In the last post, I’d just started to load up clay, which using the tiny oven I have (you can see it in the top left of the image below) took quite a while! Now it’s time to start roughing in the design I had sketched out previously.
Starting to rough in the design
I took inspiration from cafe racers when defining an important aspect of the design – this is the line that runs under the tank and into the seat platform. I also wanted to adopt the essence of a cafe racer in that all superfluous weight should be shed. The very short seat is also key in getting rid of this excess weight. After all, what’s the point in having a load of stuff sticking out behind you if it’s a single-seater. (NB, I’m a hardcore mountain biker too, so having a rooster tail of shit splattered up my back is… erm… OK I guess.)
Euphoria results from sitting on this motorcycle. Fact.
I had my local military aerodynamics expert pop round for a look and a sit on the bike. Aerodynamics is not a really important aspect for this bike, however having good mates pop into the workshop for a beer once in a while certainly is! It’s good to see how the bike’s proportions work when it’s being sat on too. I think the short tail also will really help the bike look good when being ridden.
3 weeks after first loading clay, and I’m starting to find the design.
It’s been about 3 weeks of grabbing sporadic hours in the workshop after work. At this stage I’ve decided on the general proportions of the bike, but I’m really trying out lots of ideas about how it all works together. The seat is starting to come together, looking like it’s cradling the rider’s ass, which I think works. The large boxy console behind the top yoke is intended to house a 7″ TFT display that my friend Felix over at 2-Moto is currently developing. Aside from looking amazing as a dashboard, this unit incorporates GPS, accelerometers, CAN/BUS input and black magic to record telemetry data from the bike and the ride, which can be wirelessly downloaded onto your phone’s app. Sound’s exciting! Rather than position the dash unit in front of the top yoke, as is traditional, I want to enclose it in the bodywork, and this should help keep the headlight/front fairing short. At the moment it’s looking rather boxy, and my hopes of making it look like a raised air intake are not really working…. yet.
