Chapter 51: The Finest Steel for the Most Important Parts

After settling the issue with the laser welding machine, everything else became much easier for Zhao Guoyang. All that remained was to pour his energy into transforming the blueprints into reality.

The next morning, as soon as the workday began, he gathered the technical department for a brief meeting to assign the current tasks. The department was divided into two small groups: Zhao Guoyang would lead one group into the workshop to oversee production, while Hua Guosheng and Xu Dongfeng, along with two other technicians familiar with blueprints, would continue breaking down the remaining drawings.

In fact, after the recent days of hard work, Zhao Guoyang had already decomposed most of the C100’s schematics, and the major challenges had been overcome. He had also discussed the remaining minor issues with Hua Guosheng, and was confident that leaving them to him would pose no serious problems.

After the meeting, Zhao Guoyang made a quick round in the workshop before taking the completed blueprint segments to the factory office to see Director Ma Jian.

The C100 step-through motorcycle frame for Sanyang Group consisted mainly of a main upright post, a curved main beam, two rear beam tubes, and two diagonal struts, all welded together. The welding and bending of the main upright post and main beam required higher strength and toughness compared to the standard main support tube of a typical motorcycle frame.

As such, the material requirements for these components were also higher. The Sanyang Group’s blueprints specified Q345 steel for this section, which was significantly stronger than the Q235 steel normally used for motorcycle frames.

But in Zhao Guoyang’s view, this improvement was insufficient. Drawing on his experience from his previous life, he knew that the frame of a step-through motorcycle required extremely high strength, and even Q345 steel might not be enough.

Therefore, for this trial production, he decided to use QSTE380TM, a high-performance, hot-rolled, acid-washed automotive structural steel with excellent cold formability. It was typically used for car frames and crossbeams demanding both high strength and good cold forming, but rarely seen in motorcycle frames.

Though this steel offered superb performance, it was also expensive and hard to source in small quantities. Automotive companies usually consumed it by the hundreds of tons, and purchasing just a few dozen kilograms would hardly attract the suppliers’ attention.

As far as Zhao Guoyang knew, their own Hongda Machinery Factory had none in stock. With no other option, he had to report this to Director Ma.

Just as he reached the office door, Director Ma, ever sharp-eyed, spotted him.

"Ah, Guoyang, you’re just in time! Come, come, come—help me see why this radio isn’t making any sound," Ma Jian beckoned him over.

Zhao Guoyang was somewhat resigned—he was here on business, after all. But there was no refusing the factory director, especially when he asked for help with a radio.

Taking the radio from Ma Jian, Zhao Guoyang fiddled with it briefly and quickly found the problem.

"Director Ma, do you have a screwdriver?" Zhao Guoyang asked.

"Yes, yes!" Ma Jian promptly produced a Phillips head from the drawer.

Zhao took it, placed the radio on the desk, and deftly removed the cover. Seeing his beloved radio disassembled so quickly, Ma Jian looked a bit distressed and asked anxiously, "Guoyang, you can fix this, right?"

Zhao Guoyang nodded confidently. "Don’t worry, Director Ma. The issue is just some debris in the headphone jack, which caused poor contact on the spring plate, resulting in no sound from the speaker. Just have to adjust the length of the spring so its tension is just right."

With that, Zhao snipped off a section of the spring, carefully reconnected it to the headphone jack, and restored the outer casing.

"All done. It should work now. Give it another try," Zhao Guoyang said, handing the radio back.

"Really? That simple?" Ma Jian accepted the radio, incredulous.

When he switched it on, crisp sound issued from the speakers once more.

"Hey, Guoyang, you’re really something! Your skills are on par with any appliance repairman. Did you learn this in school?" Ma Jian said, clapping Zhao’s shoulder with a laugh.

Zhao scratched his head. "Well, I just liked tinkering when I had spare time, so I picked up a bit here and there."

In truth, not only radios—even the communication systems on planes and large transport ships would be child’s play for him. In his previous life, his expertise spanned not just machinery, but electronics and radio as well. If not for his age, an academician’s title would have been well within reach.

With the radio fixed, Zhao finally had the chance to explain his real reason for coming.

After hearing Zhao’s request, Ma Jian was puzzled. "Guoyang, I know about QSTE380TM—it’s a high-grade, expensive steel, and you don’t see much of it in a small city like Ninghai. I don’t understand why you insist on using it—the Sanyang Group didn’t make any special requirement for it."

Zhao Guoyang patiently explained his reasoning. "Director Ma, actually, Q345 steel wouldn’t have a major issue with strength. But Deputy Director Liang from Sanyang Group mentioned that their C100 step-through might be exported overseas..."

"So what if it’s exported?" Ma Jian still didn’t quite follow.

Zhao went on, "Director Ma, here’s how I see it. Europeans and Americans are generally taller and heavier than Asians. If Sanyang Group really wants to export this model, we can’t use our usual standards for strength."

"As for the rest of the frame, it’s one thing, but the main upright and curved beam are the core of the chassis. Using a better material there is entirely reasonable."

He paused, then added, "Besides, the prototype we’re building this time is going to Sanyang Group for testing."

"It might even be compared directly with the frame from that Shunxin Machinery Factory. If our frame outperforms theirs in strength, it’ll be a huge plus for our factory."

"And in the end, we’re not using the premium material for nothing. We’ll just bump up the manufacturing cost a bit; I’m sure Sanyang Group will understand," Zhao concluded with a smile.

Seeing that Zhao Guoyang had considered every angle, Ma Jian had no objections. He nodded repeatedly. "Alright, sounds good to me. As far as I know, only one steel market in Guangling City sells QSTE380TM retail. I’ll have Wang Cheng in procurement get ready—we’ll head out right away."

"Oh, and Guoyang, if you’re free, why don’t you come along? Even with QSTE380TM, there are different specifications. With you there, it’ll be easier to communicate exactly what we need."

Zhao thought it over. There was nothing urgent with the blueprints that required his presence, so he agreed. Besides, he’d been meaning to visit the steel market anyway—for his own hairpin project, he’d need to buy raw materials too.