A little more bling! for the VFR

since we are on the subjective subject of carbon fibre and me being Mr. Subjective, thought I would throw in another thought on carbon...If its lousy quality jell coat and gets grey and faded by the sun, dats da worse!!! Almost like you got your $2000.00 Brookbrothers suit on and you got some ratty arse shoes on...Anal-0h-Geees are fun sometimes, no gay humor there, so dont waste your time :tongue:

 

This must extend to that shelf paper stuff that looks like CF too I guess.. All this time I thought that was done with old IBM punch cards and a couple of rattlecans from Walmart.

 

The Camaro has a CF hood, CF layered on the roof and custom made trunk with layered CF. Also CF GFX and on the rim of the wheels. Under hood and interior has Yellow CF accents.

 

An exercise in irony? The strength to weight ratio of the carbon parts I make blows away that of the cheap factory covers on the factory bikes. All the parts I make for motorcycles remove weight from the bike! Not everyone is concerned with the small loss in weight, but being in the aviation buiss. for many years I have learned the benefits of weight loss and have become pretty anal about it.( free, dependable power) Anyway, I like the look of the stuff.Some parts , such as the muffler cover I make, really change the appearance of the VFR. If your into chrome, so be it! If your into carbon thats cool too!

 

Can CF be chrome plated for those of us into both? Vice-versa maybe?

Is there data on this strength a CF cover on a muffler provides?

Sorry man, but when I see CF products like briefcases and CD holders the whole pro argument loses value.

 

As far as technical test data on the muffler cover,it would be pointless as its not a structural part. Take the stock one and run it over with your car, then run one of my carbon ones over in the car. Mine still looks the same.
Most of the cupholder carbon stuff and brief cases ect, and for that matter mass produced motorcyle parts are not made of real carbon fiber! They are printed ABS plastic patterns, and many carbon look products are also made from black fiberglass.

 

cf prices

what are the prices for the VFR1200 parts ???

 

I don't think I am going to be running over any bike mufflers mine or somone elses in the near future at least not on purpose.

The ball is now in your court. So how do we tell the difference between the real CF and the fake stuff short of destructive testing?

 

coming out of the closet- i'm a carbon queer, beautiful part. how much? didnt see this part listed on your website. what is a bear claw?

 

Its really easy. The front of the part will look like carbon but when you look at the back of the part its usually scraps of fiberglass. If the back of the part does'nt look like the front its fishy.
I just repaired a side cover from a company called '' carbondry'' out of japan. A very expensive part made with scraps of fiberglass and one layer of carbon on the front!

 

Thanks for the compliment akitchell. The bear claw is an intake cover for Triumph Rocket3.
I stopped makeing the shaft cover for the vfr as the compound curves made it very hard to make. Will be doing some more parts soon for the vfr.
I may try a belly pan, or the nose piece under the windshield may look good in carbon.
I will post some pics here when i do.

 

I am satified that you fabricate good stuff but let's face it, a CF muffler shroud is cosmetic, ABS plastic is probably lighter for fairing and paint with road rash is still just that. How bout some stuff that is more function/bling?

 

Every part I make for my bike has a cosmetic benefit ( if thats what you like). But every part is also functional as it is improving my H.P. to weight ratio.
Not a big issue on a 600lb bike for sure. But being in the aviation buiss. most of my life, I have become anal about weight. Losing weight is a pretty reliable way to improve performance!
As for A.B.S. plastic. It has very poor strength to weight ratio, with carbon fiber being about 4.5 stronger for the weight. This is why Boeing builds the 777 fuselage from carbon fiber, not A.B.S

 

When you're talking mere oounces on something that weighs 600 lbs , skipping lunch before a ride accomplishes more weight savings. I doubt that the weight savings plays into any significant performance gains. It just looks badass. Too bad I don't have factory exhaust. That swingarm cover though...... Too bad it's too hard to make. I guess it's just fake carbon wrap for me. Wonder what the weight of the sticker will do to my quarter mile time, haha. If you were still selling them , I would rather have real carbon fiber rather that sticker over abs. Not bc of the weight or the strength over abs on a non structural part, but bc it's not that expensive to have the real thing over a sticker. Now if I could only talk my wife into trading her ring for a cz and another bike .

 

If this cosmetic benefit is so critical to some, might you be better off cranking out blingies for Harleys? Maybe even come up with a way to chrome CF.

Blingies are farkles for Harleys in case anyone is wondering..

The strength argument is valid . I doubt your aircraft customers are buying your finished products for looks. Uncle Sam put me in the aircraft business too, then the aerospace business. You should also be aware that having digs in Seattle I might just know a little about Boeing.

Again, I believe you build fine products for certain vehicles but IMO, your overall knowledge of motorcycles is not as great as your knowledge of aircraft. If you can show by some evidence where CF is being used for fairings in place of ABS or resin and fibreglass even on the most exotic racebikes and that CF is better for saving paintwork, I will defer to your expertise.

I would submit that the entire consumer base for bikes even those with items as simple as flyscreens would benefit from body parts made from "fibreglass" like my 79 BMW R100RS that used to be an R100RT.

I like the skipping lunch quip. We should not skip breakfast because like the ad guys say," It's the most important meal of the day", and who are we to question commercials?

 

Well Billy, All grand prix bikes and world super bikes use 100% carbon fairings. Some use carbon fiber frames.
By the way, i'm not interested in pushing parts on this forum. Mostly these parts are for me. Very few people buy my bike parts.
I only make them for the bikes I own.
Some people like the fact that someone is offering a product or option for there model of bike. Certainly not for everyone, and obviously not for you.

 

Yep, with a few exceptions to your "all" beliefs. Moto GP uses lots of CF including brakes except in the rain. Fairings? I would question "all" since those bikes are not considered touchie-feely items at races as are WSB bikes. Tons of rules that are ever changing too. All is a very large word and should be used with discretion since WSB bikes do not use, according to 2012 rules, CF fairings. WSB bikes, one can buy. Moto GP bikes are NFS.

The drift of this is that when CF is used as a farkle on a bike it's cosmetic. This does not make it good or bad but more form over function.

 

Yes Billy, You are correct.

 

What's the price on the muffler cover? I couldn't find it in this thread or on your website.
Tanks,
D Dave

 

i saw $210 0n website http://www.carbonfiberbyaerolitecomposites.com/prices.htm........i like the muffler cover!! looks great!! got me debating going for the Akro...akro gives +5-7 hp though, but i do love the sound of the stocker (never thought i'd ever say that about a motorcycle)...hmmmm??.....Too bad about the final drive cover, because i LOVE it and i need a new one....has anyone had the little inside flap pop open and grind against the wheel???? twice on mine !! once on the way home from the dealer after intial servicing !! (they replaced it for free)...i'd love to get a Cf from you, too bad you're not making them any more...are there any around,??? can you be bribed into making one more ????