Watch This Guy Bring Kaneda's Bike From Akira To Life As A Custom Build

What do motorcycle riders and customizers have in common with a Japanese folk tradition? In the case of the YouTube channel Teru Teru Boys, it’s that they would clearly prefer good weather, if you please. The motorcycle DIY and custom channel’s name is derived from a Japanese charm for good weather, which you can also see in its logo, which pops up during some video transitions.  

Today, though, we’re here to talk about one specific project, which is a build that’s currently underway from a guy named Ayato. Like many, he was inspired to create a custom based on nothing less than Kaneda’s bike from Akira. It’s a passion project that he’s doing as time permits, because presumably like most of us, he has other things going on in his life—so you’ll find videos (in Japanese, but with plenty of action you can follow even if you don’t speak the language) in the series going back about a year. 

Ayato started with a Yamaha Majesty as his base, and he’s slowly been working to complete the build in his spare time. The most recent video shows the installation of LEDs around the huge, round wheel hubs. You may notice in close-ups that there appear to be some Marchesini wheels underneath those massive, round, solid wheel coverings—but if you’re unfamiliar with Kaneda’s bike, you’ll see that the overall look is absolutely correct. 

To create the highlighted wheel look, Ayato takes reels of LED ribbon and threads them through white silicone tubing, cut to length. After he’s assembled four pieces that are the correct size, he then carefully wires them into the bike and installs them tucked up just underneath the edge of each wheel cover. 

The result, quite literally, has to be seen to be believed. However, even if you haven’t been following this build every step of the way, the combination of all the bodywork he’s convincingly built so far is what makes this whole thing so impressive. Although the project isn’t at the paint and decal stage just yet, you need a solid base to make something like this look like it should—and it completely does in this case. Ayato’s take on Kaneda’s bike is smooth—and the automatically-lowering suspension is peak chef’s kiss. This is going to be an utterly thrilling thing to see come to life, no matter what languages you can (or can’t) speak.