Will carbon fiber forks enter our riding life soon?

Recently, a carbon fiber front fork jointly developed by BMW and ZF helped their M1000RR race car win the SPA 24 Hours. Does this mean that carbon fiber forks are getting closer and closer to our daily riding?

Carbon fiber shock absorption is rarely heard in the civilian field, but in the field, Honda developed a carbon fiber front fork and frame for the four-stroke racing NR500 GP as early as 1983, but this car has never been on the field. For MotoGP, carbon fiber shock absorption is more commonplace, but it is the first time that this carbon fiber shock absorber jointly launched by BMW and ZF is used in high-intensity, long-term harsh conditions such as endurance racing.

Compared with the traditional front fork, in addition to the obvious advantages of weight reduction, the carbon fiber front fork can also change its elasticity and stiffness through the layout and thickness of the material, and in application, the carbon fiber goes far beyond the outer sleeve of the visible range, its The inner sliding sleeve is also carbon fiber and has a metal coating on its surface for a low coefficient of friction. Marc Bongers, BMW Motorsport Director, said: "This technology allows us to change the threshold for the occurrence of body vibration. In terms of materials, many specific parameters need to be set and adjusted. We are responsible for providing data and requirements. ZF uses technology to accomplish."

Because carbon fiber can be tailored to allow different degrees of flex depending on how its fibers are laid, the fork can be stiffer in one direction than the other. For example, they can be designed to withstand longitudinal bending forces under braking, while flexing more when lateral forces are introduced. Just like when the center of the bend hits the shoulder of the curb and it bounces, this situation can be greatly alleviated.

Although there is no news about the mass production of carbon fiber front forks, but judging from BMW's soft spot for carbon fiber, it is very likely to appear in its high-end sports cars in the future. As the S1000RR HP4 Race with a carbon fiber frame was launched in 2017, high-end car owners still have a chance to get it.