The company's APWorks, a wholly owned Airbus subsidiary based in Germany, has long been at the forefront in aviation, robotics, medical devices, and other fields where 3D printing has proven transformational. The company has now turned toward applying its know-how in the consumer space with the 77 lb (35 kg) Light Rider, created using the company's trademarked Scalmalloy material.

Scalmalloy is a high-performance aluminium powder that marries the strength of titanium with the weight, corrosion resistance and other advantages of aluminium in additive-layer manufacturing (ALM) processes. The ALM manufacturing technique uses the 3D digital data to "print" a product in layers.

What Scalmalloy achieves, according to APWorks, are levels of strength and safety that will make the Light Rider a reality – and a solid 30 percent lighter than existing electric motorcycles on the market. The Light Rider design is based on an algorithm that strikes the right balance of keeping weight at minimum while making sure that the motorcycle is safe to use and stands up to the wear-and-tear of road tests.

The motorcycle frame itself is a surprise at just over 13 pounds (6 kg), made possible by an exoskeleton base that is structurally sound but which has as many holes in it as Swiss cheese – which is what it looks like. "That was a very deliberate design goal for APWorks," the company said in a statement, because the algorithm is programmed to "use bionic structures and natural growth processes and patterns as the basis for developing a strong but lightweight structure." When that remarkably light frame is paired with the 6kw motor and finished with other features, the Light Rider accelerates to 50 mph (80 kmh) in a matter of seconds.

What is most intriguing about the technology, however, is that the motorcycle is essentially made from pressed powder. The 3D laser printers melt millions of the aluminium alloy particles together and then build the frame in impossibly thin layers of just 60 microns each. The ALM strategy makes it possible to create a hollow rather than solid frame, which in turn opens up design options for cables, pipes and screws. It is a result that can't be achieved through conventional welding or milling, according APWorks CEO Joachim Zettler.

Light Rider promises to be a perfect city bike, with a battery that lasts up to 40 miles. For now, however, it will cost you. Initial orders for the Light Rider run at $57,000, and much of that has to do with the costs of the 3D innovation required to deliver it. Fortunately, some analysts expect that, if the demand is there and the technology proves itself, motorcycle manufacturers like Harley Davidson and Honda will begin marketing 3D bikes as well.

Meanwhile, the aluminium alloy powder is getting a look in other industries. Toolcraft, based in Germany, announced last year its collaboration with Airbus to use Scalmalloy in manufacturing high-tech components for sectors that include medical, optical, automotive, and semiconductor applications. One big advantage for Toolcraft is a superior alternative for materials and "complex geometries" that are hard to machine, the company said, along with a decrease in defects and related timesavings.