Sunday 29 April 2012

Body design | foam shaping part 1

The story continues; last Saturday I have been working on the rough set-up for the foam base, on which the Kolb automotive styling clay will be smudged later on. Based on two full-size plots; one side view and one top view of the design, I made cut-outs of 6 cm polystyrene foam boards. This is not the most sensational photo serie on my blog, but I would like to give you a full overview of my building process. Next weekend I will continue with the foam base, I guess I need a couple of hours to add the last foam board cut-outs and roughly shape the body in the right shape.
The first cut-outs are the two mid-plane foam boards; immediately showing some of the main curves in the design. On these photo’s you’ll also see the last part of the tubular frame pointing out; this will be chopped of later on. The tank area, the volume just in front of the seat, is trimmed roughly. However the tail section is still a layer-cake of 6 foam board, this will be trimmed in the top view next week, when the final layers of foam are added.
More about the foam shaping next week!

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Motorcycle sketching

Some quick motorcycle sketches; inspired on the Honda CBR1000RR. In this serie of drawings I switched between rough side view sketches and more detailed 3d sketches. I worked on this set of sketches a little bit more than one hour; testing myself on speed and perspective.
 One remark.. this set of sketches has nothing to do with the motorcycle I am building right now.

Monday 23 April 2012

Ducati's first Superbike win | the 200 Miglia di Imola



The first win on a V-Twin, and the start of a new racing era! The famous Paul Smart won the 200 Miglia di Imola in 1972 and he is still a legend within the motorcycle racing scene and at the Ducati factory.
Like Marketing Director Diego Sgorbati mentions; “it was the first racing victory with a production derived bike, which today we call a superbike”. So actually it was Ducati’s first Superbike win!

Thanks to Otto Nero for posting this video; http://ottonero.blogspot.com/

Thursday 19 April 2012

Some exhaust like this!



The Boomtubes would add a rough sound to my motorcycle! I really like the loud and and bulky sounds, but "looks-wise".. I prefer the Laser Xtreme GP; what a briljant welds on these megaphones!

Friday 13 April 2012

Orange Bikes | Explained by Guy Martin

Love to see manufacturing of bikes, motorcycles, welding and factories from the inside! Especially when Guy Martin is the "host".

Sunday 8 April 2012

Assembly day 2

Taking the baby home! After removing the front fork the motorcycle was fastened with some straps for a secure ride home.

In the garage my dad and brother-in-law helped me to re-install the front fork so the motorcycle was back on its wheels! Now it’s ready for shaping the body, I hope to start with the foam and clay very soon!


Assembly day 1

Finally I made it; I arrived with all the frame parts,suspension and wheels at Star Twin! After unloading all the parts we grabbed the Monster 900ie engine and dropped it on the workbench, to bolt on the frame.

I started placing rear fork and rear shock. The link system turned out the fit in the frame but the bolt did not fit the link system; one solution… tweaking the bolt and shims on the lathe! Easy does it!

After the rear end the front of the motorcycle was assembled; the head stock bearings, triple trees and front fork were installed. After which the front wheel and Brembo calipers were bolted on.
When the bike was standing on its wheels I tweaked a rear wheel a little bit.. the rear rim was replaced for a wider one so I was able to use a 180mm rear tire. Which looks better on the lean rear end of the motorcycle!