Print & Ride: 3-D Printed Softail is Ready to Roll
The uses of 3-D printing will become more and more ubiquitous throughout the automotive and motorcycle industry in the next few decades.
The relative ease of use, accompanied by the quick turnaround time for rapid prototypes and full-scale parts is just too enticing for those companies not to use.
That said, while Local Motors earlier this year showed off that they could produce a full 3-D printed car, not much has been done in the realm of motorcycles. Until now.
The company TE Connectivity took 3-D printing technology to the next level and built a fully rideable, fully 3-D printed, aside from the motor, motorcycle based on a Harley Softail.
According to the company, it took 1,000 hours to print, and a grand total of $25,000 to build it, but since this is their first foray into building something to this size and scale, the next iteration will go quicker and cost less.
Just look at the advances done with Local Motors endeavor. They only took 44 hours to build a full car, and they want to shave that time in half by next year.
The TE Connectivity Softail uses a 750W, 1 hp motor that allows the bike to get up to a top speed of 15 mph. Not exactly highway or even school zone speed, but again this is a prototype.
Just the construction itself is amazing. So what do you all think, could you see yourself riding something that was 3-D printed sometime soon?
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