{"id":4897,"date":"2016-12-07T09:44:27","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T17:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/?p=4897"},"modified":"2016-12-07T09:49:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T17:49:48","slug":"orange-county-choppers-electric-bike-fusion-360","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/orange-county-choppers-electric-bike-fusion-360\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange County Choppers Designs an All-Electric Bike Using Fusion 360"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orange County Choppers<\/a> (OCC), the focus of Discovery Channel\u2019s long-running American Chopper<\/em>, is known for its Easy Rider<\/em>-style motorcycles\u2014complete with loud V-twin gas engines. So where did this futuristic all-electric bike come from?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The design emerged from the mind of OCC designer Jason Pohl as he riffed on the concept of \u201cfusion\u201d as part of OCC\u2019s collaboration with the Autodesk Fusion 360 team.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted it to stand alone, completely,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"occheader\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Helping a Company Founder Build a Motorcycle Empire<\/h2>\n

OCC has been making motorcycles since 1999, when company founder Paul Teutul Sr. started building custom bikes in the basement of his house. He started it for fun, but soon his unique designs attracted lots of attention. Discovery Channel took notice, and Teutul built a fabrication shop attached to his iron and steel business in upstate New York to keep up with demand.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Pohl explains, \u201cIt kind of blew up from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pohl first encountered OCC in 2004, not long after he had graduated from art school in his native Illinois. Pohl was creating animations for a video game that featured OCC bikes. Teutul liked his work, and figured that the kind of 3D modeling used in the game could be translated into designs for real motorcycles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pohl\u2019s been working for OCC ever since. Thanks to the long-running success of American Chopper<\/em> and his role on the team, he\u2019s seen a lot of the world in that time. He\u2019s traveled as far afield as Australia and Malaysia and met many stars such as Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Bill Murray, Russell Crowe, and baseball ace pitcher Mark Buehrle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jumping Into the Deep End of 3D Design<\/h2>\n

\u201cI\u2019m way more of an artist than I am a geek,\u201d Pohl says, but even when he was in school he knew that he needed to learn software for the sake of his career. \u201cI wanted to be a designer,\u201d he says, \u201cso I forced \"jasondesign\"myself, kicking and screaming, to learn how to use the computer to my advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Pohl met a member of the Autodesk staff who encouraged him to try Fusion 360 for a design. \u201cI was a SolidWorks guy,\u201d he admits. \u201cI was terrified to switch. It\u2019s like jumping into the deep end of the pool.\u201d Once he started using it, though, he thought \u201cWow, this is incredible. It is really a magic show.\u201d In comparison to everything he had used before, it was \u201ccleaner\u201d and \u201csnappier.\u201d As he puts it, \u201cYou don\u2019t really wait on anything\u2014it just happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He uses the example of designing the new bike\u2019s headlight assembly using T-splines in Fusion 360. In SolidWorks, he says, \u201cI would probably need a solid day just to get the lofts going and the surfaces \"occheadlight\"going.\u201d The process would have involved using three different features in SolidWorks to rotate, move, and scale the surface model, then laboriously exporting everything into Mastercam to prepare the design for manufacture.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With T-splines, by contrast, you just click and drag to alter position, shape, or size. \u201cIt\u2019s like a digital version of clay,\u201d Pohl says. He laughs when he adds, \u201cexcept when you\u2019re pushing it around it doesn\u2019t leave thumbprints.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pohl has found that the integrated CAM is much easier in Fusion 360. \u201cI use it every day now,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a game changer for me. I just have more power to take a concept, model it up, and then take it to a CNC machine.\u201d He and the OCC machinist have also used Fusion 360 to export DXF files for use on their water jet machine to make some of the metal parts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His overall verdict on Fusion 360? \u201cIt just escalated my game here at Choppers.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Fusion Motorcycle Like No Other<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not like Pohl started with a simple project: The very first thing he tackled in Fusion 360 was the entire body assembly for the electric bike. He laughs at his own ambition when he adds, \u201cI didn\u2019t start off and make a kickstand, know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wanting to create a bike that would be totally different, he lit upon the idea of making the new design a true \u201cfusion\u201d in every sense. Unlike the long-forked choppers OCC usually makes, this bike is an urban \"jason1\"\u201chopper\u201d\u2014lightweight and with lots of ground clearance. Using an electric motor allowed Pohl to eliminate the exhaust system and V-twin engine of other OCC designs, which \u201copened up a whole new world of possibilities.\u201d With a slimmer drivetrain, he explains, \u201cYou have room to express yourself with more creative elements that take up the whole bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In line with the \u201cfusion\u201d idea, the bike incorporates components inspired by other types of vehicles: the aluminum front end of a sport bike, the gas shocks of a snowmobile, and the rear sprocket of a motocross racer, along with high-durability plastic elements and a few key parts in titanium.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something new, fresh for us to do,\u201d Pohl says, adding that every part of the new design came out of Fusion 360.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pushing the Envelope with 3D Design<\/h2>\n

Given the success of the project, Teutul wants the team to use Fusion 360 to design a new line of aftermarket parts for Harleys. Pohl describes Fusion 360 as \u201ca new weapon in my arsenal here.\u201d He adds, \u201cI wish I would\u2019ve got my hands on it sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Hear about designer, Jason Pohl’s experience designing this one of a kind electric bike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":894,"featured_media":5075,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-4897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fusion","dhig-theme--light"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOrange County Choppers Designs an All-Electric Bike Using Fusion 360 - Fusion Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hear about designer, Jason Pohl's experience designing this one of a kind electric bike.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/orange-county-choppers-electric-bike-fusion-360\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orange County Choppers Designs an All-Electric Bike Using Fusion 360 - 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