[TC19] The Red Blaze

[MajklSpajkl]

It's been ages since I've joined a contest here on EB. Luckily, seems the time and other circumstances are just right and I've never built a motorbike MOC before, so this contest realy tickled me.

I am not much of WIP topics guy, but it seems that people here mostly like WIP topics, so here is what I've managed so far... who knows where and what this will end up to be... we'll see I guess. Not sure if I'll be able to cram something soficticated in its belly... not to much space I'm affraid.

Best regards and Merry Christmas everybody!

Edited January 29, 2021 by MajklSpajkl

[Rudivdk]

Those shapes and curves are beautiful...

I think a V-twin and 2speed gearbox should be manageable in the space you have, but even without fancy mechanics this will look great!

Good luck!

[jorgeopesi]

Wow very awesome first sight  .

[1gor]

Miha somehow it looks like you design for OCC (Orange county choppers)

[Dazzzy]

Really digging the curves on your custom bike. I agree I_Igor,  It's definitely the kind of creation i'd expect to from OCC too. Looks awesome. 

Can i ask, will it be a soft tail, or a hard tail with a sprung seat?

[MajklSpajkl]

Dear all,

let me wish you a Happy New Year first. May it be to your liking!

The last week of the old year was somewhat fruitful, I guess - familiy business during the days, LEGO business over nights. I went ful gas on this creation and looks like I am really close to the finish line... My apologies for not posting progress accordingly, but here are some WIP shots of an almost finished bike...

I was messing with the seat quite some time. I wanted it to connect firmly to the curved panel and the two black panels needed to be locked close together. Confortable, I suppose 

@Dazzzy soft tail it is. I have no idea if this setup is acceptable IRL, but worked fine for me.

Usually, I am left with no place to bild on the desk... no different this time. As you can see the photos switch very fast forward here....

The engine took me a lot of tries. As I wanted to keep the line of the bike as low as it gets, I left myself with only 5 studs of height, where the motor should be, and as @Rudivdk predicted, I managed to cram a V-twin with two speed gearbox directly beneath it. I tried several combos to get that mini stepper, that everyone seems have discovered, but there just wasn't enough width between the main structural beams. Some space remains under the seat, but having a steper so much to the end wouldn't look good, so I decided to ditch the idea of using it. Changeover catch is basicaly just turned in three positions, up - high gear, horizontal - neutral and down low gear. It stays in the position well, because the axle also serves as one of two points holding that 3x5 L beam which prolongues the cahssis towards the joint with the rear suspension arm.

The exhausts are plain simple, decided to hold them up with a rubber band, all other means of attachement would look worse. As you can see, I had to move the propulsion from right side to the left. Rather unrealistic I guess, but look cool to me. I am very pleased with the attachment of brake calipers on the front wheel.

The belly shot explains more about the space shortage for the stepper.

Side by side with the Ducati.

 

More or less finished, will have to order some small portion of parts for some smaller reparations (like that bar holding the front light) and I am seriously considering getting a small amount of heavily overpriced black axle pins to get rid of the blue spots. I read some guy just cuts the new pin+2axle to make short ones, bur not too fond of the idea.

To be honest, the front I am the least satisifed with, would love some sleek mudguard, but no appropriate part comes to my mind. Everything would be too bulky, I am affraid.

Don't mind the "no semi trucks" plate, it is just a placeholder.

Decided to go with some custom stickers for the fuel tank... maybe I'll choose a name for the bike accordingly as well.... what do you think about those?

 

... aaand the sexy-back shot to finish this off  Won't deny it - I like it a lot. I hope you will as well .

I would love to hear your thoughts and especially criticism - there is always room for improvement. And plenty of time for it too, I really didn't expect it to be done so soon. Do you think it is worth getting black axle pins?

Thank you and best regards!

Miha,

P.S.: Just occured to me that LBG rear disk brake would be better, so I will definetly take the one from Ducati and put it on this "Blazing Skull". Improvements, improvements...

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by MajklSpajkl

[jorgeopesi]

Happy new year too, awesome bike, I can not say anything bad... I will learn a lot with this contest I am going to do all the bikes I like, reverse engineering is easy with bikes.

[nerdsforprez]

Crimony.  Folks are doing a great job so far.  This looks great.  

[vascolp]

This is really cool, i like it very much!

Those curved parts you used on top of the fuel tank and on the botton, wouldn´t they make a nice front wheel mudguard?

Also, the seat and the footrest position seem to be not quite compatible with those handlebars, the driver would have to bend a lot! What about long handlebars, allowing the driver to rest its back? How would it look?

[MajklSpajkl]

Thank you for your nice comments 

@vascolp: Those "ballon" panels (part 18969) would perhapse be suitable for a front mudguard if the were shorter. THey are quite long (13 studs) and have clips on both sides, plus the curvature switches from one side to another at the narrow end. So I don't see them fit for the job, but thanks for the suggestion.

Regarding the postion / legth of the handlebars - yes, I agree, the are a bit to the front but so are with the real bikes of this kind. I never understood how such postion on the bike can be comfotable. Backside stick towards the end, feet and hands toward the front. Maybe someone with experince will enlighten us about it. 

On that black beauty below we can see that handelbars are just a bit ahead of the footrest, but not as much as in my case indeed. I guess the rider on my bike would be leaning a bit more to the front as the dude on the second photo. Nonetheless, I tried to make longer handlebars and it looks really bad comparing to current situation so I think I'll stick with current setup. Thanks for the challenge though 

[Dazzzy]

That looks awesome!      You have got me scratching my head a bit though. How have you managed to bury the rear brake disc so deep into the rear tyre? Are you just using one offset wheel inside the tyre case? 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Dazzzy

[2GodBDGlory]

That thing has style!

It is hard to tell, but are you using Dark Bluish Grey engine block parts (from only one set in 2004), or are they just custom chromed? I would love to see someone use such an obscure part.

Or they could be the more common Light Bluish Grey, but they do look a little different to me.

[MajklSpajkl]

1 hour ago, Dazzzy said:

That looks awesome!      You have got me scratching my head a bit though. How have you managed to bury the rear brake disc so deep into the rear tyre? Are you just using one offset wheel inside the tyre case? 

Thank you  And yes, you are correct, only one wheel on the right side of the tyre. Since the bike is light and the tyre is stiff enough it works fine. The dark side is heavily inviting me to cut out the spikes of another wheel and use only the hoop of the wheel . Really, that tire screams for one piece deep rim to sink in the hub properly.

45 minutes ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

That thing has style!

It is hard to tell, but are you using Dark Bluish Grey engine block parts (from only one set in 2004), or are they just custom chromed? I would love to see someone use such an obscure part.

Or they could be the more common Light Bluish Grey, but they do look a little different to me.

Thx, DBG engine blocks they are. I was lucky a couple of years ago to get two of 8435 sets, so I have 12 of those DBG block available  Not sure, if I ever used them for a MOC until now.

[Thirdwigg]

Great job. I love the bloated look of the bodywork. Looks great for this kind of motorcycle. The tire choice is perfect as well.

[Bluehose]

It's beautiful. I don't understand which yellow piece it is on the front

[Dazzzy]

12 hours ago, MajklSpajkl said:

Thank you  And yes, you are correct, only one wheel on the right side of the tyre. Since the bike is light and the tyre is stiff enough it works fine. The dark side is heavily inviting me to cut out the spikes of another wheel and use only the hoop of the wheel . Really, that tire screams for one piece deep rim to sink in the hub properly.

Thx, DBG engine blocks they are. I was lucky a couple of years ago to get two of 8435 sets, so I have 12 of those DBG block available  Not sure, if I ever used them for a MOC until now.

Indeed, i couldn't agree more, i wish LEGO made one like that, (deep dish one piece).  I was thinking of going with that big tyre myself, (providing i can get my hands on one). It's good to hear the tyre itself is stiff enough to support the form. 

[Jurss]

You need to have really good streched body, to drive bikes like these.

[MajklSpajkl]

21 hours ago, Thirdwigg said:

Great job. I love the bloated look of the bodywork. Looks great for this kind of motorcycle. The tire choice is perfect as well.

Thank you, bloated sounds quite right  I am not much of a motorbike guy, but if I had to choose, this tipe of cruiser bike (I guess they're called that, are they?) would be my choice prior to the super racer like Panigale and similar...

11 hours ago, Bluehose said:

It's beautiful. I don't understand which yellow piece it is on the front

You're probalbly asking about the pearl golden piece showing through the handlebar. It is the top view of the new shock absorber that came out in the Ducati set. It is this part no. 65151c01. I don't know what other "yellow" piece you see there so I hope I answered your question.

8 hours ago, Jurss said:

You need to have really good streched body, to drive bikes like these.

Indeed! But the Dark Lord approves! 

Seriously, Vader is just way too tall for this bike, had to shorten his legs to even get him sit down. Scout trooper OOB fits much better...

I did change the handlebars though!. Mr. @vascolp's comment got me scratching my head and indeed the handlebars were too short - I made them a stud longer, which brings them a bit lower and more to the back, improving the seat-footrest-handlebar triangle geometry. The change is not big, but looks way better in my opinion, so thank you vascolp again for helpful comment. Also changed the brake/clutch levers detail and I like it more as well.

Best regards, Miha

[vascolp]

Wow, those pictures from above are really nice!

Glad you liked the suggestion ... Fortunately your bike's seat looks really comfy!

[MajklSpajkl]

Playin' with fire...

Received the last missing parts, invested in some black axle-pins to get rid of the blue. Still have to make final photos. I the meantime, I was playing with some render in Stud.io.

Best regards!

[johnnym]

Wow, that looks gorgeous! Fine work, I don't even know all parts you're using here. Look very useful for future projects.

[MajklSpajkl]

And a wrap up... it was a really nice contest and I am glad I managed to participate after so much time since my last contest. This is my first Motorbike MOC and I enjoyed it a lot.

Final photos and the video as follows...

Mandatory photo of the internals/chassis. As you can see, mine has a pretty thin spine 

Building instructions are available for purchase Rebrickable.com: 

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-64340/MajklSpajkl/the-red-blaze/

And last but hopefully not least... a video:

I hope you like it.

Best regards,

Miha

Edited February 7, 2021 by MajklSpajkl

[Zerobricks]

Very organic design, well done. TBH I am mostly impressed with the front calipers, great solution.

[Thirdwigg]

2 minutes ago, Zerobricks said:

Very organic design, well done. TBH I am mostly impressed with the front calipers, great solution.

Ooo I didn’t even notice that. I agree, great solution!

[MajklSpajkl]

14 minutes ago, Zerobricks said:

Very organic design, well done. TBH I am mostly impressed with the front calipers, great solution.

 

11 minutes ago, Thirdwigg said:

Ooo I didn’t even notice that. I agree, great solution!

Thank you both. I was affraid that the calipers wouldn't hold very well, but they do the job quite OK, but still, they can't take much abuse.