REVIEW: 8236 Bike Burner

[Ferrik]

Start your engines! Ready, set, go! Join the race with my review of this Speed Slammers set.

Introduction

Recently, I found three Lego Technic sets just lying around so I thought I'd brush off the dust and review them. That's right, it's Lego Technic Review Time! Over the next few weeks or months I will be posting the other two.

Set Information

Name: Bike Burner

Set Number: 8236

Theme: Technic; Speed Slammers

Year: 2000

Pieces:] 60

Minifigures: N/A

Price: US$6

Links: Brickset, Bricklink, Flickr

The Box

Since Lego Bike Burner is quite an old set, I don't have the box or the instructions to show you but I did find these images.

The box is square-shaped and displays a nice picture of the bike rearing up in front of a city background. I think that this fits the theme well. Here's a picture of the box from lego Wikia. Sorry if it isn't exactly the best quality, but I did try brightening it in Photoshop.

The Build/ Instructions

The build was easy enough as there weren't that many pieces.

As you can see in this picture of the online instructions, there are piece callouts for some steps only and the steps are slow. There aren't any problems between the different colours because there was only a bit of black anyway and not much bley. (Hey that rhymes. )

The Result

After building the set, the result looks quite satisfying but it doesn't exactly blow you away either.

Here's the finished set placed on an angle. As you can see, the wheels are the bigger-sized type wheels. All three wheels are the same. With these wheels, this vehicle looks a bit like a quad bike, albeit with three wheels. I quite like this look and I just adore that curved shape of the back seating area (To all those technic fans out there, the technical term is beam). (Note: This is the same picture as the title picture at the top of the review.)

The front view of the set. There isn't too much to see from this angle. The green cylindrical-helix (AKA ribber hose) parts connecting the front wheel look excellent and add more much-needed detail to this set. The TLG designers could have just left the long axle piece as it was but they choose not to which really adds colour to the set.

Here's the side of the bike. Since the bike is symmetrical, both sides are the exact same. From here you can see some of the detail under the bike like the engine. No dramas here. I think that all that detail on the underside of the bike adds a great effect and prevents the bike from looking bare, dont you?

The back is probably the best-looking view of the set. You can see there are six stickers that have been applied. Six stickers is way too much for a small set like this... Printed pieces would have been much better. The stickers have stayed on well except for the stickers at the bottom with the '8' on them. But I guess it's because they were put on about a decade ago... You can also see the engine which is just two tube-like green technic pieces with a smaller white tube inside. This is a simple but effective design and really makes it look realistic, so that's something I liked about this set. So here's a close-up of the back and the bumper stickers.

And here's the top view so you can see the whole set clearly. You can notice how simple but effective in terms of looks, the handles are. The handles are simply an angle connector, which is a common Technic piece. Have a look at the stickers closely. This is what I thought: The stickers for the chair were I guess chair-y (Get it? Cherry? Wait... I don't get it. On with the review), especially since one of them was put on the wrong way. I think the gauges and buttons work well and the stickers with '8' on it (from the previous picture) were a nice addition to make it look more like a racing vehicle.

Ratings

Parts: 6/10 - There weren't really any interesting parts worth noticing. Most of the parts included are quite common to the Technic theme.

Design: 7/10 - For a bike, it's a good design. If there were less stickers and more printed parts I guess that would be even better. I do like the design for the engine under the bike, though.

Playability: 5/10 - There's not much you can do with a set like this except push the bike around and have bike-tastic adventures. But hey, everyone likes bikes, right?

Minifigures: N/A

Value: 7.5/10 - At a price of US$6 it's great value especially if you like Lego Technic or vehicles or green or anything in this set. (I won't waste time listing...)

Overall Rating: 6.3/10

So overall this is a small but great set. Bike-lovers and technic fans alike will be sure to enjoy building this set.

Extra

Here's a picture of the underside of the bike, as a parting shot for this review.

Stay tuned for the next two Lego Technic Reviews.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Ferrik

[Lost_In_Noise]

Nice review with good pictures. I like the underside shot, it shows the (lack of) details in this small set.

[Ferrik]

Nice review with good pictures. I like the underside shot, it shows the (lack of) details in this small set.

Thanks. I agree that the underside is lacking in detail.

[Anio]

6/10

7/10

5/10

7.5/10

6.3/10

You're kidding, right ?

[Crazydance]

You're kidding, right ?

How do you get your review academy approved? I should change the icon on top of my technic review as well then :p

The quoted comment doesn't make any sense, as technic sets are score by the reviewer!

If he thinks these numbers are good for the model he's probably right in his mind, no matter how YOU would have scored it.

Most of these models are lost in history because everyone remembers only the flagship models, and having a review here of a smaller set doesn't hurt at all right?

Edited August 12, 2012 by Crazydance

[Ferrik]

You're kidding, right ?

What's wrong with the ratings?

[Luc2000]

Nice review, but you built the model wrong in the first picture. First, the black parts on the side are mounted upside down. Second, you forgot 2 axle connectors at the front, which prevent the green tubes from sliding

[Ferrik]

Nice review, but you built the model wrong in the first picture. First, the black parts on the side are mounted upside down. Second, you forgot 2 axle connectors at the front, which prevent the green tubes from sliding

Oops... Sorry about that. I retook the pictures so many times I must have gotten mixed up the pictures. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll fix it now.

Edit: I've fixed the problem. I hope you enjoy the rest of the review.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Ferrik