3D Printed Motorcycle Designer Settles 5 year-old debate

Enlarge.

At AU 2008 I happened to be nearby when our team was hoisting the 3D printed motorcycle for display. Autodesk had given me a FlipCam to take some video, so I did. See my YouTube video. The video resulted in a YouTube comment:

• "The front wheel is mounted the wrong way. Just a detail, but normally a vortex wheel should be mounted just like the back wheel of the bike."

Front wheel:

Enlarge.

Rear wheel:

Enlarge.

I decided to get opinions from experts in the Labs community. So I published this blog article:

• Full-Scale 3D Printed Motorcycle: Is our wheel backwards?

The result of publishing this blog article was comments like:

• "It does seem like the spokes would cut through the wind easier if they wheel was flipped the other way before being mounted."
• "It just doesn't look right design wise... I'd have a greater worry if the tire rotation direction were wrong."
• "Yes, wrong way, look at pictures of the Yamaha RD350LC for how it should be done. See image."
• "Aahhh, be careful of retroactive interference - what you have 'learned' before affecting the things you see today. The wheel is different than current designs, but not necessarily backward. The profile of the spokes may be designed such that it "slices" through the air in the most effective way as it is shown."
• "I would prefer spokes be in tension when braking, as installed."

The last comment was:

• "Has anyone asked the Designer of the bike?"

I thought this was a good idea, so I asked Nino Caldarola of IMAGINiT Technologies. Here is his reply:

• "The wheels can be mounted in either direction. In the model, I wanted to show the spokes spinning with the leading edge forward. However, most purists would want it the other way. So the answer is 50% they're on correctly, and 50% they are reversed. Who's going to challenge me? I'm the Designer! :-)"

Oh what a diplomatic answer. "The wheels on the bike go 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round..." The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us and check out the wheels for yourself.

Discussion is alive in the lab.