Cornering test
Caliper bench test
Brake dyno
to massive loads as a wheel mounted with a tire is pressed into a spinning six-foot drum of destruction at over double the maximum tire load rating . " This test simulates a bagger carrying two husky touring enthusiasts , saddlebags loaded , along with a full-size refrigerator strapped to the top of the Tour- Pak , traveling from Los Angeles to the rally in Sturgis ! Not something that we ' d recommend anybody tries , but as an extreme example of the kind of loadbearing capability that we engineer into our designs and materials ' use , it makes for a pretty robust assessment of what our design and machining procedures are achieving . " Then there is the Cornering Test . This involves bolting the wheel to a rotating steel plate while applying a side load to the center of the wheel to replicate the insane gyroscopic forces that a wheel faces while taking hairpin turn after hairpin turn at high speed for thousands of trips back and forth on the Tail of the Dragon . Again , don ' t try this at home Boys and Girls ! " Next up , the Torsion Test simulates the forces placed on a wheel when a high-horsepower , hightorque bike is power-shifting at wide open throttle and hitting the brakes to the point of skidding , and doing so for 100,000 cycles on the heaviest production bike imaginable . " Finally , the Impact Test sees the PM version of a Medieval Guillotine used to simulate hitting a large pothole , or a nasty piece of road debris . After the
www . AMDchampionship . com striker falls on the wheel / tire combination , the wheel must not crack , and the tire must retain air pressure - and in case anybody is wondering , yes , the same wheel is used for all four tests . If the wheel comes out unscathed from all four , then the design is approved for production ." Wheels are not the only parts submitted to the rigors of the PM in-house test lab . Brake system components - calipers , master cylinders and brake discs - are also put through intense scrutiny on its state-of-the-art custom-built brake dyno . This allows its engineers to isolate each individual component of the brake system and alter one variable at a time to glean important data on the performance of each part in the brake system . " This information is key to the development process . It allows our designers and production engineers to create the best high-performance brake calipers , rotors and master cylinders on the planet . But it doesn ' t stop there . Our commitment to quality continues with our in-house Quality Control Department . " Here parts are painstakingly tested and precisionmeasured to validate complete machining accuracy . In the Production Department , all wheels are professionally assembled by one of PM ’ s certified technicians , who validate correct torque specs and wheel trueness , and all PM calipers are 100 percent pneumatically bench-tested prior to packaging to ensure trouble-free installation and no leaking ." So , next time you are admiring how beautifully finished a new set of PM wheels look , or checking out the precision finish of a PM brake system , remember the torture-testing that hides behind the immaculate finish - " testing that allows you to recommend PM to your customers with confidence ," says Ana .
PERFORMANCE MACHINE Cerritos , California , USA Tel : 714 523 3000 sales @ performancemachine . com www . performancemachine . com
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