Carbon Fiber Kits: Safety Test Results for Motorcycle Parts

[cronxeh]

Hey there. I was browsing a motorcycle forum and stumbled upon a particular place where the moderator was in the process of selling his own manufactured "carbon fiber kits". Naturally I asked him if the people who designed those replacement parts had any engineering background, and if he had the stress/strain/creep test results available on them. I don't have a motorcycle, but I reasoned if he was to sell these parts to a sport bike owner, and the bike owner decided to hit 200 mph on the freeway - the part could crack from dynamics and stress loads, and potentially endanger his/her own life or the life of someone else on the road. -- The website is here: http://1000rr.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?p=39923#39923 --

What do you think? Should the people who sell custom bikes/kits also present the FEA and tensile strenght results?

 

[FredGarvin]

Until the court cases come, there is no mandate that they provide any engineering information. They'd more than likely cover that under "intellectual property." That being said, this is a product liability nightmare waiting to happen. Anything having to do with public safety requires you to have all of your ducks in a row. If they have a decent mind among them, they will have all of the testing, analysis and any other supporting info to back up the safety aspects of their product. I would, at a minimum, hire a consulting firm to do an analysis. If something does happen, the lawyers will crawl up them so bad it would make a colonoscopy look like a walk in the park.

 

[faust9]

Hey there. I was browsing a motorcycle forum and stumbled upon a particular place where the moderator was in the process of selling his own manufactured "carbon fiber kits". Naturally I asked him if the people who designed those replacement parts had any engineering background, and if he had the stress/strain/creep test results available on them. I don't have a motorcycle, but I reasoned if he was to sell these parts to a sport bike owner, and the bike owner decided to hit 200 mph on the freeway - the part could crack from dynamics and stress loads, and potentially endanger his/her own life or the life of someone else on the road. -- The website is here: http://1000rr.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?p=39923#39923 --

What do you think? Should the people who sell custom bikes/kits also present the FEA and tensile strenght results?

Who's at fault if an croth-rocket owner is doing 200MPH in the first place? Secondly, The plastic fairings are fairly flimsy to begin with. Third I can almost guarantee that the replacement parts are not "engineered" but rather knock-offs of the original plastic parts. Fourth, CF is really a squid's toy anyway(re: put the CF on one day crack it while showing off the next). Replacing your plastic with CF reduces the weight little to begin with. CF adds no structural strength, it's only there for looks (sport bikes are as aerodynamic as bricks in the wind).

Should people who sell these kits make test data available? Should automakers do the same(they don't)? Should Yanaha, Honda, etc give the same data for their plastic fairings? Should all automotive aftermarket makers? IMO no. 99.9999% of the buying public wouldn't know what to do with the numbers to begin with and wouldn't care; moreover, the consequences of making poor quailty pieces is loss of business and time in court (Look into Texas Fairing). Finally, these aftermarket parts are almost always sold as "Race Only" or "Off Road" or some catch all to stave off the lawyers should some chuckle-headed rider decided to do what your scenerio states. Also, I know the race fairings I've gotten in the past have all had a "Discontinue use if fairing is damaged or scratched"--I used to race 600cc.