Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

New Member - Motorcycle Parts

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic34868.aspx

By remotorcycled - 2/17/2020 2:03:22 PM

Hello, My name is Struan and I am an amateur motorcycle builder based in Scotland. I have a blog outlining all of my build process here www.remotorcycled.com for anyone interested.

On my newest build, I want to build a front light panel for the bike out of carbon fibre. I have designed the faceplate in CAD and I am now at a crossroads on how to turn this into a reality.



I was wondering whether I can get the part 3D printed and make a mould off this? The mould would really only need to be one-sided as the back of the light board wouldn't really be seen. I am going with this more for the visual impact than structural benefit (I will sort out the other issues that is LED's etc in time) but it would be good to get started with this. 

I am happy to invest time and money into this as there are other parts I quite fancy building also (wheel arches, panels etc).  As a complete beginner can you advise on the best method to do this? Am I better off going down the wet resin vacuum bag route or a prepreg route? My only concern with the prepreg is access to an oven which will allow me to function a vacuum pump. 

I am happy to consider anything really. I enjoyed working with fibreglass on my last build and I want to see what else I can learn.

thanks
Struan 
By remotorcycled - 2/20/2020 1:38:39 PM

 
Warren (Staff) - 2/20/2020 10:55:21 AM
If it is less than 30cm wide, you could do some simple wet lay laminating using our Carbon Fibre Laminating Starter Kit as you get a 1m by 30cm strip of carbon and resin and bits and bobs to match, so it might be perfectly sized for this project.

Thanks Warren, I will double-check my dimensions but think this would be a suitable solution. 

thanks
Struan