3D printing is the best possible way to produce personalized objects, and there are very few industries that get more “personal” than custom motorcycles. Adopting additive manufacturing techniques, experienced teams like Klock Werks, one of top custom motorcycle company in the US, can make better parts, get them done faster, test them faster and gain more experience. For their latest project, a custom creation that combined the 2.294 cc engine of Triumph’s largest touring model with a Carpenter Racing motor kit and a Motor Trike conversion kit, Klock Werks used a Stratasys Fortus 400mc Production System. And it paid off with a new land speed record, but that is just part of the story.
By designing many of the Triumph Rocket III custom trike’s parts in SolidWorks, and by 3D printing them in polycarbonate through Stratasys’ high end FDM system, Klock Werks won the Discovery Channel’s Biker Build-off competition, where they only had 10 days to build a custom motorcycle. The trike’s 3D printed gauge pod, fork tube covers, headlight bezel, floorboard mounts, floorboard under covers and wheel spacer held up just fine. So fine, actually, that it also won the 66th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, where it was driven to and displayed, and even got voted best-of-show.
If you, like me, are a “standard motorcyclist” and not necessarily a custom bike rider, the names of the 3D printed parts may sound totally obscure so let’s clear the scenario up a bit to give you an idea of exactly how much of the trike was 3D printed. The gauge pod is basically the encasing for the speedometer and odometer (it is usually one of the first things that a custom rider changes: so being able to give it a unique shape is certainly a big plus). The fork tube covers, as the name implies, cover up the suspensions in the front fork, they can be made of metal or plastic. The headlight bezel holds the front light in place and is usually made of metal (but can easily be made of plastic). The floorboard mounts are used to hold up the plate where the rider rests his or her feet so they should be fairly solid and are generally made of metal.
The floorboard undercover, on the other hand, is better in plastic as it needs to be just a light protection from dirt and debris for the floorboard. The wheel spacer sits next to the wheel (on the inside) and is a typical custom piece that allows the wheel to fit after the changes have been applied to the external or internal structure. It is usually made of metal. To know that it can be 3D printed in polycarbonate and that it holds up just fine is likely to be a great advantage for customizers, as it means that it can be rapidly made to fit any customization.
To fully test how the trike’s 3D printed parts would hold up, Brian Klock raced the Triumph Rocket III to set the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) certified land speed record reaching 136 mph at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It is Klock Werk’s twentieth certified record, but the learning experience he gained from it probably makes it the most important one to date.
