The vehicle changes in the film. For example, the first picture shows two steering dampers, which are missing from some other shots.
Left side. Even though I have boosted the contrast, we are still missing critical detail.
There is a lot of crankcase forward of the exhaust pipe, which I assume attaches to the cylinder head.
Has the engine been mounted backwards in the frame?
The black vertical cylinder forward of the rider's knee is the air filter. The red oval forward of that
is the fuel tank. It looks like there are two foot pedals, but the engine close-up in a later picture
shows that the right side pedal is a footrest only, not a control.
It looks like the left foot pedal might operate a rear brake. If it doesn't, the vehicle has no brakes.
There's a good clear view of the steering head - it looks like it's about 18 inches long, instead of the more usual 6 inches.
This was done so that the headstock could attach to two of the front end members, not just one.
The extension has led to numerous additional frame tubes being required.
Right side. The chain drive is on the right. There's no suspension front or back.
There are no brakes, nor control to operate them, for the front wheels.
Close-up of right side of engine. The string coming diagonally off the flywheel is the starter rope being pulled. That pull-start mechanism is never seen on a motorcycle engine. It's usually for smaller motors like those fitted to lawn mowers, generators and outboard engines.
Update from reader Dan Devereaux (Aug 18 2008): The engine looks like a Briggs and Stratton animal. There is a Comet torque converter visible in one shot. In the pull start picture you can see a brake pedal. The brake caliper that you can also see looks like the set up from a hydraulic brake on a race kart.
The carburettor has the throttle cable coming in from top right. There is a rusty guard plate below and left of the carburettor. Poking out from the front of that guard plate is what looks like a nipple, and below that a hydraulic or oil line. I suspect this is the caliper of a disk brake, with the rotor mounted coaxially with the engine sprocket.
Close-up of controls. From left to right: throttle twist grip, bicycle bell, ignition kill thumb switch. They must have cut the bar somewhere to mount the twist grip, and welded it together again, maybe under the other hand grip.
Right side again. Where is that chain going, and how does it connect to the engine?
It's going to the torque converter.
Front. Another view of the exhaust pipe snaking in to the cylinder.
Left side Good view of the left crankcase. No gear shift lever is visible.
No brake rod is visible, lending support to the engine sprocket disk brake theory.
Bottom line: I don't yet see how the chain connects to the engine. On the other hand, you don't need
disk brakes on something that can't run under its own power.
The engine looks like some Briggs & Stratton engines, and a close match found by Dan.
My guess is that someone on the film set had seen something similar
in Mexico, perhaps this:
So, no it is not fake, and you can build one yourself, if you have access to welding equipment and
a workshop.
They went to some trouble to put a lawn mower type engine in, instead
of starting with a motorbike, and grafting the cargo space on in
place of the front forks. Why? I'm guessing two reasons. First,
a bike with a front-end transplant would look too good, too finished.
They needed a vehicle that an impoverished friar might have. Second,
they really liked that dramatic pull-start rope, which actually
featured in a close up shot (the best shot we have of the rig in
fact).
If you know or guess more about this, please email me: pvdl at this website.
In a similar vein a home-built scooter driven by a chainsaw motor.
-- PvdL, Feb 3, 2007.
Is it a fake?
and got the modelmaking guys to whisk up something that
looks the part and is genuinely powered.
I've seen a few homemade cars (mostly electric
cars) built from scratch. If you keep your ambitions modest, and
reuse commercial parts appropriately, you can end up with something
quite serviceable. I don't have any trouble believing that a
village mechanic or blacksmith could turn a motorbike into a trike
like this with very little effort.