Bcomp, Tras bring bio-based composites to motorcycle racing

Bcomp (Fribourg, Switzerland) has teamed up with Japanese composite specialist, Tras Ltd. (Mishima City) to bring natural fiber composite solutions to motorcycle racing. Building on previous successful collaborations in the luxury furniture and motorsports sectors, this marks the companies’ first venture into the racing bike industry as collaborators.

By combining joint expertise in composites and heritage in motorsports solutions, Tras and Bcomp are focused on further advancing motorcycle racing technology specifically and the motorcycle industry generally. Tras has been making the bodywork of Suzuki’s (Hamamatsu, Japan and Dorset, U.K.) MotoGP bikes for more than 20 years, including manufacturing the full body of Suzuki’s demo machine GSX-RR, which featured a natural fiber cowl made using Bcomp’s composite materials.

Most recently, Tras and Bcomp collaborated on the Suzuki carbon neutral (CN) Challenge racing motorbike, used to participate in the FIM World Endurance Championship (WEC) Suzuka 8 hours race. Tras used Bcomp’s materials to create a natural flax fiber body and its flax composites to develop the front, rear fender and winglets of the motorbike. 

Team Suzuki aims to further accelerate the Challenge’s sustainable performance solutions by using parts and fuel made from sustainable materials — from tires that use an increased ratio of recycled materials, to recycled carbon fiber materials parts or Bcomp’s natural flax fiber parts.

“The use of his natural fiber has been a major turning point which is changing the status quo of the motorcycle racing and the motorsports industry more widely,” says Natsumi Nitta, general manager at Tras. “Ultimately, this collaboration isn’t just about playing a role in winning races. It’s about accelerating progress across the two-wheeled world, ensuring that the breakthroughs seen on the track today will shape the motorcycles of tomorrow.”