.2 in), a seat height of 95 mm (3.7 in). The front wheel measured a diameter of 19 mm (0.75 in), and the back wheel measured 24 mm (0.95 in).

Tom’s incredible tiny creation has left him with a Guinness World Records title for over 20 years, and still no one has managed to break it. If you think you could have a go at breaking this record, you’ll have to make something really small!