emu
Swedish Motorcycles

Today in Motorcycle History

ISR Motorcycles

A Brief History of the Marque

ISR
Manufacturer of performance brakes and other sophisticated components, they have built and campaigned endurance racers, and also produced three examples of the ISR-Hedlund 980cc V-Twin.

Timeline

1968 - ISR business established. The first frame was built and the first caliper was designed.

1971 - The first brake system was sold.

1972 - The production of rear sets for the Honda CB 750 began. This became the firm's primary product for some years.

1975 - Began road-racing.

1976 - The first caliper for road racing was designed and used in the World Championship series.

1979 - First World Championship Road Racing points achieved.

1979 - Production of chassis kits began - some 60 kits were built by 1986.

1980 - ISR was incorporated as a company.

1981 - ISR was heavily involved in the World Endurance championship 1981-1983.

1983 - The first billet aluminium 4-piston caliper was made.

1985 - The complete line of brakes was now produced using billet aluminium instead of earlier cast magnesium.

1987 - ISR set up a new factory at the present address in Tumba, Stockholm.

1988 - For the first time, a World Endurance championship was won by a machine fitted with ISR Endurance calipers.

1988 - New factory established on the island of Gotland, Sweden, which incorporated a production line for master cylinders.

1989 - The introduction of the 6-piston racing caliper, complete with 6 separate pads. It was developed for Anders Andersson who competing in the world championship Superbike and Enndurance Racing series.

1991 - Team Roberts Yamaha 500 GP machines ran ISR brakes. Eddie Lawson also put a few kits on his personal motorcycles.

1995 - A growing number of custom applications are being developed.

1998 - A new version of the ISR 6-piston caliper (22-042) is developed for Christer "Cralle" Lindholm, who was then racing in - and winning - the German Pro Superbike series.

2004 - ISR builds website and presents catalogues online at isrbrakes.se.

2010 - BMW's Concept C fitted ISR calipers, discs and master cylinders.

Tobbe's Monster

The first Monsters, up until the new frame in the late 90's, were well known for their monster wiggles.[1] The back shock isn't up to the job of inspired riding and the front fork has no adjustment. To allow for a proper air box Ducati also cut off a couple of frame tubes, as compared to the 888, not improving the overall stability of the Monster model.

On Tobbe's Monster (M900 '95) those frame tubes have been welded back on to the frame, combined with other frame bracing. The rear end is completely swapped for more rigid items: a JMC swingarm, CNC'ed suspension linkage and a custom made fully adjustable Ohlins shock absorber. The rear brake system is also redesigned for more controlled operations.

At the front, the fork legs have been swapped for fully adjustable and more stable Ducati 996 items, kitted with Ohlins springs and oil. A set of custom made ISR racing triple clamps, reducing flex to a minimum and improving the feel for the front suspension, holds the new fork legs in place.

Tobbe has also replaced the wheels for Honda CBR rims, going down to a 5½ rear with a 160/60 tyre to improve the "flickability" of the Monster. "I wanted to go with magnesium rims, but I sort of ran out of money", Tobbe says.

More on Tobbe's "Eats Anything" M900 Monster Special

Notes. 1. True. The rather secondhand early Monster I bought handled atrociously and I promptly swapped the forks for those from a later model Ducati. Instant fix. It remains one of the top three bikes I've ever owned. Ed.
Source: isrbrakes.se
See also Hedlund


ISR built a hub centre steering front end for the remarkable Harrier. If you have a query or information about ISR motorcycles please contact us