{"id":7868,"date":"2017-05-18T10:13:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T17:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/?p=7868"},"modified":"2017-05-18T10:13:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T17:13:05","slug":"mjk-performance-motorcycle-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/mjk-performance-motorcycle-parts\/","title":{"rendered":"MJK Performance Reinvents Aftermarket Motorcycle Parts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Up in Alberta, Canada, motorcycle designer Dale Yamada and machinist Phil Butterworth are taking aftermarket parts for Harley-Davidsons to a new level. After they noticed that \u201cthere\u2019s nothing cool on the market,\u201d Butterworth says, their MJK Performance machine shop<\/a> began making \u201ccool, weird, technical, mechanical-looking parts\u201d for Harley enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"MJK2\"\u00a0 \"MJK3\"<\/p>\n

From Custom Bikes to Custom Parts<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yamada, who\u2019s earned a reputation as a top-flight engine builder, had already owned a custom motorcycle shop for several years when he met Butterworth. Yamada wanted a custom bracket fabricated for a bike he was working on, but he was frustrated that none of the machine shops he tried could make the part look like he wanted. Yamada appealed for help through his Instagram account, and Butterworth ended up making that part for him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Butterworth had been designing oil-field machinery for a number of years. When Yamada asked him, \u201cDo you want to buy a CNC with me?\u201d he jumped at the chance to work with the designer on the side. They bought their first small mill the next week, and began making more parts for the custom bikes that Yamada was building.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shortly, thereafter the two men joined forces. Along the way, Yamada set aside the custom motorcycle business in favor of designing aftermarket parts. As Butterworth explains, they are \u201ctrying to make very high-end, performance-oriented things . . . not just the kind of thing you bolt on to make it look nice.\u201d Parts like theirs are more common on sport bikes, but much less familiar for Harley riders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Building a Business with Word of Mouth\u2014and Instagram<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

They started by making swingarms\u2014the metal fork that connects the body of a motorcycle to the rear axle. Since then they\u2019ve added handlebars, axles, suspension lifts, and wheels, and now they are developing their own brakes. \u201cThe swingarms are a big thing,\u201d Butterworth says. \u201cNo one\u2019s seen stuff like this.\u201d The uniqueness of their products has boosted their appeal, and word has traveled fast among Harley fans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remarkably, MJK has kept growing with no advertising and no dealers. \u201cEverything\u2019s Instagram,\u201d Butterworth explains. When they make a new part, they photograph it and put it on the company\u2019s Instagram account<\/a>, which now has 25,000 followers. \u201cA couple of posts,\u201d he adds, \u201cand everything we\u2019ve made is sold.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They are building their reputation on scrupulous attention to detail. Butterworth gives the example of bolt-holes that they machine to tolerances much finer than needed. \u201cNo one will notice it, but we will,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want to be known for perfection and quality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"MJKF\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Using Fusion 360 for CAD and CAM<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Butterworth lies in bed and has more ideas pop into his head, he gets back up and works on designs. This is made much easier because he and Yamada use Fusion 360 on their computers both at home and in the shop, so the designs can be shared instantly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt so easy, so user friendly,\u201d Butterworth says, describing Fusion 360 as \u201chands-down\u201d better than other CAD and CAM programs he\u2019s used over the years. \u201cThe design side is so easy, and then to have the CAM side right there\u2014and 5-axis.\u201d The last part is especially important to him, given that 5-axis milling software alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars. \u201cIf we had to do this any other way,\u201d he adds, \u201cwe just couldn\u2019t afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The two partners iterate quickly through designs, and Butterworth says he often likes using the branch feature to make five or six designs to try out different concepts before weeding them down. He also relies heavily on the rendering features, which makes it easy for him to \u201csee exactly what something will look like before it\u2019s made.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the bigger picture, the software \u201cdefinitely speeds up the process on our end\u201d by saving them many hours across the steps of design, rendering, and machining. \u201cI can have something from design stage to off the machine in one hour, if I\u2019m working hard,\u201d Butterworth says. \u201cHaving everything in one software is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Going Above and Beyond Their Industry<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll have to keep working that fast to keep up with their own ambitions. The partners expect to produce another 30 products in the next two or three months, a pace that Butterworth admits is \u201ckind of crazy.\u201d Their vision to \u201cturn this whole industry upside-down\u201d compels them to keep pushing boundaries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As they continue to expand their capabilities (they\u2019re getting a lathe to use alongside their 5-axis CNC mill), they also continue to expand their goals. Butterworth doesn\u2019t hesitate when he says, \u201cWe\u2019d like to make a fully CNC bike as soon as we can.\u201d He explains that their ambitions are about much more than material success:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to collect paychecks. We want to do something fun that we can be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MJK designs and manufactures high quality, precision CNC machined motorcycle parts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":894,"featured_media":7875,"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-7868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fusion","dhig-theme--light"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMJK Performance Reinvents Aftermarket Motorcycle Parts - Fusion Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MJK designs and manufactures high quality, precision CNC machined motorcycle parts.\" \/>\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\/mjk-performance-motorcycle-parts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MJK Performance Reinvents Aftermarket Motorcycle Parts - 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