How It Started
In January 2017 LEGO Technic released the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure kit. It had 603 pieces and let you recreate BMW’s legendary adventure motorcycle in brick form with a working boxer engine and front suspension. It was the first time LEGO Technic had ever partnered directly with a motorcycle brand.
But every LEGO Technic 2-in-1 kit comes with a built-in challenge. Same pieces. Completely different model. So designers from LEGO Technic and BMW Motorrad sat down together and asked one simple question: what else could you build with these exact 603 pieces?
The answer was a hoverbike.
Designing the Hover Ride Concept
LEGO Technic designers Aurélien Rouffiange and Samuel Tacchi led the alternative model design while working closely with the BMW Motorrad team. One group was in Denmark and the other was in Munich but they collaborated from start to finish as one team.
Samuel Tacchi’s hoverbike concept was the idea that won out from several directions the team explored. It was also the first time in LEGO Technic history that a concept model had ever been created for an alternative build in a 2-in-1 kit.
Alexander Buckan the Head of BMW Motorrad Vehicle Design called it “a great idea and a superb creative challenge.” The concept kept BMW’s design DNA fully intact. You can still spot the signature boxer engine and the classic GS silhouette while the overall look also carries the bold visual style of LEGO Technic throughout.
Hoverbikes and hoverboards, once seen only in science fiction, are now becoming a reality as the demand for personal flying transportation grows.
You can get a Lego Technic BMW R 1200 GS Adventure kit with 603 parts to build a small version of the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure bike.
But here’s the fun part: you can also use the same kit to build something different and cooler—a futuristic hoverbike called the BMW Hover Ride Design Concept.
Same 603 Pieces. A Completely Different Machine.
The LEGO hoverbike uses the exact same parts from the R 1200 GS Adventure kit with no extras added. Some components were modified for the concept though.
The front wheel rim for example was reworked to function as a propeller which gives the hoverbike its signature futuristic look.
BMW and LEGO were upfront that this model was “full of emotion and creative energy though not laying claim to technological plausibility.” It was never meant to actually fly.
The goal was to show what motorcycle design could look like 5 to 10 years into the future. Something imaginative but still grounded enough to feel real.
BMW Trainees Then Built It at Full Scale
When the LEGO model was finished BMW did something nobody expected. The BMW Junior Company in Munich is an innovative training program where trainees from different departments collaborate on real projects together. They decided to build a full-sized version of the hoverbike using genuine parts from the BMW R 1200 GS production line.
This was not a CGI render or a showroom prop. Young engineers built a physical life-sized replica from real motorcycle components. The full-scale Hover Ride Design Concept stays true to the LEGO design while also carrying authentic BMW Motorrad elements throughout.
It does not hover since the technology is still years away. But the specially built propellers offer a real glimpse into what personal flying transport could eventually look like.
Where the World First Saw It
The full-scale BMW Hover Ride Design Concept made its world debut at LEGO World in Copenhagen on February 16 2017. After that it traveled across Denmark before heading to Munich where it was displayed at the BMW Group Research and Innovation Center and at BMW Welt.
Why the BMW LEGO Hover Ride Design Concept Still Captures Attention?
This is more than a toy story. The BMW LEGO Hover Ride Design Concept is proof of what happens when two completely different brands give their designers real creative freedom.
LEGO Technic designers used a motorcycle kit as a launchpad to imagine the future of personal transportation. BMW engineers then turned that imagination into something you could actually stand next to.
Personal flying vehicles are moving from science fiction to real conversation fast. The Hover Ride Design Concept helped start that conversation in a way that felt exciting and accessible to everyone.
Want to try it yourself? The LEGO Technic BMW R 1200 GS Adventure set includes instructions for both the original motorcycle and the Hover Ride Design Concept. Same 603 pieces. Two completely different builds.