1/6 Scale Motorcyles & 1/1 Motorcycles -- Size & Design -- Problems for 1/6 scale

For some unknown reason, the folks who make 1/6 scale motorcycles don’t really seem to know their subject matter. They either make them squished, or just too small. It seems they must just look at photographs, and not the real thing -- so they can take accurate measurements. And they never take into account human anatomy, or comfort. Now some bike manufacturers don’t factor some of this in either — which is why motorcycle shopping is a lot like buying a car; you have to sit on it, ride it, and see if it feels comfortable to you.
I’ve been searching for a realistic (and affordable) pair of motorcycles for some time, and I thought I had found two that would be perfect. The BMW R 1200 C Cruiser replica that I bought for my wife’s “mini-me” is about as close as one can get to a “reasonable” facsimile to an actual existing motorcycle. HOWEVER — there are certain design flaws (not only with the actual bike itself), but even more so with the 1/6 scale replica.

Here is the actual bike as it looks in reality.




The actual design flaw (in my opinion) comes in how the dual engine block (1) sticks out from the bike so far on either side, that the only place to put the foot peg (3) and the shift peddle (2) is right next to it. Whoever designed the real bike WAS AN IDIOT!!! A normal v-twin engine is located under the gas tank and doesn't stick out much at all. Not only do motorcycle engines get super hot when running, if you had your legs that close to the thing, you run the risk of touching/bumping/brushing against it and seriously burning yourself. Apparently German engineering isn't all that great after all.



The problem with the 1/6 scale replica is sort of the same, only magnified. Not only is the overall length of the bike sort of squished, the engine block on the model is even larger than the twin heads on the actual bike — and sticks out even further. Either way, this makes for what would be — for a cruiser — an extremely uncomfortable and awkward ride for an actual human. Anyone who rides for any length of time will tell you you need to be able to stretch your legs out into a much more neutral position; hence you will often see many bikes with two sets of foot pegs (one set closer to the front of the bikes' frame) — the engine design of this bike makes adding additional pegs impossible. And the poor measurements of the model maker even more so.

Here’s my lovely model on the BMW R 1200 C Cruiser:



Having your knees locked into that tight of a position for longer than 20 minutes WOULD SUCK!!!!

Here’s Arnold from Terminator 2 on the Harley Davidson FLSTF Fat Boy (whose design was the same from the time of that movie — due to it being HD’s best seller -- until 2017 when the design changed).




As you can see, Arnie’s a pretty big guy, but he still doesn’t dwarf the bike, and his knees are in a little more comfortable position. And here's a man riding the HD Fat Boy (probably not as big as Arnold, but his legs look far more comfortable):



Here are two examples of a 1/6 scale HD (I think) Fat Boy (clearly made by different manufacturers). The first isn't bad, but still under-sized; the second one is pretty close to perfect (even though he doesn’t have his foot resting on the foot-board).




The real motorcycle I own is a 2011 Yamaha Stryker, that’s been modified with after-market parts, and is mostly all black. Here is a floor-model of that bike with a rider on it:



Like the HD Fat Boy & the BMW it is a “Cruiser”. But it has a more "raked-out" fork than the average cruiser. Notice the way the arms are almost straight out, and the knees are at a less rigid angle.  I have a small crash bar attached to the front frame of the bike (just in front of the engine), where I put an extra pair of foot pegs so I can extend my legs almost straight — a far more comfortable ride for any lengthy distances.

All that being said, I purchased a 1/6 scale “chopper” off eBay that is so poorly designed as to make it worthless for 1/6 characters at all. It’s actually closer in scale to 1/7, maybe even 1/8.

Here are a couple examples of guys riding “actual” choppers:





Notice how stretched out the legs of the guy actually moving are when resting on his foot pegs; that is by far the most comfortable position to have them for most lengthy road trips. Also notice how almost straight all three have their arms.

Here is my lovely model on the under-sized "1/6 scale" chopper I bought off of eBay:



As you can see, this looks absolutely ridiculous. The arms are positioned way too low just to reach the handle-bars, and the legs are awkwardly cramped. This looks more like something a clown would ride in a circus than someone could actually comfortably ride. This bike should have easily been twice the size it is now in order to be closer to reality.

Here's my lovely "Biker Chick" on her favorite ride (the bootleg Ghost Rider motorcycle we've seen before); even this bike has a serious design flaw (not sure if the movie cycle had the same problem, but I doubt it). The problem area is the handle bars -- they should be up much higher, and shorter after the curve to the outside, so that her arms are more level with her shoulders (as they should be when riding; true "Ape Hangers" force the arms to be above level with your shoulder, but there are laws pertaining to just how much higher they can be).



As you can see she sits a little more comfortably as far as leg position, but the handle-bars would make turning corners not only awkward and uncomfortable, but seriously dangerous as your elbows jam into  your sides -- there's a reason your arms are extended the way they are.

Here are some side by side comparisons of the 2 bikes that I recently purchased.




And here is a comparison of the Ghost Rider bike to the chopper (bikes that should be close in size, but are not):




If I were to make a 1/6 scale chopper, I would honestly make it even bigger than the Ghost Rider bike, which is pretty big, but still not completely accurate for a "real" bike. Still, the closest one I've seen so far.

Indeed, I wish that you could make them, Stryker.  

In truth, I have seen the same issue at 1:18 scale - and perhaps to an even greater degree of discrepancy...

I rather think that these problems are due to a lethal combination of ignorance and incompetence.

Some great shots there, though.  And I do love an HD Fat Boy.

Interesting, I had always suspected that these are often undersized. This made me look up the specs for the Terminator Fat Boy. Why is it so bloody hard to find out the overall length of a motorcycle!? At any rate, according to my findings, the length should be 93.8 in (238.25 cm) and the minimum height of the seat should be 26.5 in (67.3 cm). Translating this to 1:6 scale gives us 15.6 in (39.7 cm) by 4.4 in (11.22 cm). I compared this to my customized Barbie Fat Boy (below), which measures about 14 in (35.5 cm) by 4.15 in (10.5 cm). The height is pretty close, the length less so, and the motorcycle is therefore both undersized and disporoportional. But it doesn't look particularly short from the side... (the photo is a little misleading as the front is turning a bit away to its right). Am I missing something?

The bike definitely needs to be longer, and slightly taller, so his arms would be straighter forward when grasping the handle bars, and his knees wouldn’t be so drastically bent and pushed up toward his chest. The knees on a normal bike this size would only come up about halfway on the gas tank.

Thanks for confirming that I didn't mess up the calculations overall. It occurred to me to try it with a smaller figure (though I forget how tall HT's Arnie is), so here he is with an M33. Yes, I know this guys is totally inappropriate for the Harley (do bikers even go to the beach), but I still haven't put him away from when I did the TBLeague bodies comparison shot and he was the only one within easy reach. The proportion looks a little better with the smaller guy, but given the calculations and what you say, it is obviously still a bit off.

It does look better with a smaller body. The area where the 1/6 world fails on most bikes is from the middle forward, and the height. If he were sitting more upright, with a slight slouch (like most bikers without a back rest), his arms should still be relatively straight, and his knees wouldn’t be above the gas tank (partly because the foot board would be further forward if the bike wasn’t compressed). But it does look better with the smaller body. Not ripping you, brother. It’s just the problem I’ve seen with the entire 1/6 community when it comes to just about any vehicle.

I’m actually considering looking in to 1/5 scale bikes. If the idiots making the 1/6 make them too small, maybe the idiots making the 1/5 made them just right for actual 1/6 figures.

Again, these overall compression issues are not at all limited to 1:6; it seems rather a universal phenomenon of senselessness.  I'd found upscaling to 1/16 vehicles for 1:18 figures to be much more accurate, but that's an odd scale - and I suspect that 1/5 may be even more rare.  

Apart from the other discrepancies that you’d pointed out, Stryker - which can only be explained by a shamefully cursory or thorough lack of research - I think that almost every model vehicle I’ve seen appears to be somewhat too tiny for intended purposes.

It seems that there is a significant margin for interpretation (or misinterpretation) of vehicle scale at any size...  

GubernatorFan wrote:Yes, I know this guys is totally inappropriate for the Harley (do bikers even go to the beach)...

LOL.  Yes, they do, Guv - particularly in SoFlo, but not like that...  And when they do, they tend to own it…  

Stryker2011 wrote:It does look better with a smaller body. ... Not ripping you, brother. It’s just the problem I’ve seen with the entire 1/6 community when it comes to just about any vehicle.

I thought so too, and I know -- I am not really super-invested in this, although of course I want Arnie to look right on his ride (in every other respect this has been repainted, pruned, relicensed, saddle-bagged, etc to match what was in the film). It was an honest question and you gave me an honest answer. It does explain how come my Arnie looks so much bigger on it.

Stryker2011 wrote:I’m actually considering looking in to 1/5 scale bikes. If the idiots making the 1/6 make them too small, maybe the idiots making the 1/5 made them just right for actual 1/6 figures.

Let me know how that works out. Are there 1/5 scale bikes?

PureEnergy wrote:LOL.  Yes, they do, Guv - particularly in SoFlo, but not like that...  And when they do, they tend to own it…  

LOL, well put. I would think any biker that looks like that is probably temporarily not a biker. Unless perhaps the flipflops are leather

Actually, there are a few 1/5 bikes — but they’re about the price of a HT figure. Not cheap.

*looks at his old Fenrir bike from FF: Advent Children* Maybe I should get it a 1/12 figure someday.

Been looking for bikes, and they all seemed off somehow, now I know why. Thanks.

Man, That is frustrating!  I'm working on that same BMW bike right now, so I'm glad it's at least the closest you've found, but that is still just frustrating.  My only defense of these is, I don't think most of these bikes were intended to go with 1/6 scale figures, but as stand alone collectible pieces.  And I know it seems counter-intuitive to think that 2 things that are separately made to be 1/6 scale do not actually match up, but I think that's the main issue.  And since they're not intended to actually match up to anything, it's easy for them to go with it being "roughly" 1/6 scale.    In fact, starting with Phicen, I think a lot of figures are also a little oversized.  You can definitely see it when you put some companies together, and Phicen's especially kinda tower over them.  I have a blitzway body that is sorta huge next to a hot Toys figure, and it's not because it's supposed to be a tall character.  The fact that until recently all Phicen female figures were as tall as they were kinda illustrates this too.  I think the same is also true for the 1/18 scale stuff actually, with figures even in the same line ranging from 3.75" to 4.5".  But the fact that the Ghost Rider bike is the closest, and is the only one produced specifically with the intention of going with a 1/6 figure pretty much sums it up.

That said, the fact that they're disproportionate is a whole other failing on their part, and there's no excuse.  If all you're doing is making bikes, then you damn well should get that part right.

That said, it doesn't make it suck any less for us who want to use them with 1/6 figures.

Also, I feel like we discovered the secret origin to Stryker's username!!! (Although maybe I'm the only one who hadn't already put it together)

ReverendSpooky wrote:Also, I feel like we discovered the secret origin to Stryker's username!!! (Although maybe I'm the only one who hadn't already put it together)

You are correct, Sir.

I can’t remember if it was here, or another forum, but someone did start a thread asking what each person’s influence for their Username was. It was pretty interesting.

Vehicle scale, as well as other items, has always been a sore point n the industry. I think you are onto something with the 1:5 scale idea. I occasionally look at 1:4 stuff when I see it in person, but as luck has it, they are too big, seems they don't under scale them as much as we need. Of course, as you have shown, the riders look pretty uncomfortable on the poor scale versions. We all know the better versions command a premium as well. I know it's usually about bean counting, but you would think the small amount of extra material to produce proper scale accessories would not alter the bottom line so much.

Come on let´s build some selfmade post apocalyptic Bikes ! In perfect Scale

Y'all will laugh at me for buying this Ken motorcycle to see if I could get away with putting my guy on it. But of course it's too small, and a bit cartoonish, but has still been kind of fun putting all my people on it. The girl, who is fairly petite, fits on it best. Of course. The guy who's supposed to go on it is my M36A. So you can imagine. I was trying to come up with creative ways to photograph the scene so it wouldn't be as noticable. The real 1:6 bikes that I have been able to find are so dang expensive! And now to find out from y'all that they aren't even right...

Tho those definitely work for me. I'm not that meticulous about actual scale as long as it looks alright with the figures. Maybe one day I'll get lucky and find one I can afford!

Do you have pictures, Chris?

Silly ones. LOL!

I have ones where they look better actually on it from earlier when I was still working on them, and with a non-seamless guy with no pants riding it. But they are way back and I'll have to find them. I took pictures of the bike itself when I first got it but I can't find them right at the moment. I had the idea that I could modify it somehow, but I don't know. I was def planning to paint it black, bc my man isn't riding around on an orange bike.

Haha! Love the first one with the hair, that’s cute. Well, it is small, but it could pass for a little 250 cc bike — the kind they usually use in motorcycle riding classes.

Their hair was drying! Or rather the glue was. I've taken some seriously silly pictures all along since I got these figures. Even before that... With just the heads! I was cracking myself up!

It actually looks smaller in these pictures as I'm looking at them here than how it's been looking to me in person. Yowza!

LOL, those are adorable!

I tried to PM you to show you some photos of my peeps but your profile doesn't allow PMs. I put a few photos up on IG because my IG folks don't care if these are ready. LOL!

*Just realized IG cut off all the photos. I'll put the link back after I finish that.