COOLEST. THESIS. EVER.
Walter Castrogiovanni of Lipari Island, Sicily, has completed this Ducati “Valchiria” (Valkyrie) as part of his Industrial Design thesis at Palermo University. The bike was designed as a “pluri-configurable vehicle.” In layman’s terms, the parallelogram suspension allows the geometry of the bike to be modified. From a single frame, a manufacturer like Ducati could turn out a myriad of models, their geometries each tailored for their specific use/genre — sport, touring, scrambler, streetfighter, etc.
Castrogiovanni says the style of the bike was inspired by cafe racers, but modern at the same time. He designed and built every component of the bike excluding the 600cc Ducati engine and the swingarm. The bike weighs only 140-150 kg, with the frame cut and welded from carbon steel.
Below, we get the full story on this incredible custom motorcycle/thesis.
In the Builder’s Words
The title of the thesis is “Modellation Technics for the Design of a Motorcycle.” It consists in the design, presentation and building of a motorcycle conceived by me and I called it “Valchiria.”
The bike was projected using modern technics of 3D modellation: all the quotes for the building of every single part were taken from the mathematical model. The bike does not have steering tube. It is equipped with a parallelogram suspension, a “rigid” fork with a cinematism and a mono shock positioned between the collectors. This system was used many times during the past, but never with the purpose of modify the modularity of the fork and the bike’s geometry, to obtain a pluri-configurable vehicle.
In fact, working on the system, is possible to modify the base geometry of the bike, such as fork steering, trail and wheelbase. A manufacturer would have the possibility to start from a single type of frame and suspension and modify the dimension of the oscillating arms to change the settings and obtain more models from a single frame. This suspension system allows to cancel the variable train effect, caused by the non-stop compression and extension of the traditional telescopic forks. This system allows to maintain constant trail during the braking, removing the stability decrease, caused by a trail value which decrease during the compression of the fork. Ensuring stability and a “strange” drive sensation, but easy and enjoyable.
Similar systems were used by the designers Claude Fior and John Britten. The “rigid” fork allows to increase exponentially the rigidity, with the aim of improving the performance. It is also important the weight decrease of the fork and it is possible to give to the fork a particular and an aerodynamic design.
The model I present is called Valchiria. The bike is inspired by a cafe racer style, but at the same time she is modern and she had fluent and clean lines. She has a line that can remain interesting during the time.
The fairings are of course interchangeable, depending on the model that will be assembled in the factory. The engine is a twin Ducati 600cc 2V, but the frame can receive any Ducati air-cooled twin, such as the 800cc now installed on the Scrambler. The bike is conceived for a target of customers who would not search extreme performances, but a enjoyable motorcycle to drive. The factory, with this system, could realize from a single base more models: naked, street fighter, custom, touring or sport. The bike is conceived to be light, about 140/150 kg.
All the components, excluding the engine and the swingarm, were designed and built by me. The frame is manual welded after cut the single tubes in carbon steel and lined-up in the template. Equal for the fork, realized in INOX steel 316. The wheelbase is 1460mm, the is 90mm and the fork steering 25.5°. The exhaust system was realized with SILMOTOR International.
Beautiful bike, I’m a sucker for alternative suspensions. Innovation takes courage and imagination.
Looks like your balls would end up in the gas tank.