Bimota
Back in the day, “Bimota” was a symbol of well thought out light, powerful bikes that my friends and I could never afford. This SB6R is the first Bimota I’ve touched.
The sub frame is a one piece carbon fiber unit. Three bolts on each side, two springs off the exhaust, unplug one gang plug from the harness and you just lift it off. I was thinking these bikes were everything we though they were.
But to remove the front shock bolt you need to move the air box. The clamp for the remote shock reservoir under the bike does not have trapped nuts and the foot peg bracket has to be removed and the hose untangled from wires to get the reservoir out.
Oh well, the dream lasted a few minutes and really, I’m not perfect either.
Engineering
The difference between suspension that just moves up and down and suspension that builds your confidence is Science.
Suitable For Continued Use
Remember my November 16, 2013 post “14 Year Old Penske & Silkolene?”
I sent the oil to Silkolene in England for testing and this is what they had to say:
“The Silk Pro RSF 5WT tested good. See the pic below where you can see the oil is still clear and no sediment was seen in the sample. Viscosities were consistent as was the viscosity index with new Silk Pro RSF 5WT. The material also looks good and suitable for continued use.”
You have to pay for the work but the advice is free.
Sounds like Colin is happy with the rebuild, re-valve and spring I did for his stock ’07 GSXR750:
Hi Ed,
Just got back from a trackday at Thunderhill with the full 5-mile course. Holy cow that shock set up is sweet! I see what you mean about not needing the spacers for the back shock. The bike handles much more nimbly than before and felt super solid.
Thanks for your work and advice!
Colin
Doug and I
I did a little coaching with Doug at Buttonwillow this past Friday. We were there with MotoYard.com Doug was a Lindemann Engineering track day suspension set up client and I had time to ride too.
Valve Caps
Why do you need good valve caps with a seal inside? Because centrifugal force can over come the little spring holding the pin in your valve stem, there by letting the air out.
TI2TT
Starting this weekend Lindemann Engineering with be the Suspension Vendor at most Take It 2 The Track track days. I’ll be at their events at Willow, Streets of Willow and Buttonwillow. Check out my calendar page for dates.
BMW Shock Answers
All BMW rear shocks and most fronts, can be rebuilt. The trick is re-charging them with nitrogen. To do this I drill and tap a 5 mm hole for a small nitrogen valve into the body of the shock.
Most but not all the front shocks can be rebuilt. The close up photo of the black spring and chrome shaft shows the cap on the body of a rebuild-able front shock. If the body is welded to the cap or if it’s bent over the cap, we are out of luck.
$290 each to rebuild.
A stronger spring with less pre-load will keep you in the upper/faster moving part of the suspensions travel more of the time. Less pre-load will mean less wiggle after turns and bumps because there is less stored energy.
Front springs are $125 + $40 for a spacer. Rear springs are $125 or $135, about half of them will need a $40 spacer.
Re-valving adds $100 to the rebuild price.
WP shocks have a strong spring but poor valving.
Sacahs shocks need a new seal head for the rebuild, about $60.
ESA Shocks
The same as normal shocks except: You must back off the pre-load and damping before un-plugging the shock from the bike. Set everything to the soft/weak setting.
Sacahs ESA shocks are not cost effective to rebuild.
If you want to or need to replace your shock a Penske E or Penske Two Way is best. Please check out my Penske page.
If you don’t write it down,
it never happened.
After
Now it’s time to wash them.