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Zortrax Built A 3D-Printed Motorcycle To Showoff Its Technology

3D printers are amazing machines, allowing you to create whatever object you could think of as long as it can be made from some sort of plastic, fits the printer’s size, and you can afford the price. Zortrax is offering one big enough to allow you to even print a motorcycle.
Zortrax 3D printed motorcycle 5 photos
Photo: screenshot from YouTube
Zortrax 3D printed motorcycleZortrax 3D printed motorcycleZortrax 3D printed motorcycleZortrax 3D printed motorcycle
Polish 3D printers manufacturer Zortrax has unveiled their first printed motorcycle, all being done on its BIG M300 machine. You can’t print metal or rubber, but everything you can see on the bike that is made of plastic, it was done by a printer.

The company took a middleweight motorcycle, stripped it off and started to design a new body for it. Parts like the fairing, screen, lights, seat, tank casing, and mirror cases were all 3D printed, making for a very ambitious project that took around a month to complete.

"At every stage we faced different challenges,” Zortrax specialist Michal Mosiej explains. “The first was selecting a base model that our projected prototype would fit. Then, there was the complex 3D scanning process, which requires a tremendous amount of technical detail, to ensure we maintained the same dimensions as our scanned model. The most exciting part was the designing process and the assembly, keeping in mind that all our parts must fit perfectly."

The M300 model can print in a space measuring 300 x 300 x 300 mm with a resolution between 140 and 300 microns to create the finest details and even very smooth surfaces.

It also comes with its own software called Z-Suite and is compatible with both Mac OS X and Windows 7 or above. All you need is creativity, some engineering/mechanical experience and lots of printing material.

Speaking of materials, the M300 can print using Z-HIPS (matte finish for flawless, smooth surfaces, also comes in many colors), Z-PETG (highly resistant to salts, acids, and alkalis; comes in black or gray), or Z-GLASS.

With such technology in hands, you’ll never have to order Chinese plastic fairings for your bike if you damage the originals. However, be ready to spend between 4,000 to 5,000 dollars on such a printing machine.

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