Building Sirius Black’s motorcycle

For a couple of years, I’ve had a custom version of Sirius Black’s motorcycle, which I have gradually improved on, to a point where it is now worth sharing. And for those who want to build one yourself, I have included instructions for how to make it. Have fun…

Sirius Black’s flying motorcycles featured a couple of places in Harry Potter. Firstly, it is said to be the one Hagrid arrived on when he delivered Harry to 4 Privet Drive in the opening scenes of the first movie.

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

In the movie clips it appears to be a white “normal” motorcycle, and not the sidecar combination it is normally shown as. That version appeared in the Deathly Hallows instead.

Doing some research, I’ve found out that the motorcycle used in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was indeed a white 1959 Triumph T120 Bonneville 650cc.

The white Triumph Bonneville was not used in the motorcycle escape scene in Deathly Hallows Part 1. Instead, that was a light blue Royal Enfield. The studio had originally contacted Royal Enfield looking for just a sidecar, but ended up liking the whole rig and used the it instead.

That escape scene is often referred to as the Battle of the seven Potters, and is described in this post. For that post, I did a quick mock-up of a motorcycle/sidecar combination. The front was terrible, so it was mostly hidden behind figures. I wanted to correct that ever since and have slowly been coming up with a better alternative, which I have shown below in front of my new model of 4 Privet Drive.

• 

• 

Below are some detailed photos of the motorcycle (click on them to enlarge).

• 

• 

• 

I’ve made instructions for the motorcycle available here. Note that the sidecar does not fit a minifigure perfectly, being slightly too narrow, but it is loose enough to allow you to place one without it being too noticeable Also, it does not allow full sized legs to be used (rather rely on teenage legs, which are still posable, but one plate shorter than the full sized ones).

Unfortunately, LEGO motorcycles are not made for Hagrid either, so he can only stand next to it, not actually ride it.

• 

• 

But it is perfect for Harry to go for a ride with Sirius Black to have some fun – which unfortunately he never got to do. I’m sure, they would have loved it. The version of Sirius I have used here, is described in this post.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Note that the instructions are also available from my Instructions page directly.

Next up is review of some of the mid 2021 Harry Potter sets. Stay tuned – coming very soon!

Till then, Build the Magic!