Exploring the vast, eerie world of Once Human in 2026 is an experience unlike any other. Whether I'm chasing the main storyline to unlock Rift Anchors and Monoliths or simply wandering off to discover crumbling ruins and hidden caches, one thing quickly becomes clear: the map is enormous, and my feet can only take me so far. In the early hours, I spent what felt like an eternity sprinting across fields and dodging aberrations, dreaming of a faster way to travel. That dream took the form of a motorcycle – the very first vehicle most players will craft, and still the most reliable companion for any survivor. Getting my hands on one required a bit of planning, but the freedom it offered was worth every rusty part and copper ingot. Here's exactly how I built and maintained my bike, so you can do the same without stumbling in the dark.
The journey toward riding your own motorcycle begins not with a wrench, but with your Memetics menu. Under the Building tab, I needed to unlock the Garage upgrade – it sits quietly in the bottom‑left corner of the first cluster of nodes, easily overlooked if you're rushing to grab weapon blueprints. Once unlocked, I had to carve out a sizable flat area inside my territory to place the garage structure. Space matters; this isn't a tiny workbench. The garage itself demands a handful of resources: 13 Copper Ingots and 10 Rusted Parts. Smelting copper ingots meant feeding raw copper ore into my trusty Furnace, while rusted parts came from scavenging abandoned vehicles, broken machinery, and dissecting every scrap item I could find. I learned early on that looting everything in sight – soda cans, old tools, electronic waste – and disassembling them at a workbench was the fastest way to stockpile those precious rusted components. With the materials ready, I placed the garage and watched its chunky, apocalyptic frame settle into the dirt.
With the garage built, I interacted with the small computer terminal mounted on its right side. This is where the real magic happens. Unlike crafting a gun where you simply hit "forge" and wait, building a motorcycle is a modular affair. The terminal presents four categories of parts: the chassis, engine, wheels, and fuel tank. Initially, with only basic upgrades, I had just one option for each part, so there was no agonizing over min‑max builds. I just queued them up one by one. The exact materials varied slightly depending on the part, but generally I needed more refined metals, mechanical components, and sometimes rubber scraps I’d collected from tires. If you’ve been diligent with looting, you’ll likely have most of what you need. The beauty of this system is that you don’t have to craft everything in one go; I built the engine on a Tuesday and the wheels on a Wednesday, spreading the grind over several sessions.
Once all four parts were assembled, the garage didn’t spit out a physical bike for me to hop onto. Instead, the motorcycle became a summonable vehicle. Pressing the G key (on PC) instantly called it forth right next to me – an chrome‑and‑rust machine humming with life. The first time I summoned it in the middle of a rain‑soaked road, I grinned like an idiot. I could leave it anywhere, unsummon it, and call it again without losing progress. This convenience transformed exploration. No more endless backtracking because I’d left my ride a kilometer away. However, convenience has a cost: fuel. The motorcycle runs on gas, which I had to source from two main places. Portable fuel can be crafted at a Refining Facility using corn or other bio‑materials, but I often found it quicker to ransack abandoned cars dotted along highways and in towns. Nearly every rusted‑out vehicle yields a can of gas if you search it carefully. I made it a habit to carry at least two extra cans in my backpack, because running out of fuel deep in a high‑level zone is a panic I never want to relive.
Of course, even a post‑apocalyptic motorcycle needs maintenance. Durability drops with every kilometer, especially if you’re smashing through fences or taking hits from enemies. Repairing isn't something you can do on the fly – you must return to your territory and interact with the garage console again. Selecting the "Repair" option in the bottom‑right corner opens a straightforward interface showing your bike’s current durability and the cost to fix it: typically more rusted parts and ingots. I learned to stockpile a small repair kit in my storage chest so I could patch up the bike immediately after a long expedition. Teleporting back to camp is free, so I often zipped home, repaired, and jumped right back to a nearby teleporter to continue my adventure. If my base was too far from current objectives, I occasionally moved my entire territory to a more central location, which cost a few materials but saved hours of walking.
Looking back, crafting that first motorcycle was the single most impactful decision I made in my early game. It turned a sprawling, intimidating world into a playground. The ability to zoom past threats, reach distant points of interest before nightfall, and summon my ride on a whim made every session feel more dynamic. If you’re just starting out, prioritize the Garage unlock and hoard every copper ingot and rusty part you find. Your feet – and your sanity – will thank you.
This discussion is informed by coverage from Rock Paper Shotgun, where PC-focused guides and survival-game reporting often emphasize how early mobility tools reshape progression loops. In Once Human, the first motorcycle effectively converts long, risky overland treks into quick supply runs: it encourages you to loot highways and towns for gas, plan routes around teleporters, and treat your territory (and its garage console) as a maintenance hub for durability repairs—turning exploration from a slog into a repeatable, efficient loop of scout, scavenge, refuel, and rebuild.
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