Lansdowne Dampers..Feed Back Please

john robert bould · Dec 21, 2010

Who's done the most miles with the kit .and are they still working well?

pete.v · Dec 21, 2010

I've got a couple thou on mine. Had a little leakage at the seal on the Compression side. I had Progressive springs in before i knew you did not recommend. I have since replaced seals and have put the original springs back in.

All and all very nice, no issue to speak of.

I know you have made updates but you have never answered if the ones already in the field were updatable. Well?

john robert bould · Dec 21, 2010

pvisseriii said:
I've got a couple thou on mine. Had a little leakage at the seal on the Compression side. I had Progressive springs in before i knew you did not recommend. I have since replaced seals and have put the original springs back in.

All and all very nice, no issue to speak of.

I know you have made updates but you have never answered if the ones already in the field were updatable. Well?

I have stated that any updates will be done if required.
Basicly the early cartridge's can be improved by a port position change, the travel is cushioned at the very end by 14mm. But if the original items are set correctly i doubt any one will notice the differance.
Regarding a "field" change ..i would say not easy, and not worth the hassel.

Gino Rondelli · Dec 22, 2010

John
around 5000 miles on the commando I fitted with your dampers last winter, been through everything from o deg C to 42 Deg C this year and they are fine, huge improvement over the originals, not bothered to adjust them much. The biggest PITA is that I have a leaky fork seal, started when I was using SAE5 and now persists since I went to SAE10. Nothing to do with the dampers but with the crap parts I bought I think, ho humm, I'll change it (again) before I start putting miles on it again.
I'm lucky enough to have several Commandos to play with, it is noticeable when I jump from my high mileage tourer I fitted the kit to and any of the others. Yes I know the answer but another 5 kits is £1000+ and since I only use the others around the houses so to speak its not on the list at the moment (although maybe a set on my JPN rep would be nice!)
Keep up the good work John

pelican · Dec 22, 2010

yeah, I had a slow leak this summer out the bottom after I switched to 10w when it was really hot (100 deg). Will have to see if it's better this summer.

john robert bould · Dec 22, 2010

Gino Rondelli said:
John
around 5000 miles on the commando I fitted with your dampers last winter, been through everything from o deg C to 42 Deg C this year and they are fine, huge improvement over the originals, not bothered to adjust them much. The biggest PITA is that I have a leaky fork seal, started when I was using SAE5 and now persists since I went to SAE10. Nothing to do with the dampers but with the crap parts I bought I think, ho humm, I'll change it (again) before I start putting miles on it again.
I'm lucky enough to have several Commandos to play with, it is noticeable when I jump from my high mileage tourer I fitted the kit to and any of the others. Yes I know the answer but another 5 kits is £1000+ and since I only use the others around the houses so to speak its not on the list at the moment (although maybe a set on my JPN rep would be nice!)
Keep up the good work John

Nice to hear all worked out OK.
I notice quite a few are getting seal weeping...mayby a long grove down the top bush, Velocettes use this to allow oil to drain back into the leg.
Stanchion's can "scrape" up oil,and mayby build up pressure between the seal and bush ,?: only thinking aloud..but why do Velocette do it :?:

Regards
John www.lansdowne-engineering.co.uk

bmwbob · Dec 22, 2010

I have the leak proof seals and experienced no leakage with 5 wt to 15 wt, but probably adding some stiction.

phsDommie · Dec 22, 2010

John,
I have about 2 thousand miles on the new fork internals and am very pleased with the result. No more rebound thunk, smoother compression and a much more planted feel. No leaks, thankfully. I like them so much that I ordered another pair for the restoration I'm working on for a friend. Nice job.

Paul S.

john robert bould · Dec 23, 2010

Ludwig, i can produce a light set if required, all alloy parts! But not as light as race tec.

ludwig said:
I haven't installed mine yet , and I don't think I will .
The kit is well made and I'm shure it does a great job , but It is too heavy for my Commando .
I'll probably adapt it for my N15 ( make it 2" longer )
Also , even if adjustable , it is still a fixed orifice system , wich doesn't allow for different high or low speed damping .
I've been tinkering with fork internals for al long time , and the last 8000 km I have used a Race Tech gold valve , wich I'm pretty pleased with , except for insuficient rebound damping .
Based on experience and ( messy !) bench testing , I made my own version , fully integrated in the damping tube and only a fraction of the weight of the std setup or the LD kit . ( 110 grams ) . See how it works out next summer ..

Lansdowne Dampers..Feed Back Please

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