carbon fiber?

R

Red Threat

New Member
anyone know anything, or done anything as far as seats/tanks in carbon fiber? i know its probably super expensive but im thinking of making a carbon fiber seat for my '82 yama virago 920. how do you mold it? is it similar to fiberglass? pictures would be much appreciated.
 
it's quite possibly the biggest pain in the ass to mold

if you want to get a professional looking part, you're in for a lot of trouble and work and throwing out defects, if you're okay with it looking somewhat halfassed, you can probably make a part from cf...

if you're really interested in getting a pro part, you need to build a model of the seat you want, clearcoat it, then wet sand and polish it to a mirror finish, then build a mold from it, when you make the part from that, you need to apply a clear surface coat or gelcoat to the mold, and you'll have to spray it, otherwise it will look like crap, then laminate the carbon, and vacuum bag at about 6 psi...

I used to have carbon parts on my site, I don't do them anymore because it's just too much work
 
i disagree that its hard to work with. It sounds like roccity was making moulds for a repeatable process. That is a total pain in the ass no matter what material your finished product is made of (my opinion). I have only made one-offs for my own projects. If I can make it out of woven glass mat, i can make it out of CF. same process. I use west system 105 and 206, and some pretty thin CF (7 thousandths thick), so its easier to layup than a thicker glass mat. I use a regular woven CF mat, not a twill weave. Thats more expensive, and I dont care that it looks different (some say better). the stuff I get is 60" wide, and sold by the yard ($38/yard) from aircraftspruce.com . I hear that uscomposits has a good price on it too.
 
I'll be doing also my tail section and some other stuff of CF. CF doesn't need to be that expensive, just have to shop around. Being difficult, the initial feeling I have is that it's not going to be that difficult, but we'll see.

Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Through my experience CF is no different working with than fiber glass. If your going for the bling factor where you need a perfectly smooth surface for a mirror finish... I foresee PITA. If your doing it for weight reduction and plan to paint over... no problems what so ever.

If you want to make a fiberglass part and cover it in a few layers of CF that might work but the finish will still not look as good.
 
only thing with carbon fiber is that if you want the weave to show through and look GOOD, its a PITA. if your painting its not bad. Look at any professional job with carbon fiber, and even then youll see defects in the weave.
 
Yep, check out my helmet... It is not noticeable until you get light on it, but you can see the imperfections and this is on a finished product... not a second. If you do any CF work yourself, you will end up painting it... To get the show finish with the weave exposed is tough... it can be done, but it is not a simple or easy job.

HJCCarbonAC-122.jpg
 
Mr.Rat brings up a good point.
Any composite part with the weave left visible will leave 'tells' that show you that the part is real
I've got a CF hugger on my SuperIII that comes right from Hinckley and even that has a few odd strands and such.

Just be sure to get a light 2x2 twill weave when you're buying the cloth....at least in my opinion it seems to be the easiest to make conform to odd shapes like seats and such..
 
thanks for all the replies ive been busy with work lately and havent got a chance to check up. learning a lot here. i kinda just threw this topic down as a what if more or less.
 
Swagger said:
Mr.Rat brings up a good point.
Any composite part with the weave left visible will leave 'tells' that show you that the part is real
I've got a CF hugger on my SuperIII that comes right from Hinckley and even that has a few odd strands and such.

Just be sure to get a light 2x2 twill weave when you're buying the cloth....at least in my opinion it seems to be the easiest to make conform to odd shapes like seats and such..
Click to expand...

damn, maybe that's why I was scrapping half my cf parts! hahah... too picky
 
Well unless it's a blatant pull in the material or some other really obvious flaw.....I wouldn't.
As I said, the hugger and now that I got to looking, even the fairing inner has little 'things' here and there. No lumps or bumps, but there will be places where the weave will distort a bit when it falls into shape.
Looks out for voids and really ugly stuff but go make some parts!
 
Carbon isn't hard to work with. Every 16 year old kid with a V-tech civic has made carbon fiber dash covers in their moms garage.

Do a overlay of your FRP or plastic part. No offence, but a extra 4 oz isn’t going to make a diff on a 1982 Virago. If you are making a fiberglass part, get the surface finish smooth and then use a wet layup of carbon for a cosmetic look. It will look 100% like a full carbon part, not like a cheesy sticker. Prime the underside and the only way to tell will be to weigh the part.

There are literally zillions of how too's on the net - 15 seconds of googling turned up this
http://www.600rr.net/vb/showthread.php?t=127320


Eddie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DTT Light or Dark

  • DTT Light
    • www.jadusmotorcycleparts.com
    www.lostapostle.ca/
    www.sparckmoto.com

    Spread the Love

    Back
    Top Bottom