Set Review ➟ 42107 Ducati Panigale V4 R
LEGO Technic has a constant stream of licensed sets which in many cases bring added incentives. And the Ducati Panigale is another example. Sets based on real life vehicles have a twofold “benefit”—the models have a a special attraction not just for LEGO Technic fans, but for fans of the brands they work with. The collaboration also appears to make LEGO put in an extra effort to bring innovation to these sets. This innovation can be seen both in the shapes that are built to represent the vehicle as faithfully as possible and in the technical design inside the model.
So let’s start building to see how this model fits in the wave of licensed Technic sets. The 42107 Ducati Panigale V4 R set contains 646 parts. Since the part count is relatively small (compared to some of the mammoth sets that LEGO Technic have produced with over 4000 pieces), there are no numbered bags and all the elements for this model are mixed together.
There is a sticker sheet to add some detailing to the model and of course to add the brand name to the motorbike. Unfortunately mine was slightly bent, but fortunately that did not affect the quality of the final model. There is also a plastic sheet that will be used later as the windscreen.
Some of the outstanding elements include long shock absorbers in a golden-ish colour (standard shock absorber added as a size comparison) and brake disks for the front wheel. Another interesting part is the orange gear shifter, which already gives us a hint of things to come...
Finally, there are the tires. The rear tire is a little wider than the front tire (as was to be expected) but the rims for both are the same.
It is hard to get a reading on the size of the motorbike when you first start out building it. The central part of the frame looks huge and there are so many things that need to fit inside! Only when I realised the red panel at the top represents the fuel tank did I start to get a grasp of how the model would turn out.
Inside this large frame is a V4 motor block and underneath that there is a gear mechanism that allows for three positions. The protruding liftarm with pin in the image above serves as the selector for these states. A rubber band on the other side of the engine block completes the mechanism that lets you “click” through these 3 states: 1st gear, 2nd gear and neutral (between the two).
In the video below you can see how the gear shifter works and affects the engine speed
As you can see, I already added the rear suspension to the model when I took that video. The rubber band I mentioned before can be seen here:
The 4x2 liftarm is held firmly against the black knob wheel underneath, allow for perfect 90 degree rotations each time. The eagle-eyed will have spotted a second rubber band right behind the first one... That one is part of the transmission and connects the crankshaft to the gearbox. An elegant and realistic solution.
Another cool use of parts come in the “cockpit”. A pair of swords holds the windscreen in place:
All these angled connections come together to make a sleek and streamlined motorbike that gets really close to the original it is based on.
Another great detail in the set is the stand. It contains a pin that connects to a pin hole right in line with the rear axle. This is a simple and effective solution to turn an unstable motorbike into a display model.
One of the things advertised on the back of the box is the way you can remove the panels to see the engine underneath:
Unfortunately, things are not quite as simple. Removing the top set of panels can not really be done in this way, that is, if you want to be able to put the panel back on the same way. If you want to do that you really need to remove (partially extract) the two grey pins with bush that hold the liftarm in place that the panel is attached to:
But quite frankly, this is a great set and it contains some interesting solutions and mechanisms. It’s a first when it comes to gearing on a LEGO Technic motorbike and it really captures the look of the Ducati Panigale V4 R.
We wish to thank LEGO for providing this set for review. The opinions in this review are not supported or endorsed by LEGO.
25152
