2016 Plans

Since last time, we have finished welding and making all the parts for the prototype swingarm. The trickiest part of this was the final step, machining (more crucially, aligning of) the bores for the pivot bearings. This was done on the lathe, with the swingarm clamped to the cross slide and a boring head mounted in the chuck. Unfortunatly, we didnt take any photos of this step, but it was very pleasing to be able to press the bearings in place and for perfect alignment on the swingarm spindle.

There was one part that we re-made - the brake caliper hanger. We made an error on the hole pitch for the caliper, so while we were re-making the piece, we altered the rear wheel spacers, thinned the part out and reduced the weight by half. All part of development.

The end of the year saw a bit of a halt on things since we were insulating/painting the workshop and organising it whilst we went along. Now everything has its place so working should become more efficient.  

The prototype bike is now undergoing a full strip-down (with a few modifications to some mounts on the frame) in order to go off for powdercoating. What colour? We don't know yet, but it's going to be better then white!

So what does 2016 bring? We've got some big plans, starting with the first production run of frames. We have started making parts for the first three frames to be manufactured. These are going to be slightly different to the prototype frame as we look to improve it in many ways and we will post more about those specifics in future posts but most importantly it will be lighter. 

Therefore there are going to be two frames up for grabs (we are building one up into a much more race orientated bike ourselves (the engine is stripped on the workbench ready for a rebuild)). We are just finalising the price and marketing material, but if you are interested (we have had many requests so far asking when . . .) then please do drop us an email at info@moto-rdesign.com.