3D printing has proven to be a very efficient way to save costs while determining the quality of parts being made. The technique is slowly becoming accommodated in the automotive industry, and BMW has finally taken the leap of its own. They will include 3D printed components for their race bikes from the World Superbike racing series.
When you 3D print a component, it gets a lot less weight, which translates to more speed. We are talking about hundreds of kilograms less. With this new bike building technique, BMW has a goal to decrease weight and increase the overall bike speed dramatically.
In the regular bike building process, the engineers behind the handiwork themselves are in close association with test riders, who give engineers feedback constantly. This, in turn, helps the engineers with fine-tuning the bikes and getting the parts that will solve the issues test riders face. Well, sending the bike designs back and forth to the factory can definitely lose precious time in the middle of the race weekend.
So, that’s basically why BMW has decided to bring a portable 3D printer with themselves on the track. That way, they can issue upgrades on-site and be able to be ahead of the competition. No need for a conventional factory too. A brilliant solution, indeed!
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Source: Web Bike World
