Newsletter NovaBike Racing Team Delft 18 April 2011 Last month was quiet tumultuous for the NovaBike team; due to a defective clutch, NovaBike 01 was not ready for the first race at Assen. We didn't hang one's head; report of this in this newsletter. You can find also a report from the Student Expert Camp from Autodesk, an update of the NovaBike 02 progress and a small part about the experiences of a team member. We want to thank all sponsors for the financial, material and immaterial support. Follow NovaBike also on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube! The next newsletter will appear on Monday the 16th of May 2011, just after the Ducati Clubraces at Assen.
Races The day before the first race, fate struck; the clutch of NovaBike 01 broke down during a run on the dyno. Bad luck because we couldn't replace it immediately. We only have one engine block for both bikes (we are still waiting or the KTM 690 Duke R block to arrive) Thereby we couldn't replace the clutch before the race and we couldn't participate during the first race of the season. Despite all efforts to improve NovaBike 01 with new parts such as a fuel tank, footsteps and a shifting system, we could not race. But, after rain the sun returns; PMI was willing to supply us with a new clutch which can handle higher power output than the standard clutch. This was places previous week and we
tested it thoroughly. Result? NovaBike 01 run smooth and is ready to make some speed next weekend at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) This circuit is famous for being one of the most beautiful on the planet; the integration in the green environment and the amount of relief make this an astonishing circuit to start the NovaBike race season! We want to thank the Royal Dutch Bikers Association, known as KNMV, for their support. We are very proud of this since they are the main organizers of our racing class. Furthermore, we want to thank Rev'it! for providing the whole team with professional jackets. (incomplete team on photo below)
Autodesk Student Expert Camp In the last weekend of March we were invited by Autodesk to participate in their first annual student expert training camp. Friday we started our 900km journey to Herrsching am Ammersee (southern Germany). We arrived pretty late so after a quick look around the hotel we went to bed early. Saturday we started we sthe day with some nice breakfast and most of all coffee. Autodesk had provided a spot on the main stage to showcase our bike throughout the event. With the bike in place we gave a small presentation about our project and how it is linked to sustainability. To get a better feel for the software we had presentations and handson workshops throughout the day. This was really cool since we got to see experts who had handled real life problems with this software. In the evening we went to the heart of Herrsching to look for some famous German beer. Although it wasn’t a big town we had fun and
drank some nice beers in the local bar. Sunday morning was a bit earlier than usual because daylight savings time had gone into effect that night. So with a bit of a jetlag we started the mornin again with coffee. The day continued like the day before with presentations from members of industry and workshops with the new software. In the evening Autodesk and 3Dconnexion had organized a “pecha kucha” party. A couple students had prepared these presentations for this event. Monday morning was a recap of the event. Some might have enjoyed the morning less than others due to the free beer the night before but it was a lovely sunny day. After saying goodbye to our new friends we packed up the bike again and went back home to Holland. We all really enjoyed this weekend and want to thank Autodesk for having us at the WoodStEx 2011 - European Student Expert Camp.
Update progress NovaBike 02
Hardware: Based upon a 50 cc scooter block, an external starter was made. This starter can be used for NovaBike 01 and NovaBike 02. It accompanies a weight reduction of more than 1 kg for both bikes. Soon this starter will be converted to bio-ethanol. The fabrication of the 2nd frame of Reynolds steel starts next week. A new function of the CAD program Solidworks makes it easier to fit the tubes seamless.
Engine: An improved airbox design was made, the airbox will be laminated and equipped with the K&N air filter soon. The high compression (14:1) piston is being made at PMI. Hartgers radiators has started the production of the custom made oil cooler, this ensures the engine remains reliable even during long continuous high power output.
Bodywork: The HDPE fuel tank was welded at BPC and is fitted with brass parts that make it possible to get the fuel from the lowest point of the fuel tank, this assures the engine gets fuel even during full acceleration or braking.
Team member: Yoeri Sigterman
This year we decided to use a chrome molybdenum 631 steel of the Reynolds company. Contact with this UK based company and the materials choice, helped by Dr. eng. Marcel Hermans and eng. Michael Janssen from the faculty of Mechanical Engineering, were done by me.
I am Yoeri Sigterman, third year student Industrial Design Engineering and a minor student at NovaBike. My interest in motorcycles comes from a general interest in vehicles, specifically fast ones and a personal project where I’m building a street legal motorcycle. The most important in developing a race frame is to make sure that the driver has the right “feeling” and therefore drives at the top of his level. Wido Veldkamp and I started off with figuring out the best geometry, functions, strength and stiffness of the frame. Because Wido is the most experienced in fabrication and I’m specialized in modeling and optimization our ways split coming to the end of development. During a period of three weeks we were able to optimize the first concept using the software of Autodesk.
Developing a race frame is something that is based on a lot of variables: choice of engine, suspension, rider, etc. The engine and rider would not be changed from last year, though the suspension is something that needed to be changed. Not only because of the frame engineering but also on last year racing experience. This is why I also worked on suspension this year, with the help from suspension specialist Stefan Meijer, owner of Bitubo Race Service, it has definitely worked out very well. Thanks to his help we were able to get in contact with engineers of the Bitubo factory in Italy for tips in designing the new suspension. The front suspension is generally the same as last year, only maintenance on new SKF seals and some bushings were made. I designed a new link system for the rear suspension. This is based on the Yamaha R6 of 2010, in combination with a custom XXF31 mono shock and matching spring this should make the difference on suspensions for our latest motorcycle, the NovaBike 02!
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Hartgers Radiateuren Zutphen