Fun With Carbon Fiber

The point at which you'd need to be a little more concerned about it would be if you were to make something like a composite version of Cycra's probend handguards. They have a patent on something related to that bend, which is kind of a bullshit patent if you ask me, but that's another conversation. And again, no worries if you were only making something like composite parts to replace the plastic part of those handguards (like these). What it really comes down to is protectable intellectual property and there is none here (plastic handguard shields). Zero.

Price: $369.99

http://www.ascycles.com/detail.aspx?ID=44487

"Get rid of those cheap plastic hand protectors on your BMW.
These beautiful hand protector are not only more durable than the plastic ones, they look better too! They are a better match to your high tech machine. In addition to looking good, they help protect your hands from the blasting wind/cold/heat on road and from the brush off road."

one of my riding buddies (hey brian!) bought an xr, that appears to be filled to the brim like a cheatsheet of cool, tried and true mods, fixes, and repairs by a woods rider.

5 gallon buckets make great sliding material for rock guards and handguard. fender supports and heat shields ? yep, those too.

anyway, I was pretty impressed by a very simple handguard cover cut from a bucket. big enough to matter, small enough to make you look twice.

the stuff you're making is like that cheat sheet bike. someone will get a piece of CF beauty in a sale, and really enjoy it.

I'm not saying don't make dirtbike stuff, but you know the higher priced bike owners will drop coin for something like these in a heartbeat.... ;-) if you ever wanted to

I stand by my previous statement. That said..... I see no reason to turn this fine thread into something it should not be, So I will leave it at that......

Those are very nice deflectors. The hand guards look to be built in.

Thanks everyone for chiming in regarding the copyright stuff. I'll do my best to stay out of trouble.

Hey folks! It's been a while since I posted to the thread, but for good reason. We have a recent addition of a baby boy to the family. We fondly call him Mr. Paul. Due to this family growth, I have been feverishly working to remodel a home that we will be moving into in the next couple of months.

Of course these things have kept me out of the shop, but there is a silver lining to all this relating to composite work. The new digs come with a nice new composite shop...

So keep an eye open for exciting new posts to this thread. We'll be back to slinging resin and laying up carbon in no time...

Thanks for hanging out!

Congratulations! Was wondering what you've been up to...

We will be waiting...

I'm moving too.
Double my shop space in the new house!
Yep, going from a one car garage to a two car.
I'll take what I can get!
Looking forward to more of your excellent projects

And congratulations too

Thanks, guys!

I figure that the build out of the shop is composite related, so I was thinking of including a build section just for that project.

Stay tuned...

Stumbled on this thread dreaming of building a Dakar style fairing for my DR 650, brilliant work you did.
Whatever happened?

Hi Yachabibi!

Thanks for the kind words. I love this stuff.

I'm still around, but the new house and a young family are keeping me very busy. I still have all my gear, and I fully intend to dive back into the composite work ASAP, so this thread will live again, someday.