The Future Of Vroom Vroom

SLM Solutions enabled VIBA to reimagine design, resulting in a new icon.

By SLM Solutions

Revisiting one of our favorite collaborations, French custom motorcycle design house VIBA created a world first with their JANE Motorcycle using SLM Solutions technology. What Pipeburn magazine calls “one of the most technologically advanced bikes they’ve ever featured” was designed with several features entirely printed in aluminium. Based on the Honda Monkey, designer Yann Bakonyi has shifted a somewhat-modest motorcycle into a whole new era with its avant-garde design and manufacturing.  
 
The front rack seamlessly integrates the headlight grip and front guard into a single aluminum piece weighing in at only 430 grams, creating a well-executed balance between beauty and practicality. But the piece de resistance from the French designer is the fuel tank that is entirely printed in aluminium. Although the tank may seem unassumingly normal on the outside, it has been designed to have an internal honeycomb-like structure that significantly reduces its weight, increases its strength, and stops the fuel from sloshing around for better handling.  

The SLM^®800 and the SLM^®500 were used to print the larger parts, while the smaller pieces were printed with the SLM^® 280. The total time it took to print all the parts was just under three days. VIBA has also used SLM solutions to print parts for their other bikes, such as the handlebars and exhaust on their CARA motorcycle.  

Best described by VIBA themselves, “Jane is transcending several concepts to unite them: elegance, innovation, design and accuracy, which are essentials to any objects of style. VIBA is highlighting the craftsmanship from the 21st century, through the smart use of 3D printing, to find a clean design and simple values, aiming for simple mobility, with style and smile.”  

SLM Solutions is committed to providing the technology to innovative designers VIBA to create works that push the boundaries of what is possible with additive manufacturing. VIBA has shown us with their JANE motorcycle that incredible things can come in small packages.