In July '06 APE moved into their state of the
art performance center at the legendary Willow Springs Raceway
in eastern Kern County California.
After years on having out grown the previous facility in Burbank,
California, the decision was made to dramatically increase the
facility size to take advantage of the rapid growth the company
has experienced.
The new purpose built facility houses a CNC manufacturing wing,
as well as sales and warehouse space. This new space has allowed
us to increase our personal to offer faster service to the racing
community.
Then there is the race track. What can we say
about working with the back door open as Porsche is testing the
ALS Spyders , or Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha or Suzuki is testing
their latest racers. All right in our back yard. The race facility
has seven different race tracks and there is always something
exciting going on.
If you ever make it out to Willow, please do drop in for a visit |
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The
new, larger facility offers an expanded warehouse to provide
immediate shipping on all APE-manufactured items. A large, comfortable
lobby facilitates walk-in customers and racers visiting from
the nearby track. A dedicated and knowledgeable phone sales crew
means you will virtually never get a busy signal or be put on
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APE MACHINE SHOP

APE operates
one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities devoted exclusively
to racing components for Japanese motorcycles. In the beginning,
APE manufactured aerospace parts as their main product line and
motorcycle parts were a sideline. The racing products were manufactured
to the same precise quality demands as the aerospace parts. This
quality soon led to the use of APE products by the top racers
world wide. Seven years ago, APE dropped the aerospace product
line to devote all of it's focus on the demand for it's racing
products. Many of the aspects of the aerospace business is now
incorporated in the racing parts line. This includes the use
of state of the art computerized CNC ( computer numerical control
) machinery.
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Using computer
controlled machines, APE is able to produce products with extreme
accuracy that racers can depend on. Perfect fit, perfect function.
Product cost can also be kept down because of the machines accurate
production. APE programmers use a sophisticated CAD/CAM system to design
products and program the machines to produce them. With this
capability, sophisticated parts can me manufactured with no variances.
The Haas
VF-OE and VF-2 CNC machining centers feature
all of the latest features available in a CNC. The 20 hp machine
with an oil mist lubricated spindle allows for very high machining
speeds.
Jay Eshbach,
APE president states that the company is continually exploring
ways to increase production which allows prices to remain unchanged.
"I am often asked how we can still sell adjustable cam sprockets
and starter plates for the same price we did four years ago?
The answer is that we make many more per hour than we did four
years ago. This way we can build the necessary increases in net
revenue, build higher quality products, without having to charge
more for them".
Our machine
shop has always featured high tech machinery, including HAAS ST10s, ST15 , SL10 lathes, and VF series machining centers. These machines are used for all APE's turning machining including
our titanium valve spring retainers. No other company in the
motorcycle industry manufactures, in house, a larger selection
of titanium retainers than APE. Besides retainers, the turning
centers are also used to make valve seats, cam sprockets, manual
cam chain tensioners, clutch hub nuts, wrist pins, and other
products
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CYLINDER HEADS

Cylinder
head work at APE is done on the latest state-of-the-art equipment. We have
facilities to completely rebuild all motorcycle heads. As a manufacturer
of high-performance cylinder head components, we have all of
the parts in stock: bronze valve guides, stainless steel valves,
valve springs, titanium retainers and more. Everything we need
to complete your job without waiting on the parts - which slows
down most shops.
APE's super state-of-the-art Serdi cylinder head machine, with
triple-float head for the most accurate valve seats possible.
The Serdi uses a multi-angle carbide cutter that has the seat
shape ground into it. This ensures that all angles are exactly
the same - all seat widths are exactly the same. A perfect valve
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CYLINDER CENTER
APE is recognized
as one of the leading suppliers of racing pistons for motorcycles.
With over 22 years experience setting up cylinder assemblies,
APE has developed a skill that allows them to provide the top
of the line boring and honing for all makes. Cylinder boring
is done on super precision Kwik Way boring bars. These bars locate
the cylinder on the bottom surface to assure bores that are dead
square to the crankshaft. These machines bore with very smooth
surface finishes and perfectly straight and round.
The next step is the hone finish. APE does not use hand hones
or bottle brush hones. All honing is done on a state of the art
power stroke honing machine. This machine features micro processor
adjustable cross hatching. The honing process from the bored
surface to the final finish uses multiple stones. ( This is as
specific as we will get about this ).
Over the years,
APE has developed cylinder wall finishes that promote excellent
ring seating and long piston and ring life.
The APE machine
shop can handle all of your machining needs including upper case
boring for larger sleeves. Resleeving, both stock and big bore.
Visit APE's machine
services to see all cylinder services available.
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APE CRANKSHAFTS
APE has been
modifying and race prepping motorcycle crankshafts for over 22
years. The most popular service is lightening and race balancing
cranks for racing and hot rod street bike use. This service consist
of precision machining the crank for weight removal and counterweight
reshaping, computer race balancing for extended high RPM use,
reworking the oil holes on rod journals for increased oil flow
at the bearing, and micro polishing all journals. The balancing
department uses the latest state of the art computerized balancer
that is capable of measuring dynamic out of balance to .01 of
a gram. No other balancing shop can balancer closer than APE.
These APE crankshafts
have won championships in virtually all kinds of racing; road
racing, drag racing, three quarter midgets, dwarf cars, mini
sprints, etc. Every model crank is different and requires a different
style of modification.
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The advantage
of a lightened crank... Much quicker throttle response, less
power wasted trying to turn a heavy crank means more power to
the rear wheel. The engine accelerates faster. Harder pull off
the corners. Reshaped counterweights move through the oil mist
with less drag. Lighter cranks have less gyro effect. As all
racers know, heavy wheels and brakes spinning fast act like gyroscopes,
and resist being moved off their axis, such as leaning the bike
over for cornering. Same with the crank. The heavier the spinning
crank, the more it resist being tilted when cornering. Light
cranks not only make more power, but help improve handling.
APE performs
the complete lightening and balancing to the customers crankshaft.
Magnaflux to check for cracks, highly recommended on oil cooled
GSXR1100+s and FZR1000+s . Visit the Crankshaft web page for a complete listing of services
and prices.
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American
Performance Engineering Inc. - 7347 Rosamond Bl. Rosamond, Ca.
93560 - (661) 256-7309
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