We had an interesting discussion during the week with a motorcycle enthusiast who’d had his first foray into the world of composites construction. We’re sad to report that his attempts to build a motorcycle fuel tank and seat for a cafe racer out of fibreglass cloth were not the most pleasant experiences of his garage adventures.
As we listened to the story of his struggles finding the right fibreglass cloth, his battles with epoxy mixtures, air bubbles that ruined the finish, cracked seats and a fuel tank that weighed almost twice what it should have due to the amount of resin he’d used, we couldn’t help but wish this bloke had sought our advice before tackling the motorcycle project.
We’re not going to suggest for a moment that working with fibreglass and other composites is easy but it can be a lot easier than many people make it. One of the first courses of action for anybody making the foray into fibreglass is to seek advice. Yes, we know the YouTube videos make it look easy, but remember that the blokes producing flawless fibreglass on the computer screen have probably done it hundreds, if not thousands, of times. For the uninitiated, expert advice is invaluable because it saves time, money and hours of frustration and mess.
If our motorcycle man had spoken to Ironbark Composites before undertaking his project we could have guided him on the right fibreglass cloth to use, we could have advised him on epoxy mixtures and techniques, we could have explained to him the benefits and methods of vacuum bagging – we could have made his life a lot more easy and he would have been a lot happier with the finished result.
You might be interested to know that the motorcyclist was so frustrated and disappointed with the end result of his labours that he sold the bike. It became somebody else’s problem. For us, that’s a really disappointing result because working with composites can be extremely satisfying and rewarding.
At Ironbark Composites we have decades of industry experience behind us. Don’t start off on the wrong foot. Make sure you contact our fibreglass experts and ensure you obtain the right advice and the right products, and that way you’ll end up with the right results.
