Upcycle Inspiration: Motorcycle Brake Rotor Art

For my upcycling project I plan to create a piece of wall art from an old brake rotor off my dirt bike.  Dirt biking has been a defining hobby of mine since sophomore year of high school. I started off riding a trail bike, but quickly realized I wanted to do more than just putt around. I quickly sold my first motorcycle and purchased my first race bike. From there was hooked; I wanted to go faster and jump farther every time I slung my leg over the bike. I went to the track at least once a week with my stepbrother. Here we raced around and challenged each other to be the fastest. We also pushed each other to try bigger jumps and move out of our comfort zone. Later I tried my hand in racing, competing in both outdoor races and in arena cross competitions. In my last race, I was one spot away from making it to the main event.

My passion for motorcycles goes beyond riding them. Some of my fondest moments growing up are of my stepbrother Jake and I working on out motorcycles together. We performed all of our own maintenance (which is more than you would expect). There was always something to do, and we spent hours on end wrenching away at our beloved machines.

For this reason, I want to transform an old component from my motorcycle into a piece of art. I gained inspiration for this project from googling images of “art from motorcycle parts”; some of the images I referenced are included in this post.  I plan to turn the rotor into either a static display, or possibly a clock. In order to accomplish this, I will use a black acrylic sheet to fill in the center of the rotor. I will laser cut this to size and engrave the word “CRF” onto this to commemorate the model of motorcycle that it came from. Should I pursue the clock route, I will also include a hole for the movement hand shaft to pass through. I plan to attach the acrylic to the brake rotor using standard fasteners.

“Bike Parts Clock.” Amazon, www.amazon.com/Recycled-bicycle-upcycled-enthusiast-Steampunk/dp/B0787DDV8Q.

“Recycled Mountain Bike Disc Brake Rotor Wall Clock.” Etsy, www.etsy.com/se-en/listing/705388144/recycled-mountain-bike-disc-brake-rotor?show_sold_out_detail=1.

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5 Comments. Leave new

  • BikeBD is the first Motorcycle blog in Bangladesh We update regularly latest bike price in BD do in depth bikereviews

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  • Noah,
    I love the deep and rich history you share with dirk-bikes, and motocross. Using a medium for this project that you have a passion for is such a good idea and I am sure it will turn out wonderful! I think it would be cool if you could incorporate more than just an old rotor for this project, like maybe taking lettering or smaller parts of the bike and using them for decoration or numbers/hands for the clock, just think out loud. Keep up the hard work!

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    • Joeseph,
      Thank you for the idea! I like your idea of using smaller parts for the hands, but there aren’t many components of that shape or size and I am not in possession of any of them. I might be able to incorporate other components into the backdrop though. I will give this some thought!

      Reply
  • Hey Noah!
    I like the introduction you gave into your background with dirt-bikes, motocross, and your passion which fueled your idea for your upcycling project! It provides needed context to help understand the direction you want this project to go. If you were to make this piece into a clock, such as the example image you provided, how would you attach the clock mechanisms to the brake rotor?

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    • Austin,
      Thank you for your thoughts. I plan to attach the clock mechanism with either glue or small screws to an acrylic center that I will laser cut out.

      Reply

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