In the early 80’s Kawasaki found a way to take away all damping in the forks on the 600 & 900 Ninjas while at the same time making the brakes feel mushy.

Damper Rod forks work just fine but if you give them super wimpy fork springs plus a system to add air pressure to help the springs you get a weak front end with extra stickthion.

If you make the compression holes way too big then add a brake pressure controlled valve to give extra comp damping when braking you add lack of damping to the weak front end as well as poor brakes.

But not these forks! These 900 Ninja forks no longer have any of that extra junk. Now they are strong, well damped weigh less and the brakes will have much better feel.

$300 to rebuild & re-valve your damper rod forks. Plus a little extra to undo good intentions.

When you send me just the tubes, $400 per set. Plan on it taking about a month.

Applying a Diamond Like Carbon coating to your forks tubes is not a repair. It’s a very thin coating that reduces friction and looks good. You will still be able to see any marks that are on the tubes.

Lindemann Engineering To Sponsor Ultra Lightweight Cup At Moto West Grand Prix Events In 2014

Lindemann Engineering is posting rewards to racers of Ninja 300s and Ninja 250s, as well as Honda CBR250Rs and CBR300Rs, in Moto West Grand Prix Ultra Lightweight Cup competition in 2014.

Each of the first six finishers in each Ultra Lightweight Cup race will receive $50, says Lindemann Engineering owner Ed Sorbo, who also races a Ninja 250 and is determined to keep as much of his cash for himself as possible by beating everyone who grids up against him.

“I want to encourage racers down through the field to feel the rush of earning a check from racing a motorcycle,” Sorbo says. “And I want to encourage people to race, the Ultra Lightweight Cup is the perfect class to attract new racers into the sport.”

Not only does Sorbo race in the Ultra Lightweight Cup events, but Lindemann Engineering will support three other racers in the class, including defending class champion Tony Serra, the world’s oldest motorcycle club racing class champion.

Moto West Grand Prix has scheduled a nine race event series in 2014, with races at the wide-open, high-speed 2.5-mile Willow Springs main course, the tight, twisty 1.8-mile Streets of Willow (in both directions!) and at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.

Lindemann Engineering provides motorcycle performance suspension services for street and track. Owned by former AMA Pro Road Racer and crew chief Ed Sorbo, Lindemann can make your performance machine reach its full handling potential.

For more information, contact Lindemann Engineering at www.le-suspension.com, or call (909) 838-4587. Moto West Grand Prix can be reached at www.motowestgp.com.

In order to recharge a shock that does not come with an air valve I add one. On some bikes you will need to cut a notch or drill a hole to make space for the air valve. This is a BMW R1150RT with a hole drilled to make space for the valve.

Be sure to trim off any burs and paint it. Also see post “Air Valve” 1/27/13.

New 3-Way WP shock for a ‘99 to ‘06 CBR600F4 $600

This just in from MG:

Ed: Although I know you think the hanging-off riding style is way overrated, you’ve gotta admit, the photos look spectacular. I wanted to say thanks for the adjusting you did to the suspension of my 2002 Yamaha YZF-R1 at Auto Club Speedway on Thanksgiving weekend. You took an 11-year-old literbike with completely stock suspension and, with your touch on the clickers, made it something I could do this on – with Dunlop Q2 street-legal tires, no less! Nice work on your end. I’ll work on the riding posture – NOT! Be well – M

This is the first TZ 250 shock that Penske built. I ordered it from Jim at Lindemann Engineering in ‘99 for my ‘93 TZ 250 that I was racing in AMA 250 GP. In 2000 I moved it to my ‘00 TZ 250 that I raced till the end of ‘03. Later I sold the bike to Don who raced it at Miller Motorsports Park till he sold it to Mike in Oct of ‘2013.

This is the first time this shock has ever been taken apart. The beaker on the left contains most of the 5 weight Silkolene shock oil as it came out of the shock. The beaker on the right contains new 5 weight Silkolene shock oil for comparison.

The shock shaft had a few marks that I cleaned off with 800 grit sand paper. The shaft and piston bushings show no wear. The shock was not leaking but I replace the shaft O-Ring anyway. The shaft wiper seal shows no wear. I replaced the old clear internal bumper with the new red bumper and replaced the bumper that goes outside on the shaft. There is no wear inside the shock body or reservoir, nor on the reservoir piston.

While 14 years is longer than is wise to wait between servicing your shock, it is nice to know just how well Penske shocks are made.

I’m also impressed by the Silkolene oil. You can see the change in color, it’s a little darker, that’s all. It’s clean, slippery and still 5 weight.

This is why I sell Penske shocks. This is why I use Silkolene products.

Added a WERA Regional #1 plate to my collection.