AVIACOMPOSITI 30 Years of DUCATI carbon fiber accessories and not only...
Regarding processes and materials
Unlike many accessories for motorcycles on the market, ours are made from 100% prepreg carbon fiber of the best quality and polymerized in an autoclave at high pressure and temperature with the addition of a vacuum, technology used in the Aerospace, Formula one, MotoGP sectors etc.
Many accessories on the market are made with a single layer of carbon fiber on the surface and the rest all glass fiber which costs much less, is heavier and less rigid. Most of these products are also impregnated by hand which greatly increases the weight of the product and reduces both strength and stiffness due glass fiber and to the low low fiber/resin ratio.
How to recognize an all-carbon product from one with a single surface layer?
Very simple: the full-carbon product, placed against the light, does not have transparencies or bright spots, while many products with glass fiber in the middle of the laminate or rear have a certain transparency in the light. Inside the piece, the fiber often presents itself with a color that is not black but semitransparent, typical of glass fiber.
But, some products, to mask this lack of carbon fiber, have an internal painting with matte black paint. This is easily identifiable as by discoloring the paint with acetone you can easily see the white of the glass fiber which is very different from the graphite black of the carbon fiber.
Used resins
Most of the low-priced and therefore low-quality pieces are hand-impregnated with polyester or vinyl ester resins
What does this mean:
Polyester or vinylester resins do not interface perfectly with carbon fiber like the resins used in epoxy prepregs, reducing the intrinsic resistance of the laminate and its resilience (impact resistance of a material without breaking).
They are more fragile, with a bump or stone thrown by the vehicle in front they can crack very widely.