Art of wooden motorbikes

Vyacheslav Voronovich from Lvov (Ukraine) has been into motorcycles since high school, and he rode an iron horse for the first time in seventh grade.

“It was precisely at that time as a kid that I started dreaming about having a bike of my own, but I never had the opportunity. Yet, my interest in motorcycles never actually subsided; it just became deeper and deeper. At the same time, I enjoyed wood carving and making various wooden artifacts. I was – and am to this day – particularly fond of miniature handmade articles,” Vyacheslav says.

And just a year ago, the idea of making his first motorcycle – not a real one, but one made of wood on a scale of 1 to 12 – evolved into a remarkable hobby. “The idea came to me after I saw pictures of miniature bikes made of metal on the Internet. Honestly, I had some doubts about it, because it is no easy task. But here you are – I did it, and did it fairly well. This helped me combine two of my passions. My first bike took me ages, since much of the time I spent contemplating how it would be best to join the parts, which types of wood to choose and how to work it. Now, things move much faster. As they say, I got the hang of it. Furthermore, every new bike looks much more real and is more perfect than the previous one.”

Vyacheslav believes the choice of the right wood is crucial for his hobby due to the unique characteristics of each type, such as appearance, hardness, and the shrinkage rate, among other things. For one, it is much easier to handwork pine wood than oak or beech, but pine is no match for them in appearance. “I use oak for the wheels, for instance, since it is darker than other types of wood, which is exactly right for those parts.”

“The most difficult task is to carve out tiny components, because they often break when they are almost finished (handlebars, rear-view mirrors, gear shifters, turn signals, brake discs, etc.). You have to start from scratch; sometimes I have to make the parts over and over again.” Vyacheslav’s finest and most fragile tool is a 0.5 mm drill bit, while his main instrument is “a plain box cutter with disposable razor blades. It's very sharp and good for treating wood.”

Vyacheslav Voronovich’s collection already boasts three choppers and two sport bikes – a Honda CBR 1000RR and a Suzuki GSX-R600. “I made the choppers based on my own taste and designer skills with due regard to the components every bike should have. After that, though, I decided to copy existing models. Why Honda and Suzuki? I love them both for the way they look and their technical specifications, they are very reliable. I'm working on the Honda VT1300 CS cruiser now. For this bike, I am using a wood bending technology to make the handlebars, the frame, which is a new one for me…”