YouTuber Ayato has a big project on his hands: making a DIY Kaneda bike from Akira. The Kaneda bike is one of the most iconic bikes in anime—no, make that popular culture writ large. There are numerous Kaneda bike projects on YouTube, but in my opinion, this one is the best.
In a series of clips, Ayato has been documenting his progress. It’s a massive project, and for it to be street legal it must confirm to Japanese law, but Ayato has been tackling it with aplomb and skill.
Ayato started this off with a Yamaha Majesty 250 bike, but set down the parameter that he wanted to try to make the Kaneda bike with what he had at home. (During the course of the project, he has ordered some items, but has kept to a DIY ethos in his approach.)
In this video, uploaded nine months ago, he strips the Yamaha Majesty 250 down and power saws away any unwanted metal on the bike’s bare frame. He then soldered in the parts he does need.
Here, Ayato talks about the modifications he’s going to make from the original design. For example, he’s not a fan of the seat on the actual Kaneda bike in the anime (and the manga), so he’s modifying the design to a bucket seat, which he prefers.
Other parts, such as the iconic front and wheel design, however, will not be changed.
The other thing that makes the Kaneda bike design tricky is the way the motorcycle handle can be raised and lowered. Ayato decided to also keep this and bring it to life.
He first made the body out of cardboard, but then created it out of fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). You can see the process in the clips below.
It’s even more impressive when you find out he’s using things like cat food bowls to create shapes.
You can really start to see the project come to life.
The project isn’t yet finished, but it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.
The clips are quite in depth. And while they’re not in English, the footage is extensive. If you mod or customize bikes (or make props and crafts), you should hopefully be able to follow along.