Tyler is smart
Tyler had a blast and learned a lot at Rich Oliver’s Mystery School. After the school was done he got a discount card good for $50 off on suspension work at Lindemann Engineering. Being the smart guy that he is, Tyler then called Ed at LE and ordered a Penske shock and sent his R-6 forks for rebuild, re-valve and new springs.
Tyler is signed up for a MotoYard.com track day Dec 3rd at CVR where he will put the new skills he learned from Rich to work and where Ed will dial in his suspension settings, no extra charge.
You too can be as smart as Tyler.
Happy Riders
Craig just got a new Penske for his FJ1200 and he took his wife for a ride. Looks like she is happy too. Here’s what Craig said:
“First, thanks for the follow up. Yeah, the bike handles better than ever. I’m sure its even better than when it rolled out of the factory. The sag was all but perfect out of the box. “
It all starts with the correct spring rate. See the Penske Art post bellow. Now Craig is playing with the clickers and learning. The follow up he is talking about is just some e mail to make sure all is well and answering any set up questions.
I don’t want to make a few hundred dollars off you from one job, I want all your suspension money for as long as you ride. Therefore I try to explain and answer.
Penske Art
Why does Penske need two weeks to build your shock?
They don’t, it really only takes a few hours to build a shock but we say two weeks to give time to get all the parts together and to get in line behind the other pending orders.
So the real question is, why does Penske build your shock to order instead of building them on an assembly line?
Building your shock to order allows Penske to start with the correct spring rate for your weight. Spring rate determines how strong your rebound valving needs to be. A stronger springs needs more rebound valving to control it. On the compression side, the valving works with the spring rather than controlling it so a standard valve stack can be developed for different levels of riding.
I call Penske’s standard compression valve stack a “Street” stack as most Penske’s are used on street bikes. You can also have a LE “Track Day” or “Race” stack.
Your new Penske will be shipped direct to you and I will be your contact for questions, help or warranty.
The spring pre-load will be set at 10mm. The damping adjusters will be in the middle of their range, for example, 15 of 30 rebound clicks. This will give you a wide range of adjustment. Let me take this opportunity to encourage you to test your new Penske’s full range of adjustments so you understand what they do.
Up to 58
Hawaii Raceway Park, 7 configurations, 1983 – 1997
Willow Springs, 1986
Seattle International Raceway, 1990
Portland International Raceway, 1990
Heartland Park Raceway, 1990
Memphis Raceway, 1998
Road Atlanta, 1990
Nelson Ledges, 1991
Suzuka,
Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, 1997
Pomona AMA course, 1996?
Streets of Willow, 1998
Phoenix Speedway, 1998
Daytona Int. Speedway, 1998
Laguna Seca, 1998
Sears Point Raceway, 1998
Infineon Raceway, 2000
Road America, 1998
Loudan, 1998
Indy, 1998
Button Willow, 1998
Button Willow Backwards, 2007
Las Vegas Speedway, 1998
Robling Road, 1999
Mosport International Raceway, 1998
Mid Ohio, 1999
Shannonville, 1999
Brainerd Int. Raceway, 1999
Shube, 1999
Pikes Peak, 1999
Virginia Int. Raceway, 2000 ?
California Speedway, AMA Course, 2000 ?
California Speedway, Interior Test Circuit, 2004?
Mid America, 2003 ?
Barber Motorsports Park, 2001 ?
Miller Motorsports Park, AMA Course, 2007 ?
Miller, Full Course, 2008 ?
Talladega Grand Prix Raceway, 2005
Horse Thief Mile, 2000
Spring Mtn. Motorsports Ranch, 2004
Jennings, 2007
ICAR, 2010
New Jersey, Lightening Course, 2010
Mosport International Raceway’s Rider Development Track, 2011
Race City, 2011
Race City Mini Track, 2011
Mosport Kart Track, 2011
Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, 2011
Willow Springs Kart Track, 2011
Grange Kart Track, 2004
Streets of Willow Counter Clockwise. 2011
Las Vegas Classic Course, 11/3/12
58 Tracks so far.
Ed Sorbo International Invitational
Davis Wins Inaugural Ed Sorbo International Invitational Race With WERA West
Jim Davis took the win in the first-ever Ed Sorbo International Invitational race, part of the WERA West event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Sorbo himself was second, and Keith Stie completed the podium in the eight-rider field.
WERA created the Ed Sorbo International Invitational as a new wave in an existing race on the schedule, as long as Sorbo could convince five riders to sign up for the class. There was no shortage of riders willing to take part at Vegas.
Sorbo says the event succeeded precisely in what it was designed to do – get more riders onto the grid, and provide a low-pressure opportunity for racers to get onto the racetrack. Sorbo is hopeful that the idea of a catch-all class that centers around riders, rather than machines, can be adopted by other organizations looking for ways to add value to their racing series for their current customers and for ways to attract new racers into the sport. Sorbo pointed out that, with no additional cost to WERA, the race organization generated several new paid entries each day.
“I hope everyone will take this idea and modify it to make it work for their region, their club, their home race track,” Sorbo says. “It’s an opportunity for friends who would never be able to race each other because they are on different machines to get on the track and race each other. It’s an additional class for racers who just want more time on the track. And it’s perfect for the racer who just wants to spend more time with their knee on the ground.”
In Sunday’s race, Chris Schatz took the win, with Jim Davis second and Keith Stie third.
Good Karma
If you look at the two events from a cost/travel stand point, a 3 day event half an hour from home beats a 1 day event $100 from home every time. But…
So I drove up and back. While at Willow I worked with 14 happy clients. I did not get a flat tire or any other problems and when I got back to ACS I found out that the Saturday event there was rained out.
Doing the right thing is always best and sometimes it even pays better.
MG’s 3rd Weirdo
This guy I know understands that I hate it when people kill a TZ by installing some heavy under powered dirt bike 4 stroke engine that would be better as a boat anchor than a power source.
In the photo, you can see two real TZ’s hiding under covers, they are peeking.
But he brings all his bikes to me because he likes the work I do. I keep working on his bikes because he loves them and he always pays on time. Maybe someday he’ll get a bike I like. So for he has had three weirdo’s.
This one’s almost done and it’s loud.
Ready, Steady, Go!
Joel’s bike is due on Saturday and it’s ready now. How cool is that!
Penske 3-Way Piggyback with LE Race Valving at the back.
LE Race Valving in the Big Piston forks.
Green is for Go!
Joel did a nice job building his ‘09 ZX6R race bike. It’s here for LE suspension. Check out the 3-Way Piggyback Penske with LE Race Valving. Tomorrow the forks!
More Power, Less Weight!
After my WERA race weekend I decided a little more power would be useful and since my stock carbs are worn out so that the idle hangs and the bike is hard to start when cold, maybe I could fix three things at once.
So the flat slide carbs came out of the box and went on the bike. It started right up, idled nice and sounded wicked. Today, when the bike was cold it started right up with a push start.
I’ve been running a full loss system for some time now but because of the easy bump starting I saved another 7.5 lbs by removing the starting system including the wiring. Some of that weight came off the end of the crank giving me more power and better flick-ability.
See you at Willow with MotoYard on the 8th.