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Suspension Potentiometers


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After a lot of thinking if it worth the time and money, I decided to buy some suspension potentiometers. My purpose is to study and try to connect the feeling with the movement of the suspension. In this way I might be able to tune and most important faster.
I will use the AIM MXL2 datalogging for analyzing the results. It has a really sophisticate software to use for "Suspension Analysis".

 

Did anyone tried it or have some experience about it?Any suggestions?suspension-potentiometer-front-2.jpg

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BMW offers this on the RR and HP4 to provide additional data to the DDC system. The data from this sensor also logs to the datalogger and can provide additional information to the rider. Here's a photo of the 2D sensor on a BMW HP4.

 

IMG_0408.JPG

 

For myself I don't understand suspension technology enough to really understand what I would really be looking at. A data aware suspension tuning person would be pretty amazing for someone like myself. They would be able to take their knowledge and experience and instead of using my input to tune the suspension they could look at the riding style and what the suspension was actually doing to do their adjustments. Even then however DDC might be a better choice for me as having that level of knowledge onboard adjusting things to be perfect 100x a second would be much better. I'll probably do DDC on my next RR.

 

You might have a lot more experience with working with your suspension and this might really help you see what was going on while you were riding. One thing that you might want to keep in mind would be the ability to relate movements you see in the suspension with the track surface and the available grip/slip rate. Ripples in the pavement could easily send you on a wild goose chase trying to figure out what's wrong with the suspension when it was just the suspension reacting normally to the pavement surface. In addition to that there's a lot of analog technology that's useful for measuring suspension travel at a fraction of the cost. A zip tie on the fork tube can give you a lot of information as well as the seat of your pants. Despite this I think it would probably be worthwhile at least to provide you with additional information as to what was going on. Just take what you are looking at in the data with a grain of salt and pay specific attention to ripples in the pavement if you get the opportunity to do a track walk.

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Unfortunately, I don't have any experience to share with you, DrIoannes.

But what I'd like to know is where you purchased them and for what price. The ones I've found so far has been rather expensive ($230-250/each!)

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The price is more likely to 350euro both,shipped. Pm me your email so I will sent you the info. There are various qualities that mostly reflect size (diameter) and longevity. I have decided to go for the medium price and use a smart way to protect them from the environment (saw them at EICMA in multiple SBK machines) using a carbonfiber tube. I am still in the process of installing them so no actual pictures yet.

 

qodcol.jpg

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Just a comment...

 

The installation photo. The bracket at the bottom of the fork tube obviously does not provide enough clearance around the large portion of the fork. That angle that the sensor is mounted at is going to distort the accuracy of the readings. If the sensor is designed to be installed this way and "corrects" for the angle it's fine but unless there's correction the sensor has to be installed parallel to the fork in order for the readings to be 100% correct.

 

Another installation consideration that you may want to keep in mind is steering stops. The BMW kit includes steering stops to keep from crushing the sensor. You may want to check the clearance once the sensor is installed to make sure that the sensor does not touch anything. If the steering stops don't protect the sensor you could easily damage the sensor if you get some head shake.

 

Please let us know your experience once you get everything installed and start getting some data. Not a lot of people have these sensors on their bikes and it would really be interesting to understand this technology better. You actually have peaked my interest in what other information that I can get out of my data by understanding what my suspension is doing underneath me. While I probably would not use this for adjustment it would provide additional perspective into my riding that I don't currently have now.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looks great! Front sensor is arrow straight! The only suggestion I would have is to put some tape around the fork bottom to protect it from potential scratching.

 

Speaking of tape. It's refreshing to see someone else who's having to tape CF parts to keep their boots from scratching them. I even wear holes in the protective tape. :)

 

IMG_7298.JPG

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  • 2 months later...

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