Scalextric MotoGP Bikes
by David Knickmeyer

Scalextric has pulled an idea from the past; slot bikes. They’ve created a whole series based on MotoGP. It seems that at least around here they’ve gotten mixed results. The hobby store where I purchased mine can’t keep them in stock but the raceway not too far away can’t move them at all. I’ll give my opinion as to why at the end of this review.

The bike is well-packaged for initial shipping. There is a plastic filler at the top of the box that holds the head of the driver in place and several of those stupid wire wraps holding the driver to the bike and the bike to the bottom of the box. There is also a small clip that I suppose should hold the bike in place during normal storage. I say ‘suppose’ because it snapped off of the box the first time I removed the bike. This really makes the box useless for storage because there is no other way to secure the bike to the base.

The bike itself looks great. Scalextric did a very good job with the detail, both on the bike and the removable driver. It’s very solid and there don’t appear to be many parts that would break off during use. That’s a good thing, as I’ll discuss later. The detailing is very good, down to the metal disc brakes and drive chain.

The motor is small and well-hidden. The gear on the back wheel is the back wheel (what does that do to the gear ratio?). There is a fairly strong magnet underneath the engine. The guide isn’t mounted at the front of the bike but rather just behind the front wheel. It has a long balance bar in the same spot to keep the bike from tipping. It’s black so it won’t show too much on Scalextric track. It might become annoying on a painted or wooden track, I suppose.

Okay, so how did it run? Well, that’s where I ran into my first problem. A recent addition to my track is the Goodyear Bridge. The driver took that right in the face. Without the driver it could clear that, but not the bridge that is part of my layout. It’s a standard bridge, using the cheap cardboard mounts that come with the Scalextric Sport sets. So height is a problem.

I made minor adjustments and was able to run laps without decapitating the driver. It runs pretty well out of the box. Obviously there are some problems with the center of gravity so you need to be especially careful if you have a downhill turn. I did several barrel-rolls right off the track. It ran okay with the default Scalextric Sport controller but was a little sluggish. I’ve found that to be the case with any car with a strong magnet. Using the Professor Motor controller solved that problem.

I believe the overall speed should be middle-of-the-pack for any out of the box car. I’ve certainly had worse. I can’t give an exact time because of some track modifications, but it seemed reasonably fast and was fun to drive. The bar may look ugly but it did keep the bike in the slot.

The looks are great. Both of my sons thought it was very cool (the driver is currently somewhere in my four-year-old’s room). It’s definitely something that catches people’s eye.

So why can the hobby store sell them and not the local HUGE track? My guess is that the hobby store sells mostly to people who run on their own track and are collectors/fans. The track probably sells mostly to people who are trying to run as fast as possible. These bikes aren’t going to run as fast as a modified slot car and there isn’t a whole lot you can do to tune them. Running them on a long raceway might not be as much fun.

In conclusion, the MotoGP bikes are a nice change of pace (kind of like the karts Ninco used to make). They are well-designed, look great and run pretty well. If you have fun running different classes and aren’t just looking for pure speed (and you don’t have too low of an overpass) these are a good buy.