Tag Archives: motorbike

Lego Lambro

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Nope, not Lambo, Lambro. Which is even more exciting! We’ve seen dozens of Lamborghinis in Lego form, but until now we’d never seen Lambretta’s 550cc tuk-tuk built from bricks.

The Elves of course, don’t get our excitement one bit, preferring V12 engines and racing stripes, but as they’re a workforce of mythical creatures their thoughts on the matter are moot.

We, TLCB staff, are rather pleased to have found this Lambro 550 by Flickr’s Hoang H Dang (aka Know Your Pieces), because humble workhorses like this have made a far greater contribution to far more people than an Italian supercar ever could.

This superb Lego recreation of the little scooter-powered pick-up captures the aesthetic of the real vehicle beautifully, and is depicted here as one of the countless Lambro 550s that have been exported to Vietnam since the 1960s.

Wonderfully accurate detailing, working steering, and fantastic brick-built lettering make Hoang’s Lambretta Lambro 550 one of our favourite creations of the year, and there’s loads more to see of it and the lovely Vietnamese street-scene of which it is part via the link above.

Technic 42130 BMW M 1000 RR | Set Preview

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After being less than impressed with the first group of 2022 Technic sets, we were hoping something special was yet to be uncovered. And it has been!

This is the brand new 42130 Technic BMW M 1000 RR, the largest motorcycle set LEGO have ever made, and perhaps the largest scale ever used for a vehicle too, at an enormous 1:5.

So, the awkward bit; 42130 will cost over $200.

Which is a lot. But then the real BMW M 1000 RR costs around $30,000, so that astronomical figure for a motorcycle is rather authentic.

What upwards of $200 gets you is 1,920 pieces, including some splendid new wheels, windshield and brake parts, ultra-realistic and suitably M-Sport coloured farings, working steering, front and rear suspension, a three-speed gearbox, and a four-cylinder piston engine.

Two display stands and a black ’18+’ box (plus that hefty price tag) mark the 42130 Technic BMW M 1000 RR set out as part of LEGO’s recently created ‘adult’ product line, and if you consider yourself one of those you can get your hands on it early next year.

Despite the price, we just might…

Goldie Lookin Chain

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Once the only available gold LEGO pieces were, well… gold, but these days all manner of parts are available in the blingiest hue. We suspect not quite as many as ianying616‘s Ducati V4R Panigale utilises though.

Still, paint and decals or not, ianying’s Ducati looks absolutely magnificent in its golden colour scheme, and there’s loads more of it to see on Flickr at the link above, where there’s an even goldier motorcycle available if you’re Lil Jon.

*Today’s title song. Obviously.

The Future’s Bright…

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…Yellow. At least according to F@bz.

F@bz’s ‘Yamaha FY2’ motorbike is an intriguing interpretation of the future of two-wheeled transport, with a design loaded with some properly inventive parts usage.

Technic, System, and Bionicley/RoboRidery pieces have been deployed to wonderful effect and there’s more to see of F@bz’s creation on Flickr via the link.

Printed Discs

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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…

8 Out of 10 Nazis…

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It might sound like European cat food, but the Kettenkrad was altogether weirder than that. Half motorcycle, half tank, the Sd.Kfz 2 Kettenkrad was designed by NSU, powered by Opel, weighed 1.5 tons, and could climb slopes of over 24°, even in sand.

A unique drive system delivered power to both tracks simultaneously on hard ground, or – when the driver selected – operated via a subtractor to skid-steer on soft ground, and it was used throughout the Second World War to lay cables, transport troops, tow aircraft, oh – and to invade Russia.

This amazing motorised Model Team recreation of the Sd.Kfz 2 Kettenkrad comes from previous bloggee Samolot, and not only does it feature the most terrifying LEGO figure we’ve ever seen, it also includes a fully working remote controlled version of the real bike/tank’s ingenious steering system.

Exactly how it works is beyond the collective minds housed here at TLCB Towers, so the best way to see if you can figure it out is via the video below. There are also more images of both Samolot’s model and the real 1940s contraption at Bricksafe, and you can read the full build description and join the discussion via the Eurobricks forum here.

YouTube Video

Back in the Dnepr

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This wonderful creation is a KMZ-Dnepr K650, a Soviet Ukrainian motorcycle based on the 1930’s BMW R71. Whilst this version is 650cc, early bikes were fitted with a 98cc Wanderer engine design taken from Germany as part of reparations for World War 2, before KMZ’s own much larger 650cc was used for the rest of the design’s long production run.

Of course the BMW bit of the KMZ-Dnepr pre-dates war reparations, as the Soviet Union officially licensed the design from Germany before the two countries later went to war. In fact Germany and Russia held talks about becoming allies, with only Hitler’s ideological greed preventing Stalin from agreeing. Had they found common ground then this TLCB Writer would probably be typing this in German.

Fortunately Hitler and Stalin didn’t team up, and Germany invaded the Soviet Union just a year after the deal to license the BMW R71 was signed. This led – rather oddly – to the bike fighting on both sides of the conflict; the BMW version for the Axis Powers and the Soviet IMZ-Ural copy for Russia.

Production of the KMZ-Dnepr version shown here commenced in Ukraine in 1946, and continued right up to the fall of the Soviet Union, with both civilian and military versions produced. This beautifully presented replica of the KMZ-Dnepr K650 comes from KMbricklab, making their TLCB debut, and depicts the German-Russian-Ukrainian bike in both civilian and (awesome) military two-wheel-drive sidecar variants.

Gorgeous detailing and clever building techniques are evident in abundance and there’s lots more of KMbricklab’s superb build to see at their ‘KMZ-Dnepr K650’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to make the jump to Soviet-era Ukraine.

*Today’s lightly butchered title song.

Nice Tan

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White LEGO bricks, like nerds, don’t particularly like strong sunlight.

The gradual yellowing of white pieces exposed to UV is subject to much debate within the nerdier corners online Lego community, from applying hydrogen peroxide to restore parts to their original hue, to – more nerdily – sealing bricks inside darkened rooms or even never taking them out of their box. Which is quite fantastically pointless.

Cue previous bloggee seb71, who has not only allowed his white pieces to yellow, he’s positively embraced their ageing.

Seb’s brilliant classic motorcycle deploys some properly yellowed Technic wheels, matching their sunlight-induced cream to a seventies-tastic brown and white aesthetic for a beautifully period-correct look.

There’s more of Seb’s well-tanned classic bike to see at his photostream, click the link above to take a look and then get out in the sun – it’s good for you and maybe even your LEGO bricks too.

Bookstore Cafe

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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.

Curiously Cuffed

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You might think that a pair of handcuffs has only one use, whether that be in their deployment by law enforcement or during your Mom’s illicit activities. However previous bloggee Oscar Cederwall (o0ger) shows that even the most seemingly single-use of LEGO pieces can be utilised   far beyond its original intended purpose.

By placing several dozen handcuff pieces in a loop Oscar has created a beautifully smooth hub-less wheel, with the ‘Nice Parts Usage’ (NPU) continuing to an upside-down Duplo train/plane cockpit, a fort stone archway, and even a Duplo Train ‘action brick’ forming the rear swing-arm.

There’s more of Oscar’s ‘Cyberpunk Bike’ and the ingenious parts placement within it to see on Flickr – click the link above to put on the ‘cuffs.

Ghost Rider

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Every once in a while a creation appears at TLCB Towers that makes us all think ‘that’s clever’. This is one such model, plus it has the added benefit of terrifying TLCB Elves.

Eurobricks’ piterx has designed this Technic scrambler motorbike, which – whilst not special to look at – is incredible to behold in motion. LEGO’s most powerful motor drives the back wheel, which is controlled via bluetooth thanks to a third-party BuWizz battery.

Said battery not only delivers up to eight times the power of LEGO’s own system, it has been ingeniously used as a motorised sliding counterweight, enabling piterx’s bike to rocket around on its own, appearing to be under the spooky control of an invisible rider.

We’re having great fun terrorising the Elves with this, so whilst we continue the ghostly ruse on our smelly little workers you can check out more of piterx’s cunning remote control creation via the video and link to Eurobricks above!

Cubist

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We were going to title this post ‘Square Heads’, but upon Googling it we learned it’s an offensive term for German, Dutch or Scandinavian persons. That was close. The perils of being an international blog we suppose! Anyway, these micro-scale bikers do have square heads, but we’re going to say they’re American, so we’re alright. They come from Flickr’s jarekwally (who might need to Google his title too…), whose inventive parts usage doesn’t stop at riders’ heads, but continues to both the motorcycles and the road upon which they’re travelling. (Square) head to jarekwally‘s photostream for more!

Raucous Rieju

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Ninety-five year old Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Rieju make some great looking off-road mopeds. And so too does previous bloggee Mathjis Bongers, who has recreated their MRT PRO ‘motard’ in Technic form, complete with working suspension, steering, and a replica of the Rieju’s tiny 50cc engine, which likely makes a disproportionately loud noise in relation to the forward movement in provides. Mathjis’ version is therefore our preference, despite how cool the real thing looks, and there’s more to see at both his ‘Rieju MRT PRO‘ album and via the Eurobricks discussion here.

Dirt Danger

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Is there a more dangerous vehicle than a quad bike? Of course there is, because back in the ’80s you could have one with a wheel missing.

The logic was probably of the bar-stool variety, in that three legs don’t wobble. However when an engine and rider are attached, and one of those legs moves about from side to side, wobbling, followed by crashing, was very much the order of the day.

Still, we would totally have a go, because the fear of tipping over and being pinned to the ground by a ferociously hot lump of clattering metal was half the fun!

Flickr’s Pat Lacroix is helping us reminisce, and you can see more of his superb ’80s ‘Dirt Trike’, complete with rear suspension, steering, and a chain driven engine via the link above. Just have a first aid box ready.

We’ve Got Gas

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We’ve got gas today, courtesy of Dan the Fan, who is here making his TLCB debut.

It won’t be long before finding gas might be rather tricky, as gas stations – so integral to society for almost a century – are about to enter a period of mass extinction.

Ultimately that’s a good thing, but it’ll be shame for the many family-owned businesses that will close, and – sometimes – the gas stations themselves disappearing, as occasionally they can be quite interesting.

Dan the Fan’s in one such interesting gas station, complete with some rather excellent ‘Shell’ lettering, a gas pump, kiosk, elevated tank, billboard, and some cool-looking mini-figure bikers.

There’s more to see at Dan’s ‘Gas Station’ album on Flickr – click the link above to get gas.