Last year, LEGO introduced their most detailed motorcycle model to date – a 1,920-piece version of the BMW M1000RR. One year later, it’s still their most detailed bike model thanks to features like front and rear suspension to support the 2+ pounds of weight, three different dash options (stickers), and a functional transmission with 3-speeds and neutral. Vy and I built it over the course of a few days, and eventually I brought it to work to display. It is, by far, the most attention getting thing in my office. So here’s my reminder that it exists if you’re looking for a gift or your own little winter project.
The Shell gas tank is from old races at the Isle of Man, and it’s a cherished gift from a colleague at Honda Motorcycles!
LEGO actually has a dedicated article on how they built the model, if you’re interested. But if you want photos that are much worse, you can scroll below:
By far the coolest thing to me is the transmission, which has a shift lever and does actually shift between three gears and neutral. Annoyingly (but understandingly), it’s almost entirely covered up once you finish the model.
Yes, the shift lever works!
Here’s a quick video showing how the “drivetrain” is connected as I spin the rear wheel:
And yes, if you change gears then the speeds of this process will change accordingly with the gear ratios.
I had to go with the Race mode dash sticker, of course:
The kit was designed by Samual Tacchi, who actually started his career as a motorcycle designer for Honda and then Triumph before moving to LEGO. With this model, he noted “there was a real challenge to find the right force [for the rear suspension] without getting to the breaking point of our elements. The model weighs more than a kilo (2 lb) and most of this weight lies on the rear shock absorber, so with the spring, we needed to be very precise on how much force it can take. It took a lot of time and dedication to develop a single shock absorber, and without nailing this we couldn’t build the bike!”
There are two stands. I keep it on the display stand for stability’s sake, but there’s also a paddock stand:
The set is $249.99, and you can buy it directly from LEGO here.
