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YouTuber Replicates Akira Protagonist Kaneda’s Bike From Scratch

Ayato inspires his audience to make "weird bikes" and "DIY motorbikes" from scratch.

Ayato, the owner of the Teru Teru Boizu(a pun on teru teru bozu) YouTube channel posted a video of a functioning replica of popular anime Akira‘s protagonist Shotaro Kaneda‘s motorcycle.

The first video of the Akira motorcycle project was uploaded on June 3, 2021.

Ayato’s latest video on the project, which also recaps the previous parts for the audience to catch up, see’s the DIYer installing LEDs on the rims of the already modeled bike.

He also posted a video on Twitter featuring Ayato testing the vehicle’s mechanism called “air suspension” that adjusts the height of a motorcycle with air pressure.

As of writing, the “fan-art” garnered more than 45000 likes and more than 11000 retweets under 24hour.

On his YouTube channel, Ayato inspires his audience to make “weird bikes” and “DIY motorbikes” from scratch. He also made vlogs about the building process of the prototype of Kaneda’s bike with tips and tricks for the viewers.

One of his videos states that he selected the “Majesty 250” sold by Yamaha as the base model and made it in the form of a “remodeled motorcycle”.

He also had to adjust the size of the bike to match up with the original vehicle, however, he was also concerned about not breaking the Road Transport Vehicle Law Enforcement Regulations.

Kanda’s bike is reportedly 3meters in length and Ayato used a Nihan (250cc) which has a body length of 2.5meters where it falls short of 0.5 meters.

So, while aiming to be as close to the “original” as possible, he also incorporated “original elements” to cover its shortcomings.

“The smaller the vehicle class, the more severe it is to maintain the clearance (gap) of the parts that fit inside. Therefore, we are also processing the frame and changing the design,” said Ayato.

Among them, the “undercarriage” such as front and rear tires, wheels, and suspension was mentioned as redesigned inputs.

In an interview with Forbes, Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo revealed that the original design of Kaneda’s bike was inspired by the lightcycles from Tron designed by Syd Mead.

“In terms of Kaneda’s bike in Akira, the initial inspiration was the lightcycles from Tron designed by Syd Mead. However, they are wide, so I halved them and used that as an initial basis,” said Otomo.

Originally the manga, Akira, debuted in 1982 and finished its run in 1990. Creator Katsuhiro Otomo adapted it to a feature film in 1988, writing the script and directing the movie. The movie premiered in Japan on July 16, 1988, where it was distributed by Toho. It’s gone on to become one of the most influential manga and anime ever, and its mark on popular culture continues to be felt even today.

The film had a production budget of ¥700 million ($5.5 million), making it the most expensive anime film at the time (until it was surpassed a year later by Kiki’s Delivery Service).

Source: Twitter, Otakuma

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