ZG1K: A Customized Kawasaki Concours

I've stripped down the Concours to the bare bones.  From there I intend to build it back out into a cafe-racer/naked streetfighter.  A barebones ZG1000 Concours looks pretty butch:

A high intensity LED headlight
with built in indicators.

ZG1K Stipped Model  -  Click on it and drag to change views
by timking17
on Sketchfab

The brown seat will sync with
a crimson stripe.  Were money
less of an issue I'd get it custom
upholstered to run the stripe all
the way through.

The back end is going to get tidied up and topped with a cafe style brown leather seat.  I'm also researching LED light systems that will be all but invisible under the seat until they light up.

The front end is going to get a basic/minimalist light cover and a light that has indicators built in for a clean look our front (no indicator storks poking out).  The front fairing and light will be mounted to the forks.

Stripping on the Ducati Monster is
a thing of beauty.

As for paint colours, I'd like to try and take the tank back to metal and then have a crimson stripe running over the minimal front fairing, along the tank and across the minimal rear body work.  An asymmetrical design with a thick centre strip and a thinner stripe off to the right is what I'm currently thinking, though I'll see what works as the bike comes back together.  If the tank is too rough I'll redo it red with a gold stripe that matches the wheels.  Now that I say that, it might be what happens anyway.

I'm going to use the Structure Sensor scans to map out body work in 3d.  I'm also going to make use of a Dremel 3d printer to print out scale replicas of different body configurations.  These are some screen grabs of the 3d scan (which you can see at the top).

The massive twin exhausts might get modified, but right now I'm enjoying the big-guns look they have, so I'll probably be keeping it.  They help visually balance a bike that looks otherwise top heavy with that massive gas tank.

First go at a logo - I think I'm going to have to find the Kawasaki Heavy Industries
logo for this heavyweight streetfighter.

on the Verge of the Future

Sunday morning with a 3d
printer - I get a kick out of
making things work.

One of the best parts of my job is that I get to lay my hands on leading edge technology in order to figure it out so I can teach it.  I've always been an early adopter, if no no else has it I'm interested - more so if everyone else is afraid of it.  When most people didn't know that TVs had alternate inputs I had a home computer with a printer.  When everyone was crying about how fuel injection meant no one could customize their vehicles any more I was hacking the on-board computer and using it for diagnostics and more horsepower.

Nowadays it's all about how digital tools are making micro/bespoke manufacturing more possible.  Where once you needed an engineer, some machinists and a couple of hundred thousand dollars to build complex components, now you need twenty grand and a willingness to pick up some very easy to manage software.  The entry into machining your own, custom components has become much easier.

Not only are digital tools handing back basic production to individuals, they are also allowing companies to explore levels of precision in manufacturing that seem almost science fictional:

We've had 3d printers in the classroom now for a couple of years, and we find them invaluable for prototyping and even developing 3d thinking (not something students take to naturally).

I suspect the wedding-cake style melting-plastic-through-an-extruder 3d printer is an evolutionary dead end (there is only so much you can do to speed up a printing process that works around cooling plastic).  Fortunately, the next step has already happened:

... I'd love to get my hands on one of those.

Another building tool I'd like to try is a digital laser cutter.  Like other manufacturing tools, digital laser cutters have been tumbling in price.  Coming out this year is a desktop laser cutter called the Glowforge that'll introduce laser cutting, etching and fabrication to many more people.  At only about $4000, this undercuts previous industrial units by tens of thousands of dollars.

With this kind of technology available to many more people, I get the sense that the garage of the future will allow us to build things that only get churned out by factories at the moment.  When I'm at the point that I can custom manufacture and laser etch bespoke motorcycle hard parts and print my own fairings, I'll feel like my garage can keep up with my imagination.

A good guess might be the garage scene from Big Hero 6:

We're on the verge of escaping from the mass-production Twentieth Century.  One day you'll be telling your grand kids that we had to buy shoes that weren't custom printed specifically for your feet, and they won't believe you.

Recent advances in processing power and
optics mean VR is finally (after decades of
promise) arriving at a consumer level.

Last week I discovered that I'm going to be able to set up an HTC Vive in the lab.  We're doing it so we can better craft the 3d models we're building in Unity and Blender, but immersive simulation could offer a lot of opportunities in the classroom beyond 3d modelling.  The emotional impact on a student walking across Vimy Ridge the day after, or walking through Cambodia's killing fields, or standing on the Moon and looking back at the Earth, get me revved up about making VR work in the classroom.

From a motorcycling perspective, an immersive simulation of the MotoGP circuit on Valentino's bike would offer fans a new level of appreciation for the sport.  Preparing for an overseas ride by tasting the trip virtually first offer opportunities for safety preparation that simply don't exist right now, especially if you're trying to wrap you head around new signs and riding on the wrong side of the road.

We're on the verge of the future, and I get another taste next week, I can't wait!


3D printing

motorcycle 3d printing: http://3dprintingindustry.com/2015/08/03/motorcycle-3d-printing-picking-speed/

https://3dprint.com/65937/3d-printed-motorcycle/

http://www.stratasys.com/resources/case-studies/automotive/klock-werks

https://all3dp.com/3d-printed-motorcycles-know/

https://grabcad.com/library/128705


Virtual Reality

https://youtu.be/-Sd3wXNjLtk

http://motorbikewriter.com/victory-motorcycle-virtual-reality/

http://www.lifebuzz.com/virtual-motorcycle/

http://mashable.com/2015/03/13/oculus-victory-motorcycles-sturgis/

http://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/skully-opens-pre-orders-for-high-tech-helmet/

3d modelling madness

I got a Structure 3d scanner this week at work. We're using it there for all sorts of educational activities, but I find myself painting the various Kawasaki products in my garage.

This thing costs about $350 bucks and straps on to an ipad.  You walk around your target 'painting' it on the ipad screen (it looks like you're covering it in clay) and then you're done.  Any of these motorcycle models took about a minute of walking around the bike...

It didn't take me long to get some remarkably detailed images of the Concours...

Because it's so easy to paint an object and create a 3d model out of it, you tend to try all sorts of angles.

The scanner will also take a swing at rooms, though I'm not so good with them yet.  This is an image of the garage.  The Ninja is on the left, the Concours is further in on the right.

The file generated is basically a list of vertices connected by lines.  The sensor measures distances and constructs a 3d mesh out of them.  The result is a three dimensional image.

How could something like this be used?

You could scan a fairing or other part, get accurate geometry out of it and then modify it digitally before printing out a replacement.

Connie Fairing Model by timking17 on Sketchfab

Seat Model by timking17 on Sketchfab

I think I'm about five years away from being able to 3d print my own digitally modelled custom fairings for any bike.  The hold up right now is a 3d printer big enough to manage large prints.