MotoYard @ Buttonwillow

LE — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:26:39 +0000

Yesterday with MotoYard at Buttonwillow I had only 5 clients, all of them repeats. Most of the day was spent with them telling me how great their bikes worked or just riding by giving me the Thumbs-Up. What a boring day…

Emil brought me his bike last week to have everything done to his forks and shock. I did the final clicker adjustments at my shop and excepted to dial it in at the track. That never happened, Emil said it was perfective…

So I went riding myself…

Trailer Ramp Door

LE — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:54:29 +0000

The trailer that came with Lindemann Engineering had barn doors but I like a ramp door. A ramp kit costs $1500 so I got some plywood and used the parts from the barn doors to make may own ramp door. Almost done.

Graham’s RC-51

LE — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:05:29 +0000

The work on Graham’s RC-51 is done. I rebuilt, re-sprung and re-valved the forks and shock. He gets his old springs back along with the old seals and the cap that covered the shock air valve. I exchange the valving washers so they don’t go back. Shipping the old oil back would be a hassle and I’ve yet to find anyone who wanted it. I paid extra to get good LE stickers that peel off without leaving a mess, that way you can remove them if you like without getting mad at me.

Thanks Graham, enjoy!

Shop Up-Date

LE — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:20:33 +0000

Along the back wall of my shop is the Lindemann Engineering work space. Solvent Tank. Suspension Table. Flat Stone. Two Roll Around Tool Boxes.

Fork Spring Info

LE — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:23:50 +0000

Spring Rate is the measurement of a springs strength.

Having the correct spring rate for the weight of you and your motorcycle is the foundation of good suspension. With weak springs you will start too far down in the suspensions travel where it moves slow. You will most likely also have too much pre-load on the weak spring so it jumps back up too fast after a bump.

There are three way I can fix this for you:

$110 for New Spring that my spring guy already makes. I have most of these in stock.

$175 for Custom Springs that my spring guy makes to order.

$75 if I shorten your spring to get a stronger rate.

A spring is just a piece of wire. If you shorten the wire it will take more load to bend it. Therefore if I make a spring shorter it’s rate will increase. You can’t just make a spring as short as you want because you need more space between the wire coils than travel in the suspension.

This photo is of a set of stock ‘09 250 Ninja fork springs. The spring on the right shows the factory end. The spring on the left is the end that I cut.

Cutting springs is just a way to save you $35 and reduce my inventory requirements. If you don’t want cut springs, just let me know.

Fork Spring Spacers

LE — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:34:01 +0000

When I need to made a different fork spring spacer I use PVC pipe because it’s inexpensive, easy to get, easy to cut, not effected by oil and is much stronger than it needs to be.

This picture shows a PVC spacer next to some stock plastic, aluminum and steel spacers.

The stock plastic spacer on the right has a wall thickness less than half the thickness of the PVC pipe.

I made this post because a few people over the years have been surprised when they found out about the PVC. If the idea of a PVC spacer drives you crazy just let me know and I’ll be happy to use something else.

WP Sale

LE — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:13:13 +0000

Two WP piggy back shocks. They are all new but are sold as is. $750 each or best offer.

Penske Sale

LE — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:11:09 +0000

Two Penske 3-way piggy back shocks, both are new and come with full waranty. Includes the correct spring for your weight. Retail is $1345, these are on sale for $1100.

Communication Skills

LE — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:46:41 +0000

I’ve been working with Kenny and his Dad, Eric, for a few years now. Kenny is moving from Kart track bikes to full size track bikes and we have been up grading his suspension. We are also working on his communication skills as they apply to working with his crew chief.

On this test day at a top secret Kart track we did a little test after dialing in the bike and rider. I sent Kenny out for a few laps at a time with the settings mess up in a way that I knew what he would feel then listened to how he explained the feel of the bike.

It’s the job of the rider to tell the crew chief what he or she feels. It’s the job of the crew chief to understand what the rider is saying. To make this understanding come about a little work is required from both.

In this photo I’m making changes without Kenny knowing what they are. Then he will do 2 laps and report back.

The last test was the toughest one, I messed with the bikes balance. When Kenny was riding Eric asked what Kenny would feel and I answered. When Kenny came he said almost word for word what I said he would.

Now Kenny and I know we are speaking the same language.

Data systems were developed because crews could not get good info from most riders. When Kenny gets on a bike with data and what he says matches what the data says you can be sure his crew chief will be happy.

By the way, Kenny won his races the day after this test.

Kenny Anderson, is sponsored by Lindemann Engineering.

No, Thank you!

LE — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:20:06 +0000

Ray sent me his 2002 BMW R1150RT-P shock for a rebuild and correct rate spring. This is what he had to say.

“Just wanted to let you know that I installed the shock on Saturday and had a chance to give it a road test. Well done! Works perfect and the bike rides like new.

Thanks for doing a great job.

Ray”

The stock spring rate is not strong enough for the bike an rider. With the correct spring rate you ride near the top of the travel where the suspension can move fast and deal with sharp bumps. This is what give the nice ride.

Enjoy your ride, Ray and Thank you!