How to Build an

Inertia Dyno


Why build a dyno?

After racing in the Yamaha Sportsman class for a couple years with some limited success, we were looking for that extra "edge" in the engine department. The information we were getting from various sources was confusing, and when you put it all together it sometimes contradicted itself. It seemed nobody had the answers we needed, or they weren't telling. It was time to find out for ourselves. We felt this was the only way to get the information we needed. After looking at the options it seemed that an inertia dyno was the easiest to build (the theory was simple at least) and most accurate. But here again, the people that knew what we wanted weren't telling. They were obviously attempting to keep us from building a dyno.

Some of the things we were told......

"That technology is too new, it's only been in this country a couple years."

NONSENSE!!!

"Them things is too complicated, change one little thing and it's all messed up."

Obviously not someone who understands how the dyno they sell commercially works.

"Your gonna need a flywheel as big as a house and 3 computers!"

Hey! We are talking kart engines here, not railroad locomotives.

"You can't use a computer within a mile of a Yamaha engine, it just won't work"

Really!! How does Digatron do it?

We heard it over and over!

What's the big deal?

The concept was simple, accelerate a load, measure the time to accelerate it, and do the calculations. All we needed was a load, and a way to collect the data. In the end it wasn't all that tough. The dyno is built, it works very well and is easy to use. We learn something new with each run, and have found out for ourselves what works and what doesn't, both on the track and on the dyno. The following pages outline all the parts and pieces and some of the things that caused stumbles along the way.


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Contact us at: TDKMotorsports


This is an informational site about the construction of a prototype Inertia dyno. Large metal objects spinning at high speeds are very dangerous and may cause severe injury or death. TDKMotorsports will not be held responsible for any damages to you or your property due to your use of the information provided on this site. By using this information you assume all responsibility for any loss or damages incurred.