Newsletter NovaBike February 2011
Newsletter NovaBike Racing Team Delft 4th of February 2011 NovaBike made a flying start this year; last month we worked at a high tempo! And this started to show some results; the design of NovaBike 02 is finally finished and the First parts are being produced. In this short newsletter you can find an article about the motor fair Utrecht, as well as an update about the NovaBike 02 progress and a part by a team member. We want to thank all our sponsors for the Financial, material and immaterial support. Follow NovaBike also on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!
Motor Fair Utrecht NovaBike will be on the motor fair Utrecht from the 24th till the 27th of February. Once again we will appear with a professional stand, enthusiastic team member, and... our new NovaBike 02! Do you want to admire our latest development? Then do not hesitate to visit our stand! You can not overlook us; we are placed in between Harley Davidson and Ducati in the importers hall. (Stand A019, hal 12) See you there!
Update progress NovaBike 02
Hardware: The frame is fully analysed using computer simulations and is approved afterwards . The welding mould is completed and a steel show frame is being made. This frame will be used on fairs and exhibitions. The extra stiff Reynolds 631 steel tubes will be shipped from England soon. When these arrive, the TIG welding of the lightweight race frame is started immediately . The custom-made Bitubo XXF rear shock absorber is already in our work shop, waiting to show off on NovaBike 02. The lightweight footsteps from carbon fibre tube form Prince Fibre Tech are being made.
Newsletter NovaBike February 2011
Engine: The air box and the inlet duct will be made from TenCate carbon fibre. In cooperation with our sponsor K&N, an air filter is selected which will guarantee the best performance in all conditions. The cylinder head is sent to Germany where it will be flowed. The most suitable camshaft is selected; a rally camshaft which increases the efficiency at high rpm’s. A bell mouth which passes the inlet flow with as few drag as possible is designed with help of computer simulations.
Bodywork: All bodywork parts were CNC milled at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. A few long days were made sanding these milled parts to get them perfectly smooth. From these plugs, professional moulds were made at Kemeling Plastics, in these the TenCate carbon fibre can be laminated. This week, a large part of the bodywork was meticulously laminated at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering. More info can be found below.
Team member: Andries van Overbeeke As a student Industrial Design Engineering, I was privileged with the task of designing a completely new bodywork for NovaBike 02. I intensively worked together with the rest of the team; the body had to be adjusted to all other components of the motorcycle such as the frame, the air box, RAM-air and off course our rider, Nick Appelman. The slim frame makes that Nick can sit as narrow as possible. Because the body is specific designed for his rider, it forms an entity with its rider. Off course an aerodynamic design is very important; in the wind tunnel we will measure the aerodynamic improvement of NovaBike 02 with relation to NovaBike 01, which was previously tested thoroughly. After I spend a lot of time modelling and fine tuning in CAD programmes, it was time to make the step from a virtual model to a physic model; a race motorcycle body completely made out of TenCate carbon fibre. The production of the carbon body is very time consuming; after intensively refining of the plug, we made moulds at Kemeling Platics this week. We then immediately began with the production (using vacuum infusion) of the body at the composites lab of the faculty of Aerospace Engineering. Everyone who had done this before can confirm this is a sensitive and labour intensive process. The firs parts are being released from the moulds at this moment; this is after may and may hours of work this is very exciting for the team. So, keep an eye on our FaceBook and Twitter page because updates will be posted regularly! The next newsletter will appear on Friday the 4th of March.
Newsletter NovaBike February 2011
Our sponsors
For information and sponsorship you can contact Steven van ‘t Klooster, Joeri van Eck en Wolf Cavens via info@novabike.nl