BMW will use an innovative lightweight cast aluminum rear swing fork manufactured by ZOLLERN for its bikes in the 2011 Superbike World Championship season. Developed in cooperation with BMW, alpha Racing, and EDAG, the new fork weighs less than 6kg, a 20% reduction from the previous milled part. It was designed and manufactured by ZOLLERN in just four months using their patented SOPHIA casting process, enabling thinner walls and quick design changes at low cost. The BMW riders have tested the new fork and are satisfied with its performance.

1. Press Release
7th December 2010
ZOLLERN makes BMW lightweight-construction rear swing
fork for 2011 Superbike World Championship. Development by
BMW in cooperation with alpha Racing and EDAG plus
manufacturing by ZOLLERN in just four months.
BMW enters Superbike WC 2011 with
lightweight-construction part from ZOLLERN.
In the 2011 season of the Superbike World Championship,
BMW is introducing innovative rear swing forks for its bikes.
Following intensive development work, they are manufactured
Pete Goddard, Development Engineer at alpha
by ZOLLERN from high-strength cast aluminium. The two
Racing (left) and Georg Borgschulte, Sales
BMW riders Troy Corser (AUS) and Leon Haslam (GBR) put Manager of ZOLLERN Feinguss Soest (right)
with the new high-tech rear swing fork for the
the new parts through their paces during the latest test drives 2011 racing season
and are very satisfied with the results. The rear fork from
ZOLLERN replaces the previous year's milled part, and saves
up to 20 percent of its weight. Other advantages are less
undamped suspension and improved handling.
The new fork was developed in cooperation with the BMW
Motorrad Motorsport team, alpha Racing GmbH & Co. KG and
EDAG, and manufactured by ZOLLERN. The result was a
component made of A 357 aluminium, measuring 650 x 260 x
350 mm, and weighing less than 6 kg.
ZOLLERN was initially approached in January 2010, and the
first three parts were ready for testing in April. The entirely cast
part replaced the original milled version and, after thorough
testing and optimisation, was approved for series production in
October 2010. Pete Goddard, Ex Superbike rider and now a
development engineer at alpha Racing says: "ZOLLERN has
turned out to be an excellent partner. They're totally Troy Corser on his BMW S 1000 RR
professional, and we were blown away by the results of their
manufacturing method.“

2. High-tech aviation technology applied in motor bikes
To manufacture the high-stress part, ZOLLERN uses its
patented SOPHIA® process that's ideal for the job and
otherwise used by the company in aviation and military
engineering. What's special about the SOPHIA® technology is
that it precisely manipulates the micro-structure of the material
by controlled cooling after casting. That means the molten
metal solidifies faster and more evenly than in conventional
investment casting. Through the targeted control of the cooling
process, the thick-walled and thin-walled areas can be cooled
in the same amount of time. This produces a fine-grain, dense
cast structure with exceptionally good static and dynamic
strength properties. It enables the production of thin-walled
cast parts with large surfaces as well as extreme leaps in wall
thickness at the narrowest tolerances, combined with top
surface and material quality. All this means the wall
thicknesses of the BMW fork could be reduced to less than 2
mm. Markus Schmidt, the alpha Racing development engineer
responsible for the fork, pinpoints specific aspects, saying:
"Apart from the extreme lightweight construction, we were able
to modify the design quickly, without extra tool costs, and
directly using the engineering master data. It gave us the
scope to apply the feedback from our drivers straight into the
design of the part."
Company profile
ZOLLERN, with a corporate history stretching back more than
300 years, is a pioneer of the metalworking industry and has
helped shape its development right from the start.
At 15 production locations and branches in Europe, North and
South America as well as Asia, more than 3,000 employees
develop, produce and market a range of innovative metal
products.
The company headquartered in Laucherthal in Germany
consists of the five business areas Drive Technology, Plain

3. Bearings, Casting and Forging, Steel Profiles and Engineering
Parts. Covering the entire value-added chain, the group
supplies special solutions with a focus on energy and power
generation, automotive technology, ship/harbour/offshore
equipment, construction machinery, aviation as well as
mechanical engineering.
Press contact
With its extensive scope of supply and seamless sales and Raik Flämig
Press Officer
service network, ZOLLERN is represented in all the world's
General Manager Marketing &
industrial regions. International Sales
Phone +49 (07571) 70-725
In business year 2009, the ZOLLERN group generated sales
Fax +49 (07571) 70 82-725
totalling more than EUR 500 million. Mobile +49 (0173) 3615704
Email: raik.flaemig@zollern.de
www.zollern.de