We often feature vehicles with ginormous engines here at TLCB. Because we’re six. But there is much joy to be had at the other end of the vehicular scale, and nowhere is that more evident than the humble moped. Cheap, slow, and hilarious fun, 50cc is all you need for a good time.
This example is a Polish Romet Pony, produced from 1978 until 1994, with a top speed of just 40km/h, and with an engine smaller than most food blenders. And we love it.
Flickr’s Fuku Saku is the builder, and there’s more to see of this wonderful machine at his ‘Romet Pony M2’ album. Click the link to go for a ride.
Large, eye-catching, but somewhat impractical when riding, big bags definitely forfeit a degree of agility for look-at-me attention. Cue Dennis Glaasker (aka BricksonWheels) and this visual feast of a Harley Davidson ‘bagger’ motorcycle.
(Very) loosely based on the official LEGO 10269 Creator Expert Harley Davidson Fat-Boy set, Dennis’ bagger looks frankly impossible to ride, but with a fully chromed engine, LED lighting, spectacular presentation, and – of course – two enormous curvy bags, we can ignore the practicalities for a bit and just enjoy looking.
Flickr’s Nathan Hake decided to get himself some of LEGO’s wonderfully posable vintage Technic figures. With flexibility comparable to a human (or more so if the human is chubby), they’re a rather under-utilised component of LEGO’s back-catalogue.
Fortunately Nathan is rectifying this by building vehicles for his newly-acquired figures, with this superbly-proportioned motorcycle able to be ridden by the aforementioned plastic humanoid.
And, being a motorcycle, Nathan will inevitably be able to take advantage of the other key feature of LEGO’s Technic figures; their body parts can be separated to be swapped or donated to another figure. Expect to see those black arms and blue legs appearing on another Technic figure or two in Nathan’s collection sometime in the future, probably after it rains and a truck drops some diesel on a blind bend.
Get on the transplant list at Nathan’s photostream via the link above, and perhaps consider registering as a donor yourself if you’re yet to think about it. We can be dismantled just like LEGO’s Technic figures, and with 100,000 people on the waiting list for a transplant in America alone, there simply aren’t enough bikers.
It’s time! After a period lost in space, and with the Elves that managed not to become German-Shepherd-snacks safely back at TLCB Towers, we can reveal the brand new for 2024 LEGO Technic line-up. And it’s such a good one…
42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer
LEGO have released several Technic bulldozers over the years, with recent incarnations being large enough to actually bulldoze. However we kick-off the 2024 Technic range with one that marks its entry point, the lovely 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer.
Aimed at ages 7+ and with under 200 pieces, 42163 is the best starter set we’ve had in a long time, and includes rotating tracks plus a neat worm-gear driven blade elevation mechanism, controlled via a cog on the roof. A few System parts add realism and – joy – it needs no stickers whatsoever. Top work LEGO.
42164 Off-Road Race Buggy
The excellentness continues with the second new Technic set for 2024, the 42164 Off-Road Race Buggy. Aimed at ages 8+, the 219-piece ORRB looks a bit like ‘RC’ from ‘Toy Story’, and it seems LEGO have remembered more than just that computer-animated movie from 1995, having equipped 42164 with proper mechanical functionality that we thought they’d all but forgotten in recent starter sets.
Harking back to those mid-’90s Technic sets, 42164 includes working rear suspension via a single-shock, a miniature V4 piston engine turned by the rear wheels, opening doors, and – more unusually – tilt steering (like a skateboard).
The set also features good visual details, some almost comically generic stickers (what should be written on the side of a buggy if not ‘buggy’?), and some rather non-off-roady tyres, but overall we think the 42164 ORRB looks great, presenting another fine way for newcomers to begin Technic building…
42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team & 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team
…unlike these two. OK, that’s a little unfair, because LEGO do seem to have got their head around ‘Pull-Backs’ after some dismal efforts, with recent sets being visually appealing and bringing some unusual licenses to the range. 2024 continues this trend with the 42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team and 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team sets.
Aimed at ages 7+ and 9+ respectively, the new sets recreate two of McLaren’s non-F1 race teams, both of which are electrically-powered. Each does a decent job of reflecting its real-world counterpart, although via the assistance of a million stickers, whilst the 452-piece 42169 Formula E car (the most pieces for a Pull-Back ever?) also includes working steering alongside the obligatory kinetic motor. Operating this whilst deploying the aforementioned motor is probably the trickiest thing you’ll ever do however…
42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck
The electric and officially-licensed trend continues with the next new addition to the 2024 Technic range, the superb-looking 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck.
Constructed from just over 500 pieces and aimed at ages 8+, 42167 resembles a miniaturised version of the 42078 Mack Anthem B-Model, and features some lovely mechanical functions, including working steering, a side-mounted bin emptying mechanism, and a tipping compactor, all controlled by hand via various cogs.
Wearing thoroughly excellent messaging and with a few new parts too, 42167 could be the pick of the range when it reaches stores early next year.
42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester
Away from the starter sets and things are getting bigger, although not by much. This is the 42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester, a 559-piece replica of the ‘self propelled forage harvester’ fitted with ‘ProStream Cropflow’ and ‘XStream KPTM’, according to the excerpts we took from John Deere’s website. We’re not really sure what any of that means, nor that 42168 needed to be an officially licensed set, but we suppose it’s nice to have the added authenticity.
Working rear steering and an elevating and spinning harvesting header (via many yellow cogs linked to a small jockey wheel on the ground) are the working features, which is actually a little less than the smaller 42167 Mack and 42164 ORRB. Still, if ‘Farming Simulator’ is your thing, then the 42168 Forage Harvester may be your cream of the crop when it reaches stores alongside the rest of the 2024 Technic range in January.
42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R
The final new Technic set in our H1 2024 preview is this, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R. Yup, LEGO have partnered with another motorcycle manufacturer following their successful collaborations with BMW Motorrad, Yamaha, Harley Davidson, and Ducati, bringing Kawaski’s legendary Ninja to the Technic line-up.
In doing so, 42170 doesn’t actually bring anything new to the Technic Superbike genre beyond the new partnership, but it does offer as much in the way of working functionality as its predecessors, with working steering and suspension, a foot-peg operated two-speed plus neutral gearbox, and a piston engine buried somewhere inside the frame.
Aimed at ages 10+ and with 643 pieces, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R will join the rest of the 2024 Technic line-up in stores early next year, which – in case you missed it – includes a few new additions we really weren’t expecting.
…
Let us know your favourite new 2024 Technic set in the comments. Us? We’ll be picking up the trash in the 42167 Mack LE Electric Garbage Truck. Although… there is one set number as yet unfilled…
LEGO’s officially licensed motorcycle range is about to get bigger!
Yes, following the fantastic recent 41207 Ducati Panigale V4 Rand 42130 BMW M 1000 RR Technic sets, LEGO are bringing not just a new superbike but a new manufacturer to the line-up. This is the brand new 42159 Yamaha MT-10 SP.
Constructed from almost 1,500 pieces, the new 42159 set recreates Yamaha’s flagship 1000cc 4-cylinder superbike in Technic form, and brings with it a whole host of new pieces too.
Working suspension front and rear (the front using the lovely gold shock-tubes seen on the 42107 Ducati), a 4-cylinder engine with (gold) chain drive, functioning steering, bright blue wheels (the design of which debuted on the 42130 BMW M 1000 RR) and a three-speed gearbox all feature, with the latter of these likely be of the most interest to Technic builders.
That’s because the Yamaha’s gearbox debuts a slew of all-new transmission components, including shift drum, shift fork, gear shift ring and ratchet drum parts.
These new pieces are rather brightly coloured when compared to the grey components of old, but we suspect that won’t matter too much to those eager to deploy them in their own builds.
An augmented reality app, physical and digital building instructions, a display stand, and the prerequisite black box with ’18+’ printed on it ensure that the new LEGO Technic 42159 Yamaha MT-10 SP is a set pitched squarely at adults, as does the £200 price of admission when it reaches stores in August 2023.
Expect those new transmission components to be changing hands for similarly hefty prices very soon after…
The Lego Car Blog Elves, as well as liking racing stripes, flame-throwers, and monster trucks, also have a penchant for all things shiny. Cue much excitement when one of their number found this, ianying616‘s ‘Takada Shingen’ motorcycle. Named after “one of the most powerful Sengoku-period daimyos” (we Wikipedia-ed it…), ianying’s creation packs in a whole lot of chrome, and there’s more to see of his exceptionally shiny motorbike at his photostream. Take a look via the link, or alternatively head down a Wikipedia 16th century Japanese rabbit-hole…
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.
This beautiful motorcycle, discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr and another at Eurobricks, took builder Stephan Jonsson over four years to finish. Which is very long time indeed. That said, the resulting creation is almost ridiculously good, combining the best bits of two real-world BMW Motorrad products, the R NineT roadster and the R 1200 GS adventure bike.
Stephan’s hybrid of the two BMW bikes features working steering and suspension, shaft-drive, and one of the best brick-built motorcycle engines we’ve ever seen, complete with a wonderfully shaped exhaust, twin open air-filters, and the correct cables and linkages.
The incredible detailing extends elsewhere too, with even the gold brake callipers linked by lines to the handlebar levers, and there’s lots more to see of Stephan’s stunning BMW motorcycle mashup at both Flickr and Eurobricks. Click the links above to see more of perhaps the most perfect bike ever created in Lego (and perhaps BMW Motorrad should take a look too…).
*Yes, we went there. And if the proper Lego Blogs publicise this creation and they don’t link to a painfully ’90s pop song, they’re not worth reading.
First appearing here over a decade ago (in fact it was one of our earliest posts!), the Honda CG 125 continues to be one the great mobilisers of the people. Whilst many assume the most influential vehicles are the Toyota Corolla, the Volkswagen Beetle, or the Ford Model-T, this humble Japanese moped has moved people than probably every other private transport method combined.
First produced in 1976, the Honda CG 125 is still being made today, and units built forty years ago are still carrying entire families, shops, and livestock the world over.
This beautiful Technic recreation of the world’s greatest people mover comes from Master MOCer Nico71, who has updated his decade-old design with newer parts, excellent presentation, and building instructions so you can create it for yourself.
There’s much more to see at Nico’s Brickshelf gallery; join the millions of people who ride a Honda CG 125 every day via the link in the text above!
Cyberpunk is just one of the many sub-genres of Lego building about which we know nothing. Sci-Fi? Nope. Steampunk? Nope. Sky-Fi? Nope. Cyberpunk? Hard nope. To be honest if it isn’t a car built after about 1955, we’re going to struggle. In fact we’re constantly amazed that this site functions at all. Still, these two cyberpunkesque vehicles do look deeply cool, even if we have no idea what they’re for or do. Flickr’s incredibly talented Tino Poutiainen owns the mind behind them, and you can get the answers that we don’t have at his photostream. Click the link above to make the jump.
LEGO’s 10298 Vespa 125 set is wonderful in every way. Thus we love this miniaturised version by Flickr’s 1saac W., who has captured the iconic Italian scooter beautifully in brick-form. The set’s lovely blue colour is switched for cream, but if LEGO can do it themselves with their other Italian icon, cream is good enough for us! See more at 1saac’s photostream via the link!
The Lego Car Blog Elves are a superstitious bunch. They are mythical creatures from another realm though, so perhaps there’s some justification. Anyway, we’re exploiting said weakness today thanks to piterx, and his BuWizz powered self-balancing remote control Technic motorbike.
Watching it lean through turns as if controlled by an invisible rider is a spooky sight, and we’re having great fun terrorising the Elves with it. Take a look at the bike in action via the video below, and you can find out more about the build on Eurobricks via the link in the text above.
Suggested by a reader, RGB900 has furthered his clamp-based approach to building motorcycles, with a whole suite of styles and types constructed capitalising on LEGO’s various clip pieces.
Each is a brilliant demonstration of clever design over parts quantity, and there’s lots more to see at RGB900’s photostream. Click the link above to clamp your eyes on all of RGB’s bikes.
A few pieces an interesting creation can make, as proven here today by previous bloggee dicken liu and his lovely BMW R nineT motorbike. A clever blend of parts capture the real motorcycle’s aesthetic in miniature, and there’s more to see on Flickr via the link.
Today’s second two-wheeled creation (we’re supposed to be a car blog…) proves you don’t need a billion pieces and to know the secret Brothers Brick handshake to see your brickwork blogged.
RGB900‘s chopper uses only a few dozen parts, about a third of which seem to be of the grippy clamp type (the Brothers Brick would probably know what they’re called though…), deployed in numerous clampy ways.
There’s more of RGB’s clamping to see on Flickr – click the link above clamp your eyes on his creation (or the other link for more bonus clamping!).
