Last weeks I have been working on the handmade glass fiber body for the MTD café racer. With the valuable help of Antony, one of my Spark design & innovation colleagues! Check our website http://www.sparkdesign.nl/

After two layers of white gel coat, the glass fibers have been positioned in the mold and soaked in epoxy resin. Lot of small clamps kept the fibers in place while adding the peel-ply and all the foils and vacuum plastics layers.

After the epoxy resin hardened the mold was opened and made super happy! The body is super clean and fitting on the frame perfectly! The coming period the body will be sanded and painted. Keep posted for the latest developments.

Video | The Delivery by Old Empire Motorcycles

The Delivery from Old Empire Motorcycles on Vimeo.

Thanks for sharing @pipeburn

http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2013/11/21/the-delivery-by-old-empire-motorcycles.html

Update | Mold making

The three molds for the MTD café racer are finished! The glass fiber molds have been made following the hand lay-up glass fiber laminating. Over the HD PU plugs; which are the CNC milled positive parts of the final motorcycle body.

The plugs have been sanded super smoothly and finished with a clear coat. On top of this coat 7 layers of mold release wax have been added.

All the layers and patterns for all the glass fiber fabrics have been cut with care, and fitted on the plugs before adding the polyester resin. After which the laminating started, merging the fibers with the resin over the plugs.

After the polyester completely hardened the rough edges of the molds have been trimmed, releasing wedges were slammed between the molds and the plugs,… and finally air pressure and two large chisels released the molds from the plugs!

Now these molds will be bolted together for construct the large mold in which the body kit will be made. Keep in touch for more footage..

The first body kit of the custom MTD Ducati café racer will soon be made. If you have interest in this body kit send an email to info@maartentimmer.com

Update | First mold ready

Last week the first of the 3 mold pieces have been made. The glass fiber fabrics have been laminated with the polyester resin. The mold you see in this blog post is the center one; the top of the fuel tank. The other 2 HD PU plugs are now being prepared for the final mold making.

Once these molds are finished the first body kit can be made for the custom MTD Ducati café racer. If you have interest in this body kit send an email to info@maartentimmer.com

Video | Walnut

Walnut from Cineastas on Vimeo.

Another video that makes you happy and your hands itch.. handcrafted bicycle equipment by Walnut!

Update | Sanding the plugs for mold making

The last two weeks I have been sanding the HD PU plugs. These parts need to be super smooth before I send those over for a coat of 2K-paint. 2 coats of spray filler have been added and many hours of sanding.
Looking for the right company for the paint job now..

Video | Dainese presents Rossi's Ranch

Brilliant video; the quotes, the shots and the accents of Rossi and Guys Martin make this video amazing!

"It's like a dream from when you are child" quoted by V. Rossi.. love that guy! Check the video for more quotes..

Update | Plugs for mold making back from CNC milling

Last week the plugs for mold making have been CNC milled at Solid Shape! After clay modeling the body, 3D scanning the clay model and 3D CAD modelling in Solidworks, the pllugs are ready.

These plugs will now be sanded, painted and polished. After which the glasfiber molds will be made around these plugs. In the resulting glasfiber molds the final café racer body will be made, using a mix of carbon fiber and glasfibers.

More information about CNC milling and Solid Shape, please visit http://www.solidshapes.com/

Video | YAMAHA WR450F "REUNION"

YAMAHA WR450F "REUNION" Shot and Directed by Mark Toia from Mark Toia on Vimeo.

YAMAHA WR450F "REUNION" Shot and Directed by Mark Toia
One of theose feel good clips that causes goosebumps..

Thanks for BikeExif for sharing. http://www.bikeexif.com/

Video | Trike racing

No need for building proper motorcycles.... buy a small trike for downhill racing! This rocks!

Update | Plugs for mold making

After weeks and weeks of CAD modeling in the evenings and weekends I finally finished the entire body of my café racer. The body has been split in three different parts which will be CNC milled in RAKU-tool Modeling Board 600. This high density foam plugs will be used for the fabrication of the glass fiber molds.

Rizoma factory visit

Last weekend I have been visiting Milan, with a colleague of Spark design & innovation, for the Salone del Mobile. On our way home we visited Rizoma as well! They are sponsoring my café racer project, and I know them for quite few years now, but I was never able to visit the factory.. till now!

Main impression is awesome. The packages of the Rizoma product reflect the company very well; nicely designed, clean and well organized! The tour around the factory passed 19 CNC milling machines and many other machinery the “after care” of the milled parts.

Even the assembly line, packaging and storage systems are impressively well organized and highly efficient. All together an interesting tour around their factory, thanks guys!

Update | Starting for the first time!

Last Saturday I picked up my Ducati café racer at Star Twin. After the Motorbeurs Utrecht, the motorcycle fair, they took the bike to their shop to adjust the exhaust slightly and to connect the gas cables correctly.

Some fuel of the first test run was left in the Dell'Orto carburetors so we were able to start this loud Ducati to shoot this short clip. Unfortunately with awesome voice-overs..

Video | Audi RS4 paintball battle

Update | Motorbeurs Utrecht

Talking all weekend about the MTD café racer is quite interesting, to share my passion of motorcycle building with the audience of the motorcycle fair!

We have been welding all weekend; from small brackets till the complete exhaust manifold. The motorcycle is nearly ready to fire for the first time, the last item in the checklist before starting; the gas cables!! Most likely the MTD café racer will be back in Rotterdam next week.. exciting!