Data Acquisition Kits

Data acquisition as the name applies is all about information gathering. Technicians and tuners have always had the challenge of trying to make educated changes on a motorcycle to improve performance solely based on the rider’s feedback and hand signals.

Data gathering is divided into two sections, engine and chassis. Engine data gathering can be kept very simple or incredibly complex. The most basic entry-level engine monitoring system is going to record engine RPM, rear wheel speed and lap time.

The HM/Spears Racing data acquisition system will come with a HM M3 dashboard to give the rider the requested information. This very basic information can quickly tell you your maximum speeds, minimum speeds and when compared to your RPM, detailed gearing information can quickly be established. This data will also let you monitor sections on the racetrack to see if you are quicker as you do standard chassis and gearing changes with accurate and reliable PREDICTIVE GPS lap timer. Rear wheel speed sensor for wheel spin. Throttle position sensor could be added to watch for the riders input to the package.

If you were serious about monitoring the fuel injection, you could then add a live o2 sensor (Lambda)into the exhaust to monitor the air/fuel ratio coming out the tail pipe. This info, coupled with the TPS (throttle position sensor) would allow you to customize your fuel mapping not in a dyno room, but live, on track at speed for perfect mapping!

The Below Graph is current Spears Kit on a Ninja 400cc @ Chuckwalla Race Track

Chassis data gathering can be far more complicated and harder to decipher than engine data gathering. Engine data can usually be looked at and then compared to a base line earlier determined to be optimal. If it’s too lean, richen it(By adding a Lambda Sensor) if the revs are too high in an important corner consider changing the final drive or transmission ratio to bring them down, this would be a faster/better off corner speed.

Chassis data, on the other hand, typically requires a lot more experience from the technician to decipher. Typically attached to the suspension of a WSB or Moto GP bike will be front and rear potentiometers (pot) or Linear Displacement Transducers (LDT’s) , measuring front and rear wheel position compared against time. This little bit of data can provide a ton of information such as maximum wheel travel, average position, suspension sag, and rate of travel change to name just a few.

You will look over the data, looking at where the suspension is in the travel as the rider brakes, turns into the apex, releases the brakes and accelerates out. They are watching for how much the front forks dive, how fast they dive and how quickly they recover. They will then watch the rear of the bike during the same period, is it tracking over the bumps at full extension, is it squatting appropriately on corner exit? All this info combined with the riders feedback will help them make changes to the preload, spring rate, compression and rebound.
A good chassis technician can determine from a few laps at speed around a racetrack. Other Chassis sensors may include front brake pressure sensors in the brake line, to monitor when and how hard a rider is squeezing the brakes.

M3-Dash-Quick-Setup-Guide