I saw this article in the Indianapolis Newspaper and thought I would share.
Beauty and the brake
Brownsburg company's invention puts them on the fast track
Putting the brakes on a business deal doesn't have to be a bad thing. Just ask Tim Wilson.
He and partner Fred Baldwin have caught the attention of the motorcycle industry with the invention of the 360 Brake, a tiny and simple invention that finds its success in driver safety and good looks.
In the six months since its creation, Brownsburg-based Baldwin Wilson Development Corp. has found itself in the middle of an accelerated business cycle. By the end of the year, the company will more than double the size of its work force, from 11 to 25 employees, and move from a 7,500-square-foot office to a new 30,000 square-foot building complete with a retail store -- all because of one little brake.
Not only that, the founders of the 360 Brake are being courted by major automotive companies offering millions of dollars for a tweaked patent of the brake that would work on cars. Baldwin and Wilson, both former race car engineers, are riding out the offers for now to focus on motorcycles. But they say the concept will soon be modified to fit cars, trucks and aircraft.
"In the custom bike world, you're either a billionaire or a bomb," said Jim Krampen, who builds custom motorcycles. "I don't think they're going to bomb."
The success of the brake in such a short time is sometimes hard to believe, Wilson said.
"It's this brake," he said, holding it out in the palm of his hand. "It has grown so rapidly. The interest is so incredible."
So what's so special about this brake? Well, it was originally created in the name of style. It was an attempt to give custom bike builders a small device that wouldn't hide the wheels they'd paid thousands of dollars for -- but was still safe.
"Some guys will risk their necks and run without a front brake just so they don't hide the wheel," said Carl Wenzel, chief product engineer for Baldwin Wilson. "They don't have to now."
But in the process of trying to feed vanity, Baldwin Wilson ended up with a product that has 80 percent more clamping power than the standard disc brake. The reason: The small disc is covered completely by a brake pad, hence the 360 name.
When a motorcycle goes into a panic stop, rather than pulling from one side or the other, the all-around brake allows the rider to stop in a smooth, perfectly straight line.
"No wobble. No wiggle," said Gary Miller, the shop foreman at Baldwin Wilson, who's ridden the brake extensively. "If you do lock the tires up, they skid in a straight line."
During testing, the brake stopped 14 feet shorter at 60 miles per hour than a lighter bike with a traditional brake. It's a feat that is the talk of the motorcycle world.
"This design is something special," said Arlen Ness, who started custom bike building in 1967 and is known as the godfather of the industry. Right now, much to Baldwin Wilson's pleasure, he is using one of the 360 brakes on a new project.
"I picked this brake out of all of them out there on the market to use," said Ness, whose company headquarters are in Dublin, Calif. "And we make brakes here, so that should tell you something."
The brake is a tweaked version of one Fred Baldwin had designed on an experimental aircraft six years ago. In November, he went to Wilson for some welding. When Wilson saw the brake, he asked Baldwin if he'd be willing to go into business to make something similar for motorcycles. After a few talks, the answer was yes.
Just this month, the company was plugged on the cover of the July/August issue of Barnett's Magazine, one of the nation's most popular biker publications. Editor and publisher Mark Barnett wrote about the 360 Brake in a full-page article inside.
"The Baldwin Wilson Development Corp.'s patented 360 Brake threatens to revolutionize the braking industry," he writes, adding a plea at the end for the company to send him a set.
A free set wouldn't be too shabby considering the brakes are $1,000 each, front or back.
Beauty and the brake
Brownsburg company's invention puts them on the fast track
Putting the brakes on a business deal doesn't have to be a bad thing. Just ask Tim Wilson.
He and partner Fred Baldwin have caught the attention of the motorcycle industry with the invention of the 360 Brake, a tiny and simple invention that finds its success in driver safety and good looks.
In the six months since its creation, Brownsburg-based Baldwin Wilson Development Corp. has found itself in the middle of an accelerated business cycle. By the end of the year, the company will more than double the size of its work force, from 11 to 25 employees, and move from a 7,500-square-foot office to a new 30,000 square-foot building complete with a retail store -- all because of one little brake.
Not only that, the founders of the 360 Brake are being courted by major automotive companies offering millions of dollars for a tweaked patent of the brake that would work on cars. Baldwin and Wilson, both former race car engineers, are riding out the offers for now to focus on motorcycles. But they say the concept will soon be modified to fit cars, trucks and aircraft.
"In the custom bike world, you're either a billionaire or a bomb," said Jim Krampen, who builds custom motorcycles. "I don't think they're going to bomb."
The success of the brake in such a short time is sometimes hard to believe, Wilson said.
"It's this brake," he said, holding it out in the palm of his hand. "It has grown so rapidly. The interest is so incredible."
So what's so special about this brake? Well, it was originally created in the name of style. It was an attempt to give custom bike builders a small device that wouldn't hide the wheels they'd paid thousands of dollars for -- but was still safe.
"Some guys will risk their necks and run without a front brake just so they don't hide the wheel," said Carl Wenzel, chief product engineer for Baldwin Wilson. "They don't have to now."
But in the process of trying to feed vanity, Baldwin Wilson ended up with a product that has 80 percent more clamping power than the standard disc brake. The reason: The small disc is covered completely by a brake pad, hence the 360 name.
When a motorcycle goes into a panic stop, rather than pulling from one side or the other, the all-around brake allows the rider to stop in a smooth, perfectly straight line.
"No wobble. No wiggle," said Gary Miller, the shop foreman at Baldwin Wilson, who's ridden the brake extensively. "If you do lock the tires up, they skid in a straight line."
During testing, the brake stopped 14 feet shorter at 60 miles per hour than a lighter bike with a traditional brake. It's a feat that is the talk of the motorcycle world.
"This design is something special," said Arlen Ness, who started custom bike building in 1967 and is known as the godfather of the industry. Right now, much to Baldwin Wilson's pleasure, he is using one of the 360 brakes on a new project.
"I picked this brake out of all of them out there on the market to use," said Ness, whose company headquarters are in Dublin, Calif. "And we make brakes here, so that should tell you something."
The brake is a tweaked version of one Fred Baldwin had designed on an experimental aircraft six years ago. In November, he went to Wilson for some welding. When Wilson saw the brake, he asked Baldwin if he'd be willing to go into business to make something similar for motorcycles. After a few talks, the answer was yes.
Just this month, the company was plugged on the cover of the July/August issue of Barnett's Magazine, one of the nation's most popular biker publications. Editor and publisher Mark Barnett wrote about the 360 Brake in a full-page article inside.
"The Baldwin Wilson Development Corp.'s patented 360 Brake threatens to revolutionize the braking industry," he writes, adding a plea at the end for the company to send him a set.
A free set wouldn't be too shabby considering the brakes are $1,000 each, front or back.
