Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Now as you all know (well some of you at least) I run a pretty big composite firm in Parramatta, we had Craig White in today from WRP for a NoseCone fit to his truck!
Nice business cards you did for him Rob!

Whilst with us he got chatting about the supply of race glass, painting problems and "carbon fibre engine covers'. He commented on the attitude of some of the race glass suppliers in the industry (as most of you guys have) and happened to comment that there would be a great opportunity to compete with good quality, competetively priced gear(as a few of you guys have said ) .

I am initially looking for interest, there would be a painting service available as well, we are even considering smash repairs, custom work, etc, etc, as we have a fully qualified painter and a 3rd year apprentice on site. So repair, prep and repaint would not be a problem.

We have all the set up for resin infusion, so carbon work is a snip. Not dodgy hand laid with glass on the back!(you know who you are).

Biggest issue are good quality panels, full fairings, front guards etc. Yep we could do what all the other f@@k wits do and flop moulds but we really want to be original. A few minor mods from original and maybe a manufacturer logo into each panel??

What I gather is Kwakas aren't in huge demand(cept this site), seems to be GSXR, CBR, Ducati.

Guys, suggestions or direction pointing would be greatfully appreciated, you know I love bikes, you know I won't be getting one anytime soon, so if I can stay in the fold/ industry helping people out, I'll be happy.

We have the capabilities to make a real go at diversifying a section of our business and have plenty of room for expansion and growth.

Let me know.

Thats brilliant Damo Im sure there would be no questions about quality so that is one area covered, but wouldnt the cost to produce moulds & the availibility of donor originals pose a large stumbling block with start up?

Rob as with all own ventures the way to go is long term, amortise the cost of tooling into the first, I don't know 20 sets, after that profit is up which allows investment into other areas.

The idea is to nail the correct models, aim for teams and go for it.

Capital investment long term is the only way, there will be next to no profit in the sale of a business which only concentrated on race glass but as another branch to our business it could make it more attractive to potential buyers in the future.

The stumbling block as you say is the initial tooling, I was actually thinking of purchasing new model bikes at a good price, using as a donor and refitting and selling on once the copying has been done!

Hmmm, new model bikes hanging around at work for a few weeks at a time would be good

I think I may come down to the next lot of race meets at the Creek and see what the go with popularity is.

Sounds good, you know you'll have our full support.
I'd have to suggest the best / cheapest way of getting your hands on current model fairings to take moulds from would be to contact the racing teams.
For eg, If Kawasaki supply you with a set of 08 zx10r fairings to take moulds from you will supply the race team with x amount of fairings. Same for engine cases etc..
Or through places like this, or shops with racers lik Aitkens etc, if someone gives you there road fairings to make moulds from, you give em a set of race fairings (and there road stuff back of course)..
Racers Edge offered that to me when I bought the 10, I didn't want any at the time though..
Carbon fibre bits would be a biggy too. Look at places like carbonize and the like, those Duc guys luv it..

The other thing to look at is race fairing / fibreglass repairs and paint. I have noticed that a lot of these racer / track day types do crash a lot...

Sounds good to me - fairings are almost a renewable comodity these days. Would you be looking for doner panels and covers to make moulds from?

Just a thought, what about older bikes? With the pre modern race class starting to take shape, it's quite hard to find those who fully support the older machines. Perhaps a look at some vintage stuff. The business side is this... Most fairing places only do new bikes, so there is a gap in the market. People who buy cheaper race bikes are generally noobs and more likely to have a drop - and therefore offer repeat custom.

Did I mention my CBR becomes premodern next year

I was just thinking the same Mike.
The PCRA is one of the fastest growing race series in NSW atm and the New Era and Forgotten Era bikes are very popular.
Its dam hard to get stuff for em so a specialist fabricator would be a great asset and have almost zero competition...

Makes sense Damo, & the approach seems right anything I can do to help just yell.

The crash protector crap for cases has to be an easy market right now . There is still a lot of people fudging up case protection . Perhaps a "send us your case " service and make up the cover for that bike , send em back and keep the mould for the next one . Dont know how the system works for doing these things , but you could end up with patterns for everything . If the cost of these small items could be covered in the first one , then the rest is easy .

PCRA Dave, how about you put a list together of popular models, we looking at 98 ish through to when? Will look into contacting race teams tomorrow,will try and find another angle of approach others haven't yet

Kid, this is something under serious consideration with the cases, I'm thinking sooner rather than later to get some promotion going, incorporating the 'send us your cover and recieve a free cover cover if we don't have it available!'

As with everything quality and service will sell.

I know these guys http://roadrocket.com.au/Files/carbon_kevlar/carbon.htm stock alot of the high quality CF fairings and pieces - I think they are sourced from Spain. http://www.plasticbike.com/pb/index.php ... e&Itemid=1 They may be worth a call to have a chat with about how much they move and for what models. They may be interested in sourcing locally if the quality is there.
I dont think there is a single item in store they stock that comes from anywhere near Choina and everything is of a very high quality - and price tag.

Instead of carbon, wouldn't aramid/kevlar with high flex resins make more sense? If only as a point of difference?

Felix wrote:Instead of carbon, wouldn't aramid/kevlar with high flex resins make more sense? If only as a point of difference?

That's what i was thinking, like these guys do...

http://www.oppracing.com/bodywork/37-suzuki/

If you need moulds for late model GSXR, I'm your man!

triway wrote:

Felix wrote:Instead of carbon, wouldn't aramid/kevlar with high flex resins make more sense? If only as a point of difference?

That's what i was thinking, like these guys do...

http://www.oppracing.com/bodywork/37-suzuki/

If you need moulds for late model GSXR, I'm your man!

I looked at OPPracing for engine covers, they were stuck on by adhesive and not suitable for Aus racing rules. They said I could drill them at my own risk

Damon ZX9R wrote:Rob as with all own ventures the way to go is long term, amortise the cost of tooling into the first, I don't know 20 sets, after that profit is up which allows investment into other areas.

The idea is to nail the correct models, aim for teams and go for it.

Capital investment long term is the only way, there will be next to no profit in the sale of a business which only concentrated on race glass but as another branch to our business it could make it more attractive to potential buyers in the future.

The stumbling block as you say is the initial tooling, I was actually thinking of purchasing new model bikes at a good price, using as a donor and refitting and selling on once the copying has been done!

Hmmm, new model bikes hanging around at work for a few weeks at a time would be good

I think I may come down to the next lot of race meets at the Creek and see what the go with popularity is.

If you are intending some road focus then for model mix information try and hunt up a product called VFACTS. It lists month by month sales breakdowns by manufacturer and model. I think AMCN use it for their stats. It can also show trends which could help predict future product patronage.

I applaud the idea Damo, but remember, loads of people have tried this before and failed. It's actually not easy to produce a high quality product at an attractive/competitive price in a market the size of Oz. You might be better compromising some of your initial quality for some price competitiveness. Unless th product is worlds apart from what is available, most with a tight budget will opt for the cheap as chips relatively, RG or RE stuff and put up with the dodgy finish.

photomike666 wrote:

triway wrote:

Felix wrote:Instead of carbon, wouldn't aramid/kevlar with high flex resins make more sense? If only as a point of difference?

That's what i was thinking, like these guys do...

http://www.oppracing.com/bodywork/37-suzuki/

If you need moulds for late model GSXR, I'm your man!

I looked at OPPracing for engine covers, they were stuck on by adhesive and not suitable for Aus racing rules. They said I could drill them at my own risk

Yeah I've heard their product is not very good quality, the reference was more about the diversity of colors etc to be a point of difference.