You've Got To Look At This Tiny, Adorable Akira Tribute Bike

36 years later, love for the sci-fi anime classic shows no signs of slowing.

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Jul 8, 2024 at 9:45am ET

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Earlier this year, my colleague Earl shared his thoughts about the 2024 CFMoto Papio SS. Right from the factory, it's a pretty irresistible little bike. That is, unless you hate fun. You don't hate fun, do you? Good.

Two custom jewelry designers named Dante Dizon and Noli Coronado saw the potential in the CFMoto Papio XO-1. So now, just five years after the year 2019, when the events of the Japanese sci-fi anime classic Akira take place, they've created this fantastic homage to one of the most famous film motorcycles of all time: Kaneda's bike.

Together, Dizon and Coronado formed a custom jewelry business called 13 Lucky Monkey, and they used some of their skills to create some of the bespoke ornamentation found on the resulting bike. They also brought in JDM customization specialists Sushi Factory PH to craft the custom fiberglass bodywork, as well as KCC Todee to make the custom wheels that complete the look.

This is a one-off custom build, and it's one that you clearly sit on and not in, as is the case in the movie. But there's more to it than the super-saturated red paint and graphics, or the custom fiberglass bodywork that sculpts the XO-1's regular shape into a minified version of Kaneda's bike.

Small details, like the little brass Akira plaque and additional ornaments, as well as the specially crafted keychain, help this bike retain its XO-1 character while also channeling design inspiration from one of the most screen moto icons of all time.

What do you think?

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Comments

The resulting build is a finely balanced creation that will instantly be recognizable to anyone familiar with Kaneda's bike, but is still very much its own thing.

Can you make it slide, though? That's another question, and maybe it's one that someone will answer in the future.