Steering Damper Not Needed!!!

[GHEZZI]

Hey guys, I get sick of repeating myself. In answer to Scott's Rotary Damper by matt2065 and all your replies.......

GET YOUR SUSPENSION SET UP PROFESSIONALLY FOR ROAD USE

Yes my Hyper was super twitchy when new, it slapped all over the place.

I live in (south east Quennsland) Australia, we have some of the worst goat tracks on the planet that our Governments keep calling Highways or major roads. For the locals check out Legume to Woodenbong just over the border, I refer to it as bitumen cross. It's like a motocross track with a sealed surface. Even with my Guzzi California I could piss on most sports bikes in the twisties (Not blowin' me own trumpet here), because you can't use race track suspension settings on the average road.

Steering dampers don't fix a problem, they just mask bad settings.

I weigh 85kg naked , that's about 190lbs. Most Jap bikes come set too soft and either need adjusting or modification by installing new springs, goldvalves etc.

Ducati's on the other hand come set up for hard heavy users, check with your local suspension GURU, over here they don't modify Ducati suspension unless the owner is anorexic or obese, or the bike is ancient etc.

To get rid of the harsh ride from the front and stop the slap I did the following.

Front Pre-load Full Soft, yes folks, I wound out the pre-load 3 turns.
Front Compression -2 turns anti-clockwise (std set -1.5 turns).
Front Rebound -2 turns anti-clockwise (std set -1.5 turns).
The book says count the clicks but my 1100S doesn't have clickers on the front.

Rear Pre-load Standard, book says 19mm but doesn't state how to
measure it? But it feels right wherever it is.
Rear Compression -9 clicks. Std is -7 so I've gone 2 clicks softer.
Rear Rebound -11 clicks. Std is -15 so I've gone 4 clicks harder.

Rear Ride Height +8mm measured vertically from the wheel nut, then I see in the book it should have been measured from the ground to the bottom of the number plate. Therefore my actual increase would be 10mm+.

Increasing the rear ride height should make a bike more unstable at speed, trust me, this steed is as solid as a rock, WITH NO BLOODY STEERING DAMPER!

If you don't want to believe a boofhead from Downunder, speak to 08hyper I'm sure Alex will agree with me and share his wisdom.

[HyperMotard21]

+1

You're better off changing the springs if the spring rates are not meant for your weight. I weigh 55kg and did similar with GHEZZI and still needs a little more tweaking.

Was done by a guy TRAINED by OHLINS so I'm in good hands. Again GHEZZI is right, get it profesionaly done. My suspension tuner's setup immediately made a difference and I've stopped clinching my bung hole on bumpy roads doing 130kmh while leaned at about 15 degrees.

For those who wants facts or trying to understand spring rates here's an example

For a rider like me, 55kg
FRONT FORK SPRINGS
Recommended Fork Spring Rate for Street: 0.742 kg/mm
Stock Fork Spring Rate: .950 kg/mm (stock)

For GHEZZI 85kg
FRONT FORK SPRINGS
Recommended Fork Spring Rate for Street: 0.841 kg/mm
Stock Fork Spring Rate: .950 kg/mm (stock)

Spring rates matters most. If it's not right, there's no way you can get an accurate and correct static sag. Adjusting the preload DOES NOT change the spring rate rating. Preload should only be done ONCE to set static sag after making sure the rates are correct. Then play around with rebound and compression for personal preference.

[sm171]

Originally Posted by GHEZZI

Steering dampers don't fix a problem, they just mask bad settings.

Originally Posted by HyperRetard

get it profesionaly done.

+1

and stay away from the "Johnny two-clicks" who think they know about settings.

[freezer16801]

IMO, the standard model settings are likely to be different. I weigh around 10-15 lbs. more than you. I tried the bike with two turns of preload taken out up front and it was incredibly stiff over bumps. Likely because it was always near the end of its stroke. Once I added two turns to the stock setting, it became much more stable and comfortable over bumps.

[Bravo51]

If Rossi has it I want it!

[gossa]

My bike feels mint on stock settings. I'm no motorcycle suspension guru but I own a high end bicycle store and made tech vids/did tech clinics for cannondale so I know my high speed compression from my bottom out bumpers!

The only thing I did on my 1098s was add a bit of preload, ducatis feel great out of the crate to me, maybe they set them up just for me?

All great tips though, keep it comin' and if you want shite roads, come and ride in england, they are like patchwork quilts here!

[BillyD]

“…non-believers will always state that the best set-up of a bike is that without a steering damper. That doesn’t really mean that you should ride without a steering damper though. On today’s overpowered machines with knife-edge steering characteristics, a steering damper is really a must even if it is just for that one time you hit a bump or run over a curb.”

“…we want a steering damper to help us out when we are in trouble. Unexpected, high frequency and big amplitude movements should be dampened as much as possible in order to settle the bike”

Source: Moto Tech International, “To Damp or Not To Damp,” March/April 08, pages 46-51. www.racetecmag.com

So, I agree with basic premise of Ghezzi and others that adding a steering damper is certainly no excuse for bad suspension set-up. I do not, however, agree that this argument extends to the logical conclusion that no steering damper is needed at all. In my case, I first had my suspension set-up WITHOUT a steering damper. Once the suspension was working to my liking, then and only then did I add the steering damper to handle “unexpected” hits as suggested above article.

I should add that the roads on which I ride also tend to be very bumpy, uneven with lots of abrupt elevation changes, not smooth, high speed sweepers. As such, I probably should be running a dirt bike damper as opposed to a road damper. And, yes, all of my off-road bikes have steering dampers even though the MX and SX guys don't run them.

[Bravo51]

That's a good point.

I had no idea off-road machines had dampers available.

[infidel]

I think alot of it comes down to how hard you grip the bars, especially on a motard where the bars are wider and have more leverage. If you have a loose grip and you arms are not as rigid the shock from a bump or pothole in the road won't get transfered from your arms back to the bars anywhere near as much as if you use a rigid grip. If you think the bike needs a damper, next time you ride make a concious effort to relax your grip and see if you notice an improvement.

[george_v]

To avoid misconceptions!!! -> to mount a steering damper IS a good thing to do. However, this does not mean that suspension shouldnt be taken care professionally. First thing get your bike in a specialized shop for suspension tuning! Then decide how you will use your bike. Daily commuter? track weekends? small trips? and longer ones? noon show off coffee breaks?
Well i use my hyper for all of the above and I think that a steering damper has helped me in many occasions to keep the bike on track or on road.
But to conclude a steering damper shouldnt be used to make up for bad suspension settings!!

Geo