Intercad has joined forces with Triple Eight Race Engineering and Racetech Steel to champion the Electric Superbike Project, a community-based initiative which calls on budding engineers and manufacturers to create and build a completely unique motorbike.
Road-tested by racing spokesman and Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Craig Lowndes, the winning design will be auctioned-off to the highest bidder with all proceeds going to Red Dust Role Models, a non-profit organisation seeking to improve the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged youth living in remote communities.
Intercad chief executive officer, Max Piper, says the Electric Superbike Project is a chance for the Australian and New Zealand design, engineering and manufacturing communities to come together and create something for a worthy cause.
“It’s not often people have the opportunity to step outside their usual realm of expertise and be part of a larger project which challenges and extends their skills,” he says.
“The Electric Superbike initiative is being managed by experienced Intercad engineers to ensure the bike is structurally sound, road tested and can be registered. The end result will actually be something tangible to which those involved can attach their names.”
Lowndes says the project is a great opportunity for designers and engineers in Australia and New Zealand.
“When I heard about the concept of the Electric Superbike I was definitely excited,” he said.
“This is the bike of the future and I’m really interested to ride the winning design. It’s certainly going to be something different and it will be great to see the end result of a creation that could potentially change the future of motorcycles.”
Entries are now open, with part one of the design phase, the frame design, kicking off the project. Entrants can submit a design in SolidWorks for any of the parts of the motorcycle – the frame, mechanics, electronics and batteries, fairing and styling, and accessories – or a complete design. To ensure safety in design, contestants are required to download a file with the structural parameters to create their own design.
The build phase will follow, then testing and, finally, the auction. At the end of each phase, a review team comprising Ian Drapier, Drawing Office Manager, Triple Eight Race Engineering; Julian Spencer, Product Manager, Intercad; and Rodney O’Conner, Application Engineer, Intercad, will judge the entries, with winners chosen on the creativity, build-ability, safety and weight of their designs.
A blog (www.theelectricsuperbike.com.au) will chart the progress of the design from start to finish, offering the opportunity for the wider community to provide comment and suggestions as the motorbike evolves.