ABS Meets Asphalt: A Motorcycle's LEGO Makeover
I discovered Jean-Yves’ motorcycle customization work on a small LEGO Facebook group. I was amazed to discover this one—it’s original, very stylish, and superbly crafted. I immediately thought of sharing this unique creation on BrickNerd while trying to find out a little more about this project.
Meet Jean-Yves
Sam: Hello Jean-Yves, can you introduce yourself to our BrickNerd readers? Are you a motorcycle fan and a LEGO fan?
Jean-Yves: Hello, I am 61 years old and retired in 2023, so I now have all my time to devote to personal projects. I used to work at the National School of Architecture, where I was in charge of the students’ prototyping and model-making workshops. In addition to that, I am a freelance board game designer. My hobbies include amateur painting, riding motorcycles since I was 16, and playing in a gaming club. A fan? I wouldn’t use that word, but motorcycles, gaming, and painting play an important role in my life. Today, riding a motorcycle is a solitary pleasure. I put on a helmet that cuts me off from the world, and this time on the road is mine alone. I feel free from everything.
Bricks are more of an extension of painting, I would say. They are colorful and can be repurposed from their original use, namely toys and ready-made sets, to bring other things to life. I only have two sets at home, a 1.75m x 0.45m western diorama and a set of four cyberpunk buildings. The rest is repurposed LEGO that I used to create an electrical conduit for electrical cables and a 1.30m high pipe cover that encloses a water meter and water supply pipes.
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I forgot to mention, I follow the NFL. Oh yes, and I also made a backlit Kansas City Chiefs stadium out of a converted wooden console, which I use in my hallway, and another one for my son, with a Bills vs. Ravens game.
Developing a Full Range of Rockets
Sam: Can you tell us more about your motorcycle customization project? How did this idea come about?
Jean-Yves: In 2023, I had just bought a new motorcycle. Motorcyclists always like to customize their vehicles to some degree. I had two ideas in mind. I wanted to create a steampunk universe using metal and appropriate colors by a metalworker, and a cyber universe using LEGO.
I abandoned the first idea because the added weight seemed too significant compared to the LEGO. Not having a garage, I moved the furniture and brought the motorcycle into the living room for four to six weeks and got to work every day. Visitors and friends who came to our house were bewildered when they saw the work in progress and when I mentioned the idea.
Sam: Can you tell us about your motorcycle model?
Jean-Yves: This is a model from the CF Moto brand, the CLX Sport. It is a 700 cc twin-cylinder motorcycle with a neo-retro style.
Sam: Did you first use modeling to get an idea of what you wanted? Are the images below inspirational images? Are they drawings you made yourself?
Jean-Yves: I worked as architecture students are taught to do: drawing, design, prototype, production. I first looked for inspiration on the internet, the two images at the top. On the photo of my own vehicle, I drew several ideas—some viable, some not. First, you have to let your imagination run free. The image at the bottom showed the areas I wanted to work on. I sketched quite a few models, which I modified and refined. Then I considered the constraints of the materials I was going to work with, namely bricks, and those of the vehicle, namely jolting, engine vibration, heat, speed resistance, etc.
Sam: You then created a prototype to get closer to what you had imagined:
Jean-Yves: First, I built a supporting structure out of LEGO, starting with the two sides, which had to be assembled and disassembled. It’s still a vehicle that needs maintenance, and the mechanic needs to be able to access it easily. I assembled this structure and tested its strength on the road. Once I was satisfied with its solidity, I started on the decor. For this project, I bought 30 kilos of bulk material.
Sam: What were your constraints?
Jean-Yves: The first ones were those inherent to a road vehicle. Strength, resistance to engine and exhaust heat, vibrations, speed, installation and reassembly like a motorcycle fairing. During the first tests, some parts melted because they were too close to the exhaust pipes, while others broke at the attachment points. One of the advantages of LEGO is that it is made of a material that is fairly heat-resistant.
During testing, my perspective changed. I stopped thinking of the object as a set to be put in a display case with wolf traps around it so that no one could touch it, protected. I had to see the bricks as a material because the end goal was to create a resistant vehicle covering.
Sam: How did you attach the elements? Are they glued on?
Jean-Yves: The bricks are glued with a special adhesive for ABS. Each finished piece has been drilled so that it can be bolted onto the motorcycle frame. The first test had an engine heat shield glued to the underside. Some pieces were cut or even ground down to fit the motorcycle. The latest version no longer has a heat shield, and only one piece has been modified.
Sam: Did you do any road tests to see if it held up?
Jean-Yves: I first carried out structural tests. Then I tested the decorated parts, piece by piece. First the two sides, then the radiator and exhaust covers, and finally the rear parts.
Sam: What improvements have you decided to make following this stage?
Jean-Yves: Once the technical issues had been resolved, such as installing a heat shield inside the parts and reinforcing the bolting, I also abandoned certain ideas, such as covering the forks, due to the crushing movement when braking.
Two important points remained: ergonomics and aesthetics. In terms of ergonomics, the right side was uncomfortable for the knee when riding and braking, and the left side interfered with gear changes when I wore boots designed for motorcycles. In terms of aesthetics, the initial idea was to use only loose bricks, creating a kind of colorful patchwork. The result was very disappointing. After all, that's the principle of prototyping and creation: it takes several attempts before you get the right result.
I removed all the parts from the motorcycle and let the ideas rest for a few weeks. After discussing the project with other people and taking into account the opinions posted on social media, I decided to reduce the sides to two decorative objects, keep the rear chain cover, and add a decorative element to the rear wheel on the right side.
Sam: You finally got the parts you needed to do this customization. You started with a medium azure base, right? Tell us more about your choice of colors.
Jean-Yves: Well, at this point, I’m going to make a few AFOLs scream. I had already glued, drilled, modified, and cut bricks, and I had just decided to paint them like a normal car body. (And just like that, Sam, in one sentence, you lost some readers!)
So I asked CF Moto for the color references, salvaged a few pieces from the first prototype (the rest was glued and beyond repair), and started drawing and rebuilding from scratch. This time, I took the opposite approach to the first time: I first tried out different shapes for aesthetic reasons and then checked how they fit on the vehicle. Then I made the necessary structural and aesthetic modifications, added some printed parts, and kept some parts in their original color. I painted the base blue, glued the original parts on, and varnished the whole thing.
Sam: Your customization style reminds me of some sci-fi spaceship MOCs I've seen online. Was that one of your sources of inspiration? If not, what are your sources of inspiration?
Jean-Yves: No, science fiction spaceships were not a source of inspiration. The influence comes mainly from the game Cyberpunk 2007 and dystopian worlds in movies and comic books. The pieces could be used for their shape and the printed brick designs; the spaceship pieces were perfect.
TyleR CLYTES LEGOHAULIC : Callisto
Sam: You also incorporated lighting into these customized parts during your prototyping stage. Did you continue to use this principle afterwards?
Jean-Yves: Neon lights add something extra to a cyber model. Once the first elements had been recycled or thrown away, I kept the lights to illuminate the two rear sections and the two side decorations.
Sam: The final result is super stylish! How long ago did you implement this customization, and are you happy with it?
Jean-Yves: It’s been almost a year since the final result was completed. I’m happy with this latest project. The public is, too. When I’m parked, people stop out of curiosity, walk around it, take photos, or talk to me every time I get out. On the road, drivers smile, give me a thumbs up, and talk to me through their windows.
Sam: Do you plan to make any improvements in the future?
Jean-Yves: Hmm… extensions, actually, I can’t think of anything else for the motorcycle, but you can trust me with your car, I have a thing or two in mind…
Sam: I’m tempted, especially to make lime additions to a pearlescent black bodywork. Maybe for another article! Thank you, Jean-Yves, for taking the time to present this extraordinary project to us.
Jean-Yves: Thanks, Sam, for this article.
Have you ever made any LEGO customizations to your bike, skateboard, or scooter?
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