Newsletter March 2014
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NovaBike MARCH
Foreword In this edition Motorbeurs Utrecht 4 Motor-Heaven in Utrecht
News 5 About Bio-Ethanol and our Rider for upcoming season
Club van 50 6 A new way to show your support to NovaBike
The VMI-Group 7 The introduction of our newest partner
Progress on the NovaBike05
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An update about the last months of design and production
Welcome to the Newsletter of the NovaBike Racing Team. This is the edition of March 2014. We’ve passed our half-way mark! With this the designs of our new parts got finalized,production has started and a clearer image is forming about our expectations for the upcoming season. This newsletter looks back on the last few months by giving a status update on the bike itself and by looking back at the MotorBeurs Utrecht. Also, a preview of the new season is given. Finally our newest Partner, the VMI-Group, introduces himself. Happy reading! David Meijer Team Manager NovaBike05
Upcoming Season 9
A short preview of the upcoming racing season
NovaBike MARCH
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MotorBeurs Utrecht
The biggest fair in Holland
The MotorBeurs Utrecht is the biggest motor fair in Holland. Ever since the start of NovaBike it has always been one of the most important moments to show our project to the public and this year was no exception. With a stand in the “racepavilion” we had a great place near the entrance and together with race-teams and other racecompanies we had a great opportunity to talk with all kinds of people. With approximately 90.000 visitors, even more than last year, the fair was full with motor enthusiasts from all corners of the country. All major companies were there to show their newest models and visitors were shown all kinds of new motorbikes, gizmos, gadgets and clothing on the many stands the fair had to offer. The newest developments of the NovaBike were also shown to the visitors. For us, it was great to finally be face-to-face with many of our most loyal followers who had known this project since the beginning. Their enthusiasm for the NovaBike was a great inspiration for us to keep the NovaBike performing even better. It’s still a proud moment to hear that there are people that follow every move of the NovaBike and makes all the long days we make even more worth the effort. However, there also were a lot of people that had their first encounter with the NovaBike. Most of them 4
were instantly interested and we’ve made quite a few people jealous with the fact that we were able to do this as a project alongside our normal classes at the university. All in all, with so many new followers of the NovaBike we already reached our goals for the MotorBeurs of this year. However, the huge amount of good feedback was such a surprise for us and were a great reminder of how lucky we’re that we have the possibility to take on such a great project and was a great inspiration for our own members as well. It was also great to see many of our sponsors and magazines that were instantly interested in writing articles about our project. Expect to see many new publications in the following months! Other highlights we’re the great discussions we’ve had with many people about the strengths of bioethanol. It’s always great to see that people become more and more convinced about the possibilities of this great sustainable fuel once they hear the facts about it. In short, the MotorBeurs 2014 was a great success! With all the great people we spoke we’ve had an amazing time getting to know our followers and meeting new people. Many thanks to everyone involved for their efforts to make this possible!
NovaBike MARCH
Why we use Bio-Ethanol During the MotorBeurs Utrecht we’ve had quite a lot of arguments about bio-ethanol. Therefor we’d like to further elaborate on why we’ve decided to use bioethanol in our bike. First, the facts about bio-ethanol: second Generation bio-ethanol, which is made of green waste, has a lower impact than old-fashioned fossil fuels. Research shows that bio-ethanol has 30-60% less CO2 emissions than ordinary fuels. Because this bio-ethanol is produced out of green waste, it doesn’t compete with the world food supply. This has always been one of the biggest drawbacks of bio-ethanol, but with second generation biofuels this has been (largely) put behind us. Together with the fact that every normal combustion engine with minor adjustments can run on bio-ethanol should already be enough to consider this fuel as a great alternative. When used correctly bio-ethanol can be used to maintain higher compression ratios, which means more power! Great for a racing team, right?
Ricardo van Duijn signs for his second year at NovaBike Last year’s rider, Ricardo van Duijn, has signed his second contract at NovaBike and shall be the rider for NovaBike for the upcoming 2014 season. After a very successful first year the expectations are high. Ricardo van Duijn has shown his talent last year by being able to tame our one-cylinder motorbike. Because of the his commitment we were able to push the NovaBike even further than expected. Together with our new bike, we’re confident that we’ll see Ricardo’s and NovaBike’s name high in the standings throughout the whole season.
Bio-ethanol could be used right away, the infrastructure is available and the cars are basically ready for this fuel. The future might be even better however, as a new generation of bio-ethanol is currently being research by Universities all over the world (including our own). The main idea of this fuel is using algae, or other micro-organisms, as a basis of bio ethanol. As they all use carbon dioxide to grow, a closed loop system could emerge… All in all, enough reasons to use bio-ethanol as a sustainable fuel right now and even more in the future. NovaBike MARCH
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Club van 50 Support NovaBike now! Every follower, reader of this newsletter or enthusiast of the NovaBike is very important for us. However, for everyone who always wanted to do more than just following our progress we have the next step: the Club van 50. From now on it’s possible to support the NovaBike by becoming a friend of NovaBike, or member of the Club van 50. This is a special group of people that have the NovaBike project at heart and want to support us financially. A great possibility to endorse us, by yourself, with a group of friends, your company or anything else! This year the Club van 50 will support a specific part of the NovaBike Racing Team, the tyres. Having a new set of tyres available for every race is very important for good results, as worn tyres can add seconds to your lap times. With every five members of the Club van 50 we’re able to buy a set of Pirelli tires for our races.
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Of course, the members of the Club van 50 will be highly appreciated by the NovaBike Team. If that’s not enough for you, we have more to offer. Your name will be put on our site and special Club van 50 board which will present at the NovaBike trainings, races and workshop. This way you’re always present as well! Also you’ll be send reports after every race and much more. Do you have any questions about the Club van 50, or do you want to become a part of this group of true friends of the NovaBike? Send an e-mail to info@novabike.nl for more information, or go to our website and become a member right now by donating €50. We’ll also be giving out four tickets to the last race of our season, the Race of the Champions, to one of the members of the Club van 50!
NovaBike MARCH
Company Profile VMI Group VMI Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of TKH Group, which is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. They develop, manufacture, sell and install equipment for, amongst others, the rubber and tire industries. Thanks to high innovation capacity and state-of-the-art high-technology products, VMI is the world's leading producer of tire manufacturing machinery and can count almost all major tire manufacturers among its customers. VMI offers global technical support from service centers in the Netherlands, Germany, the USA, Brazil, China, Malaysia and Russia. With over 1.000 employees around the world, everything at VMI stands for progress. Personal service and long-term relationships are very important. VMI is "partners in progress" for all customers throughout the world. Vision, Mission and Strategy As the proven market leader in the professional supply and service of quality machinery for the tire and rubber industry, as well as can washers for the can industry and Product Handling Equipment, VMI constantly strives for ‘Operational Excellence’ in all its services with the dedicated objective of providing genuine ‘added value’ to its global customer base. At the same time, in terms of business performance, VMI focuses on maintaining ongoing growth and a healthy profit which is guaranteed through the following company objectives. • Constant product innovation and development • Enthusiastic and motivated employees within a professional organization • Flexible production facilities and services on a global basis • A firm promise of total reliability to customers In effect, VMI prides itself on being totally committed to the supply of innovative and professional machinery and services so that customers are able to enjoy a trading profit. The VMI Group wants to excel in research, development and supply of high quality machinery and services in the global market with minimum lead times and against competitive pricing to ensure its customers take maximum advantage of their relationship with VMI. The international operation is supported by a worldwide network of professional agents. They form part of a determined policy at VMI to help its customers be at the forefront of their markets and ahead of their competition. Employees VMI has always considered its employees to be central to its ongoing success. We employ skilled people who exhibit key characteristics. Our people enjoy challenging projects and are problem solvers. And they are ambitious, adaptable to change, enterprising – and highly customer-focused! By ensuring that its employees work to high standards, VMI can count on continued growth that is anchored on those personnel. The personnel contribute to the future of VMI's business, and VMI contributes to the further development of each individual – truly a "win-win"! Those who are eager to succeed in an international high-tech environment will find that VMI often has positions of interest, ranging from positions for the young, recently educated to positions for the highly experienced professional. Most positions require a willingness to travel internationally. For current vacancies within VMI Group around the world, please visit www.vmi-group.com/careers/ To learn more about VMI Group in general, please visit www.vmi-group.com/
NovaBike MARCH
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Progress on the NovaBike05 will connect the frame to the swingarm is already produced and is waiting for SKF bearings to be completed.
The NovaBike team has been working hard last months and a lot has been done. Therefor an update is in order. The Hardware Department has been hard at work on the frame and the swingarm of the new motorbike. A lot of time has been put into making all the interfaces for the frame. They will be the mounting points of everything that will be put onto the frame, such as the radiator, footsteps and electrical systems. Milling and lathing these mounts and other products took longer than expected, but the results show the amount of time put into them. The frame is currently at the welding-section of the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering and all interfaces are welded on the frame. Also the Hardware Team, with Michael Stevens the Chief Engineer, has been very busy with the design of the new swingarm. We’re happy to say the design phase is over and the production has started. The sheet metal and the drawings have been delivered to RPP in Delfgauw and the milled parts are currently also being made. A new swingarm should arrive in the D:DREAMhall in about 2 weeks. The linkage system, that
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The engine department has been busy as well. A lot of time has been put into the configuration of the engine. We’ve chosen to make a big-bore engine, that has 760CC instead of 690 CC. This was done in cooperation with PowerSeal. The inlet-design was finalized after a very, very long debate about our injection system. A dual injection system with shower injection was finally not chosen because of the risk of backfires and the difficulty of perfecting such a system. A larger injector with together with a much higher pressure should give us an edge over the competition. Also, a lot of problems that are usually part of a big-bore engine were tackled, such as the reliability. The fuel system is also almost complete, as are the radiator, air intake and tank. Finally the whole team has been working on the bodywork of the NovaBike05. After putting on filler, sanding, varnish and even more sanding we finally had positive plugs for the bodywork. With these plugs the final, negative moulds, were created out of fibreglass. These moulds were prepared for the carbon fibre and the final production could finally begin. The production of the Carbon Fibre parts proved to take much longer than expected, but the results are very nice. Although the final touches still have to be made an expected weight loss of approximately 2 kilos is starting to show. All in all, major steps have been taken by the team to ensure the deadline can be reached. The last 2 months before the racing season will be busy as well, but we’re confident in a successful outcome.
NovaBike MARCH
Upcoming Season Pre-season Coming season The NovaBike Team will race with a completely new motorcycle. This will be the third racing motorcycle built by students in 5 years! To appear well prepared at the first race, the Ducati Clubraces, a lot of testing and tuning has to be done. This testing and tuning includes thing like testing the new big-bore cylinder, tuning the suspension, and training for our driver Riccardo. In order to do all this we outlined period of testing. The testing starts on the dyno of the Delft University of Technology, the goal of this is to create and optimize the engine mapping of the big-bore cylinder and all the other new parts that influence the optimal engine mapping. Next the team has planned several days of training at the train the circuits of Zolder (17th of April) and Croix-en-Ternois (28th and 29th of April). After this and some final adjustments if necessary the team thinks to be ready for the season.
Goal For the upcoming season the team set an ambitious goal; the team wants to race competitively in the competition with at least one podium finish! We’ll try to peak at the races with a “go big or go home” attitude. Reliability is just as important, but with the growing competition just having a reliable bike will not be enough to battle for pole position. NovaBike MARCH
Races This race season NovaBike participates in the European Surpermono competition. The competition consists of 5 racing weekends on 4 exciting circuits each having a big history in the motorsport. The circuits and data can be found in the race data overview. We’re especially looking forward to the race in Sentterton. The first time the NovaBike will race in the UK, during the British Superbike (BSB) championships. A huge event and we hope to make this one the best races of our season. A podium finish during the BSB would be great! We’re also looking forward to all the other races, two races on the famous TT Circuit in Assen and we’re glad to see the Zeltweg and Oschersleben in the roster as well. All in all a great calendar that makes us very, very happy.
Race date overview: o o o o o
May 16-18 Assen (NL) Ducati Clubraces June 13-15 Snetterton 300 (UK) BSB July 25-27 Zeltweg (AUT) Ducati Speeddays August 22-24 Oschersleben (GER) WEC Okt 10-12 Assen (NED) Race of Champions
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Faculteit Industrieel Ontwerpen Faculteit Luchtvaart- & Ruimtevaarttechniek Faculteit Werktuigbouwkunde Faculteit Elektrotechniek, Wiskunde en Informatica