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Lindemann Suspension?

B

BigFitz

New member
Joined
Jun 4, 2003
Location
S.J.
Moto(s)
02 R1 silver
O.K. I'm looking to either have my forks reworked or replaced. Many people say lindemann is the guy to go to. Obviously it cheaper to go with the rework but is there that big a differance between reworked stock forks and a new set. I don't want to look back in 3 months and wish I'd made a different decision. Has anybody been through this before and how did it turn out?

Thanks for your help :D
 
MackeyStingray said:
if you know what you're looking for in the rework, it'll be better than stock. if you just tell em "make it better" w/o specifics, you may get it worse than what you brought in.
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This is simply untrue.

Most people that want their suspension reworked don't have a clue as to what should be done. Shops like Lindemann Engineering and Kyle Racing know what questions to ask so you get the appropriate springs and shim stacks.

Scott
 
Yep I just told my suspension guru to:

Rework my forks, Respring them if necessary.

They came back like butter.
Better than butter.
Margerine.
 
there is also AFTERSHOCKS! Phil and Dan are awesome and really go all out to take care of you.

Revalving and respringing your bike is a much cheaper alternative than buying new parts. Not to mention, that when you get these things done, you get them taylored to you, your riding style, and your weight. Which in many instances may end up better than buying an expensive new piece.

Another alternative, is get your front forks resprung and revavled and get a new aftermarket shock if you really want to spend the money. But getting race tech gold valves and good springs, in most cases will be just as good as new piece.

Good luck!
 
From my personal experience, as well as the experiences of my track day and racer friends, revalving the stock shock is a waste of time and money.

You are much better off getting an afetrmarket shock from Fox, Ohlins, or Penske.

Scott
 
I have a revalved/reshimmed/resprung stock shock on one bike for street riding and an Ohlins on another identical bike for racing.

The redone stock shock is better than when it was original and is pretty good for sport riding. Many people will find a revalved stock unit to be a real improvement over what they have been used to however once they got used to the revalved unit they would probably find the aftermarket shock even better.

The Ohlins is definately much better responding than the redone stock shock and it has a remote preload adjuster and a ride height adjustment as well finer adjustments to everything.

I would only use the Ohlins for racing and not the revalved stock unit as the stock unit lacks the fine adjustments and the precision and responsiveness of the Ohlins.

It costs about $300 to do the stock shock, it costs about $800 for an Ohlins. From what I have seen the Ohlins has a resale value of around $500 and the redone stock shock has a value or around $300. A totally stock shock as almost no value because they are so common.

I am considering overcoming my resistance to spending money and getting another Ohlins for the street bike and selling the stock shock, now that I have a few thousand miles of comparison.

As far as the forks, I think that stock forks respond better to reworking than stock shocks.

Ohlins forks cost around $2,500 for the street version and the math is similar in comparison to reworking the stock shock. Basically you invest more money in the aftermarket parts but you retain the difference in resale value.
 
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winders said:
From my personal experience, as well as the experiences of my track day and racer friends, revalving the stock shock is a waste of time and money.

You are much better off getting an afetrmarket shock from Fox, Ohlins, or Penske.

Scott
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Wow my experience has been way different.

I had LE do a revalve and resping for my weight on my 97 GSXR and it was a night and day difference.

No more floating over the front on late braking, or slipping the front or rear when coming on really hard out of a turn.

I have traded off rides with a friend of mine that has full ohlins front and back on his R1 and we both came to the conclusion that my set up on my SRAD is just as good as what he has on his R1.
 
Man thanks for all the input. It seems like the best thing to do is get the forks reworked and buy an ohlins shock. Is LE the guy to go to or aftershock? I've heard good stuff on both of them. Oh and by the way after having the forks done, will it take care of the bike diving under hard braking? Thats my biggest problem right now.

Thanks for all the help
 
"Oh and by the way after having the forks done, will it take care of the bike diving under hard braking?"

Are you a big guy BigFitz? Are you riding with stock springs?

If you answer yes to both of the above the answer to your question is YES.
 
BigFitz said:
I don't want to look back in 3 months and wish I'd made a different decision.
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Not a problem. If you send your forks to Lindemann at the peak of race season, you'll be lucky to get them back within three months.
 
www.aftershocks-suspension.com

Phil is the man. He is the only suspension tuner I'm aware of who races. I heard that Phil took podium spots in 450 Super Bike and 250 Production last weekend.

He is obsessed with developing new valving styles. We set class records at all three tracks in 2001 on his stuff and he has developed new stuff since then.

I've also raced and ridden on the street with Lindeman-valved suspension. It was fine, but I went a lot faster on the Aftershocks-suspended bike.

I've re-valved stock shocks and felt an improvement. Going aftermarket will make a much larger improvement, depending on what you start with. Re-springing and re-valving will transform a bike completely.
 
Go with Aftershocks... Phil still races and I see him at almost every other trackday I've been to this season. That's pretty dang cool if you ask me.

I went the reworked forks & Ohlins rear route too. I just couldn't pony up the 2500$ for FORKS!?!?!?! but the 850$ price on the Ohlins made perfect sense a la mcleonard's logic ... if I was going to lose 300$ on a shock either way, I'd rather lose that money while riding an Ohlins. Know what I mean?
 
PaulSomerville said:


Phil is the man. He is the only suspension tuner I'm aware of who races. I heard that Phil took podium spots in 450 Super Bike and 250 Production last weekend.
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www.bigvalleyhonda.com

Bob Hayashida still races RC51's and he did my forks. I had him do my forks because I saw that Alex F. and Scott H both in Open Twins on RC51's had him do their forks. Good enough for me.

I'm not sure if he does any other suspension work other than RC51's, though. They are definitely his expertise since he rides one.
 
My guess is that unless you're a racer pushing the limit of cornering, you won't notice all that much difference between LE or Aftershocks worked forks.

My nod goes to Aftershocks simply for the service and support-after-work that Phil does. His turn-around times are pretty good in my experience as well.

BigFitz, I see that you got a 3rd gen R1... if it has the same crappy OEM shock as the 2nd gen R1, I highly suggest you junk it and get an aftermarket like others have said.
 
PaulSomerville said:
He is obsessed with developing new valving styles. We set class records at all three tracks in 2001 on his stuff and he has developed new stuff since then.

I've also raced and ridden on the street with Lindeman-valved suspension. It was fine, but I went a lot faster on the Aftershocks-suspended bike.
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Paul,

Were those class records set with damping rod internals or cartridge internals?

When was the last time Phil had a bike win an AMA National championship? How about an AMA race?

You don't need to be racer to be good at setting up suspension. You need a large body of riders providing quality feedback to do that. Guess what? Lindemann has a much larger and more experienced body of riders to gleen information from.

If you have an EX250, by all means go to Phil. For anything else, I would choose Lindeman or Kyle.

Scott
 
Shit man, am I gonna have to specify to these guys things like Damping rod internals and cartridge internals like Winders is talking about. I have no F'n idea what either of those are. Or do I just go and say look, I need a fork rebuild and leave it at that.

The rear is easy cause you buy it, but with the forks I'm a little unsure of what I'm supposed to walk in the door and tell these guys I want done.
 
"Or do I just go and say look, I need a fork rebuild and leave it at that."

Yes that is what you do. It is kind of like going to the doctor. Your job is to tell them where it hurts, their job is to fix it.

Your forks have cartridge internals since you bike is newer. You don't need to worry about damping rod internals. Those are in the old 250 production bikes that Aftershocks works on alot.

As far as the shock, if you buy a new one make sure that it comes sprung and valved for you. Not every place does that, however the ones mentioned here do.
 
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