Aprilia MXV 450 : Motocross full carbon project completed.

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Aprilia MXV 450 : Motocross full carbon project completed.

Author	Message
hayeglas	hayeglas posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 1, Visits: 40	Nice work mate! I thought about doing the subframe as well a while back (same bike, HayeSM from aprilia forum). I was planning to make the mold while the subframe is mounted the bike, to ensure the dimensions are right. What kind of inserts will you be using for mounting it to the frame? I thought about a adjustable bal-joint of some kind, this would be a similar idea the 08 vdb bikes had on their subframe. Will you be using inserts for the exhaust mounts as well? My idea was to make the side of the subframe (which is normally open) smooth instead of a small extrusion (hope you know what i mean) but this would mean the mounings of the exhaust would need to be bonded in later or making a small extrusion at this place
	Reply Like 8
Julien	Julien posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 16, Visits: 2.8K	Hi ! Very great job !! One question : What do you put around the models to make the mold (the white plates and the glue / yellow putty ??)
	Reply Like 7
scottracing	scottracing posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 460, Visits: 5.2K	Some really good work there!
	Reply Like 7
Thanasis	Thanasis posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 36, Visits: 234	The new project to complete is the aluminium subframe. It is a risky project, if something goes bad with the carbon subframe during riding motocross, personal injury or expsensive damage (the titanium exhaust pipes are hanging by the subframe) could happen... The mould is almost ready and it is a 2 piece part : 1st step to cover the voids between the main beams The half part ready for the gelcoat : Ready to flip over and begin the 2nd part: 2nd part ready for gelcoat : to be continued...
	Reply Like 7
Thanasis	Thanasis posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 36, Visits: 234	Radiator covers and air filter cover : Lateral number plates : Original carbon engine guard after 4 years of motocross use started to deteriorate and needed to be copied : The new piece turned to be lighter than the original one (it has a little bit less thickness) but it is completing it's task successfully. Under the subframe guard : Some other additional parts : Generally the weight loss was -20% up to -25% from the original plastic parts. Some of the parts were intentionally made the same weight as the plastic ones, because the plastic ones had constant failures due to design problems or not manufactured strong enough. Edited 9 Years Ago by Izo78
	Reply Like 7
Thanasis	Thanasis posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 36, Visits: 234	and the rest of the parts... front fender (-100gr from the plastic which is weighting more or less 500 gr) : Number plate, it took a lot of effort to produce the 5 small brackets out of carbon : The air intakes, very dificult shape :
	Reply Like 7
Thanasis	Thanasis posted 9 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 36, Visits: 234	After 1 year, many hours of work, 16 moulds, some carbon parts born for scrap, some of them with very short riding life, some sticking conditions from moulds to parts and vise versa, I finished my motocross carbon project! From plastic: To carbon: The loss of weight was not the main issue, the main goal of project was to make the rear fender stop cracking while riding in heavy mud and specially with supsension bottoming on bigger jumps. In muddy conditions the rear fender was bound to broke damaging also the rear side panels. Making just the rear fender in carbon didn't help very much the situation. Final solution achieved by making the three seperate plastic parts (rear mudgard and the two side panels) just in one piece. A three piece mould was needed for this purpose: Unfortunately the first mould produced a slightly wrong dimensioned part (with a lot of aesthetic problems also). The one piece tail could not fit correctly in the subframe. Both mould and part go straight to trash. Starting from scratch the mould, this time the 3 plastic parts were tighten in the subframe and the mould was produced with all of them sitting in the right position. The mk.1 part was good enough but not perfect. it last a lot of motocross riding hours but failed a little bit in very heavy mud. It was the time for mk.2 rear fender, this time more stiffer and 100 grams more heavier than mk.1. Mk.2 turned to be perfect and very good looking. It is tested in the mudiest conditions with success! The fever of carbon modification was all over me and the rest of the parts were mend to be carbon also.... Edited 9 Years Ago by Izo78
	Reply Like 8