PELLISCASE @ “O Nosso Dakar 2024”
“You must embrace the problem and love the proposed solution to make a good product.”
We at PELLISCASE believe that is a good starting point but not enough. You also need to be the first one to use your own product. In the tech world, we have a saying: “Eat Your Own Dog Food”, believed to have originated with Microsoft in the 1980s. That is why we decided to pick up our second prototype ever, just because the first one didn’t fit the motorcycle, and do a 400km plus off-road event in Portugal called “O Nosso Dakar 2024”, the biggest offroad event in Europe aimed at Trail and Big Trail motorcycles. This would allow us to field-test, take it to the limits, check its functionality, and collect feedback from other motorcycle riders. This blog post will present this experience, its learnings, and outcomes.
Day(s) 0 – pre-event
The easiest way to create a physical product prototype is to 3D print it. It’s not easy, but it is the easiest way. Before 3D printing it, you need to design and model it. We started with the design. Everyone told us to build a one-size-fits-all case, but we wanted to go the extra mile and create a PELLISCASE that fitted the design lines of each motorcycle. So, we will have one for each bike instead of the one-size-fits-all cases. On top of that, we believe in extra attention to detail, so we ended up with 12 design versions for the first case 😅 (yes, the 13 is already in the making). During this path, we 3D printed the 1st prototype, which was very sturdy but didn’t fit the bike. One week before the event, we 3D printed the 2nd prototype. We decided to try new printing configurations and tools, which ended up with a very “fragile” but usable PELLISCASE for the Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition (Why this specific bike? Because it’s the one I own, and as said above, you must Eat Your Own Dog Food 😁). To make things better, we broke the first (and only) prototype two days before the event. Since printing a new one would take multiple days, we just used strong black duct tape to solve it 😅 (Note: we needed to make those specific spots more resistant to humans). Anyway, let’s go to the south of Portugal!
Day 1 – Ourique to Lagos
This was supposed to be an easy day. Check-in was during the morning (with sound check), lunch and departure were around 1 pm for an under 100km special stage called SS1-Touratech. Before checking in, we installed the PELLISCASE in the Norden and tested its capacity with extra strong black duct tape, an x-acto knife, zip ties, two glove pairs, a 50cl water bottle, Revit waterproof liner, multiple GoPro accessories, batteries and smart cards, a tool kit, and some food. I must say, the available space was more than expected.
After 1 pm, we were in line to cross the start line, among the last ones (this became kind of a tradition across the weekend 😅). While waiting, the first incident occurred: another pilot from our “team” unbalanced his bike, fell on top of mine, and broke the PELLISCASE lid. Duct tape to save the day again (Note: one more spot to make more resistant to humans). We departed, and the special itself went pretty smoothly. There was a lot of mud, and one fell due to a problem with the rest stand. The rest stand moved with trepidation, and every time this happened, the sensor detected it, killed the engine, and blocked the rear wheel. This will be a constant during the weekend and lead to a more spectacular fall on the last day, very close to the finish line, fortunately without additional consequences (Note: change the rest stand spring to a stronger one from the enduro motorcycle line).
We arrived in Lagos around 5 pm, washed the bike and went to the hotel where everyone from the event stayed. The PELLISCASE behaved ideally and without any issues with all the trepidation, dust and water (from the washing). I used it multiple times to access the water bottle and the food and change the gloves.
The PELLISCASE, up to now, is flawless except for human contact 😁.
Day 2 – Lagos to Lagos
The second day started early, around 8 am, for breakfast, but we ended up among the last to depart again 😅.
This day was divided into two special stages: SS2 & SS3 BMW Motorrad, together with more than 200km with a lunch break in “Castro de Cola”. PELLISCASE ready, and let’s go. Everything went smoothly during the first 30 minutes or so. One of the bikes from our group had a radiator problem, which we later found to be related to some rocks thrown by the bikes in front of it, although it had the radiator off-road protection. We lost some hours trying to solve it, waiting for the trailer, having lunch and everything related 😅.
During all this time, we were in a windy location, and every time I accessed the PELLISCASE I noticed the wind going against the lid. It handled it quite nicely, but this is one more component we will reinforce in the final version. (Note: reinforce the lid closing/opening mechanism). We ended up “re-starting” after lunch with 200 km to go. These were 200 excellent km, with beautiful views, ups and downs, and fast plains, in one single word: amazing. At the same time, it confirmed that my tire choice was not the most adequate, but I will leave this for another blog post. We did the last 30 km on a closed night and were the last to cross the finish line 😊. These were among the best km I have done so far. We reached the hotel at dinnertime, and the PELLISCASE behaved flawlessly again.
For the second time, the PELLISCASE, up to now, is flawless except for human contact 😁.
Day 3 – Lagos to Almodôvar
The third day started early, around 8 am, for breakfast, but we ended up among the last to depart again to keep the tradition 😅. SS4-Garmin, had a not so hard section and in terms of riding, this was the best day. Amazing ups and downs around a fantastic blue water dam followed again by very fast flat plains. Again, the tires were not the best for the terrain. Close to the end, in a pretty fast straight with a slight jump close to the end while pointing to an open right corner, the rest stand, while in the air, moved; the sensor detected it, killed the bike, and I landed with the back wheel locked and entered in a slide ending up in a fall. There were no consequences besides broken pride. While on the floor, I rested a little bit, got up, picked up the bike (with help is always easier), and got back on track. Lesson learned: when a problem is detected, solve it. We reached the finish line, and the PELLISCASE behaved flawlessly again.
Again, and after the third day of hard testing, the PELLISCASE, up to now, is flawless except for human contact 😁.
In summary, the outcomes, the learnings, and all the positive feedback from everyone who crossed paths with me and asked me about it were excellent. Let's return to the lab and produce a production-ready version 😉.
We will publish the event videos on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pelliscase.
You can also see the official event video: https://youtu.be/Z0XEKhACjYQ.
And soon you will be able to get some more information about this and other events in a new space we will launch on our website.
Stay tuned for more news. We will be quick.