[Full_Spectrum]

I have both.

For the street, I cant imagine wanting to ride the 1198. It simply is not suitable to reasonable speeds, imo.

I fitted a Storz side mount damper to my M1100 as well as a Penske shock and fork kit. I think the damper is important on any bike. Again, just my opinion.
The Monster is really fun, reliable, reasonably comfortable, and not too expensive.

Enjoy!

 

[Full_Spectrum]

This seems to be a common thing at the moment. When do you find you need a damper ? At what speeds and what roads ? I do like the bars to wiggle as I always consider its just the bike sorting itself out.
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Ok, so here is my opinion on dampers generally. All of my bikes have them.

That oscillation through the bars is not "the bike sorting itself out". That is the bike trying to disperse energy that the suspension couldnt deal with. It can happen under a bunch of different circumstances, too numerous to contemplate here.

I dont find that I "need" a damper under any specific conditions, at least on this bike, which I only ride on the street.

I find that a damper is a really great insurance policy against the one time that the "bike doesnt sort itself out" properly.

Imagine that you take your left hand off the bars to raise your shield, at exactly the same moment that you hit a small bump in tarmac...and you get a tankslapper. Bound to happen sooner or later, so I figure better to have a damper than not.
It is really meant for those moments, and is not meant to help me ride faster. This is after all, a street bike and I dont ride this bike fast (comparatively).

YMMV, of course.

 

[Full_Spectrum]

Still, its sorting itself out as I call it. I've only ever had one and that was on a pedal cycle. I have to say I'm not convinced. You might well hide a problem by fitting one and might well get away with out incident, but if it is going to slap, then one day, I suspect, it will do so regardless of any damper being fitted. Its still just levering against the headstock. I suppose I tend to like to know if its misbehaving and ride at a speed and style that copes with those issues instead of perhaps riding a bit harder thinking I'm secure and then finding out the hard way that I'm not.

I suspect on a track it would be useful. At any rate you are trying to ride fast and safety is sort of secondary. I'm not saying you want to crash, but you certainly aren't riding to just safely negotiate the track when competing. If you can save 99.9 % of wobbles that might never turn serious then it allows for concentrating on the riding.

As for them being insurance, I certainly wouldn't bet on it. I had a friend with an old 750 triple kwack. It was very mean bike and he installed two dampers to try and control the vicious head shake. One day he crashed on a back road. The bike ended up in a tree and he ended up in a field. It was a straight road. The slap was hard enough to break both the dampers and his wrists. Luckily the field he landed in was nice and soft so he walked away from it.


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Well as I said, YMMV. Hopefully you will never have to test this theory.