Sheeking Motorcycle Blogs

This is the initial design for the chassis, consisting of the frame, subframe and swingarm. With only reference images to ork off for dimesion, its expected to change a vast amount, but its heading in the right direction. 

The frame has been designed to be built as a steel trellis structure. The main reason behind this is the simplicity to manufacture in low volume numbers, but they also have a very elegant aesthetic.

You may well recognise the reference image in the background being that of the RSV4 Aprilia. Thats no bad thing, as that's a very compact, sweetly packaged bike!

To this date, Moto R Design have been doing small freelance projects for a number of clients, but the desire to be involved with a more complete motorcycle project has been ever present. This has lead to many hours of thought on various design projects, from single cylinder racing machines to three-wheeled trikes, along with everything else in between. 

With the weaker design project ideas put to one side a clear candidate had emerged, which was the humble Suzuki SV650. Im a big fan of small, narrow engines and the SV650 lends itself perfectly to the type of bike we'd like to design, along with being very popular with many other bikers.

So the general idea is take a SV650 as a donor bike, use that great little engine and some of its components, and re-style it into a much more compact, desirable sports bike. Along the way, any improvements to the performance or handling that can be made will be worked on, to make the bike as complete and enjoyable to ride as possible. The SV has a great following, with race series such as the "MiniTwins" here in the UK, and is an easy base for upgrades of components from the GSXR series of bikes.

The main goals for this project are to demonstrate the capabilities of Moto R Design. The opportunities have arisen to move into an existing workshop in the not too distant future, and create a studio / workshop facility that is setup specifically for motorcycle design work. So when this is in place, its time to really go for it, and start designing some really stylish motorcycles.

Now the design process begins. Over the next few weeks many ideas will get sketched out and thought about and the project will begin to take-off. Now we just need to find a donor bike . . .

This was the first time the Norton M28 concept bike has been on display to the motorcycle public, exhibiting alongside the Angelic Bulldog streamliner at the Beezumph 18 event, Cadwell Park.

It caught the eye of many passers by and generated many positive reactions. Had a long chat with Peter Williams (ex GP racer, Norton designer/engineer and a very nice guy) about the concept, manufacturing techniques using composite materials and the future of electric motorcycles.

Also had an invite from Malcom Wheeler from the Classic Bike magazine who insists that it is taken the Classic Bike Show at Stafford this October. He also took some photos and interviewed me to create this article.

During the 2008 Coventry University Degree Show, we had a visit from Glynn Kerr of MotoVision, who also happens to be the President of the Motorcycle Design Association. He came over from California, and fortunately had the time to come and visit the show and talk to the guys who were involved with motorcycle related projects.

This is an article that he subsequently wrote and has been featured in various magazines around the world. It features the Norton M28 concept, along with work from my colleagues at university.

Open the image to read the text.

A compressed version of the 70-odd page long final presentation . . .

As part of the Degree Show, selected works were displayed at the Coventry Transport Museum. There was a little more room to display the bike, so we put it next to one of my fathers bikes. 

The Norton M28 Concept bike alongside an original 1937 International . . .

A tape drawing. This one is of a design I was working on whilst on placement at Ducati, and having never done one before, it was an invaluable experience to have Bart and the Ducati design team guide me through the process.