Batman gets to ride/drive/fly some pretty awesome stuff. But when he’s not at work fighting the seedy underbelly of Gotham, Bruce Wayne might still want access to some cool machinery. Cue 1980SomethingSpaceGuy, who has repurposed the parts from the 42155 The Batman – Batcycle set into this stealthy cafe racer. A V4 engine, steering and suspension all feature, and there’s more to see of 1980’s 42155 B-Model at the Eurobricks forum via the link above.
We’re on two wheels today, thanks to Jonathan Elliott and this lovely BMW R80 ‘Cafe Racer’ motorcycle. There’s a brick-built boxer engine, single-shock suspension, and shaft drive constructed from the five-hundred carefully chosen pieces, a good few of which are brown. And brown bikes look ace. Ride to the cafe via the link above.
3D printing has changed the way things are made forever. Prototypes, one-offs, and recreations of long-lost parts can now be produced at a fraction of their previous cost thanks to computer-aided-design and little plastic granules.
Inevitably we’re now seeing 3D printed pieces appear in Lego creations too, including this one by regular bloggee Horcik Designs. Horcik’s cafe racer motorcycle uses a (very cool looking ) 3D printed front brake disc, which fits perfectly to the front wheel.
Steering, suspension, a piston engine, and a foot-peg operated two-speed transmission also feature, with these all built from standard LEGO pieces.
With LEGO themselves regularly creating new and bespoke pieces for official sets, we’re taking the stance that a model using a custom part doesn’t preclude it from appearing here.
You can see more of Horcik’s cafe racer at both Bricksafe and Eurobricks, the latter of which shows another of his creations that’s has gone (quite a long way) further down the 3D printing route…
Ah, the cafe in the bookstore; the place to go to meet attractive hipster girls whilst trying to look intelligent. “Yes I did enjoy ‘Infinite Jest’, although I found it strayed towards a wandering narrative in places… Can I buy you a coffee?”
Cue seb71‘s ‘cafe racer’ style motorcycle, which is pictured here on its own but forms part of some rather lovely bookends (see, it all makes sense).
Built for a challenge on a French forum (which if he isn’t French makes this so hipster it hurts), Seb’s motorcycle captures the ‘cafe racer’ style superbly, and there’s more to see of both it and the bookends of which it is part on Flickr.
Click the link above to take a look, and if you’re reading this in a bookstore cafe you can pretend you’re exploring the romanticism of classical transportation in France if you’re asked, before buying that attractive hipster girl a coffee.
But it is yellow. And excellent. This lovely ’80s ‘cafe racer’ motorcycle comes from previous bloggee tango-zero. There’s a detailed engine, rear suspension, and a beautifully replicated front telescopic fork with steering. See more on Brickshelf.
It’s been a bikey sort of day here at The Lego ‘Car’ Blog. Here’s today’s second two-wheeled creation, and not only is it not a car, it breaks one of our presentation criteria; “Pictures say a thousand words: So take yours well. Clean, contrasting backgrounds are easy to do and make a world of difference. Even the most impressive of creations will not feature on The Lego Car Blog unless the pictures are in focus, well lit and exclude any clutter from shot”. But rules were meant to be bent a bit, especially if the bending looks as good as this.
This beautiful ‘DDR Customs Scrambler’ comes from Flickr’s VR workshop who has chosen to use the soft focus from one of your Dad’s favourite movies, dim lighting, and the sidewall of a tyre as a backdrop to their model, and the results are… well, awesome. There’s more to see of VR workshop’s superbly presented motorcycle at their photostream – take a closer look via the link above.
We’re not sure if there is a German word for ‘Brunch’ but if there is it would apply here, because this gorgeous BMW R1000 by Flickr’s ZetoVince has been constructed in the British ‘cafe racer’ style, where light weight and probably extreme discomfort were the trends amongst North London bikers at the time, who used their modified motorcycles to dash between the cafes of Watford and Wembley. This beautiful bike captures the aesthetic brilliantly and there’s more to see of Zeto’s perfectly photographed R1000 at his photostream. Click the link above to place your order at Cafe Flickr.
We have no idea why ‘Cafe Racer’ motorcycles are named as they are. The results do look very cool though, as this gorgeous Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer (hence our witty title!) by Flickr’s Thomas Poulsom (aka DeTomaso77) proves.
Built for a friend Thomas’ Ducati looks the perfect way to race to the cafe (if that’s what these bikes are for?). Click here to head to Flickr and order your eggs.
The Lego Car Blog Team own some interesting cars, as you’d probably expect from a website as nerdily automotive as this one, but no motorbikes. This is because if we owned motorcycles this blog would never have made it to five years old, and our organs would now belong to other people.
However despite our aversion to owning motorbikes, we do still rather like them, and fortunately newcomer Nesme Laurent (aka NEMOOZ) allows us to indulge in this passion from the safety of a comfy chair.
Laurent has built almost fifty Technic replica motorcycles, from manufacturers including BMW, Ducati, MV Agusta, Moto Guzzi, Honda, KTM, Yamaha, and Kawasaki, each features a variety of working functions, and instructions are available for many of the designs too.
You can see a selection of Laurent’s builds at his newly created MOCpage, and you can see the full back-catalogue of fifty or so bikes via Brickshelf.
This neat BMW R100-based cafe racer was found on Flickr today and it comes from previous bloggee Andre Pinto. Andre’s used a clever mish-mash of Technic and System parts to create his motorbike and there lots of superb imagery to see at his photostream. Click the link above for the full gallery.
This pretty Moto Guzzi cafe racer comes from Flickr’s Senpai Ragnarok, who made his TLCB debut last week with another lovely Technic bike. His latest uses similar techniques to recreate the cafe racer flat-tank style, and includes a V-Twin engine, rear suspension and woking steering. Join Senpai for a drink at the link above.
Finally, we’re back to what we know. The Elves have been given strict instructions to stick to their brief, and the first result is this lovely Technic cafe racer motorbike. There’s a working twin-cylinder engine, front and rear suspension, steering and chain tensioner. Senpai Ragnarok is the builder making his TLCB debut, and you can see more of his excellent motorcycle at the Eurobricks discussion forum or at his Flickr photostream.
Welcome to today’s fight! Iiiin the red corner, weighing in at six huuuundred pieces, Billy ‘The Bludgeon’ Burg‘s Duuuucatti! Aaaand in the blue corner, weighing in at one huuuundred pieces, Hot Rod ‘The Impaler’‘s Cafe Raaaaacer!