To damper or not to damper

[WOMBLE]

I have a 05 VTR1000, i have been experiencing some scarey tankslapping.
Will a steering damper fix some of this problem?
Do i have to set my bike up differently?
Which damper is the best one to buy?

Can someone please help me.

[onearmedbandit]

A steering damper is really only a band-aid. Your bike especially shouldn't need one, I'd be looking at suspension (both ends), steering head bearings, or tyres firstly before you go and lay your wedge on a steering damper. In saying that I have one on my GSXR1000, an Ohlins unit that does the job very well. Cost me about $550.

[98tls]

seems strange on a VTR.........check everything else out first as onearm says.

[bugjuice]

my bike would beat me up a bit on occasion. I got Shaun to set my suspension up both ends, and almost eliminated it. I'm still getting a damper eventually, cos you can't fix the pure grunt lifting the wheel and it not coming down straight, but get the bike set up as good as poss before that stuff

[Clivoris]

A steering damper is really only a band-aid. Your bike especially shouldn't need one, I'd be looking at suspension (both ends), steering head bearings, or tyres firstly before you go and lay your wedge on a steering damper. In saying that I have one on my GSXR1000, an Ohlins unit that does the job very well. Cost me about $550.

What he said man. Those bikes are rock solid predictable. Unless of course you're riding at 11/10ths everywhere. You're not Aaron Slight taking the piss are you?

[Jinx3d]

New head Bearings fixed my Zthou (1983) , there wasnt any play that you could feel and it wasnt clicking under braking, none the less, new bearings, goodbye wobbles, hello 230 km/h.

Just got the head bearing adjusted on the TL, used to shake when doing red line overtaking manourvres.

Hmmm, youre not going to tell us your back tyre is bald are you?

[WINJA]

I Had A Bike That Slapped Real Bad , I Put A Damper On It And It Telegraphed The Slap Thru The Whole Bike , That Is Not Always The Case , Check Your Head Bearings And Tyre Wear Patterns , I Cured My Slappy Bike By Raising The Back Which Was The Opposite Of What Conventional Thinking Says , The Answer To That I Believe Was Loading Up The Front More Stopped The Slap Form Starting In The First Place , A Good Test For Head Bearing Tension Is The Bounce Test , Hold The Bike At Balance Point On The Side Stand With The Rear Wheel Still On The Deck , Turn The Bars To The Right Let Them Flop To The Left The Bar Should Fall And Rest On The Lock Stop If It Bounces On Th Lock Stop Tighten It If It Dont Make It Loosen It, You May Need A Friend To Help You Balance Your Bike But Being A Honda Rider You May Not Have Friends

[WOMBLE]

I have a 05 VTR1000, i have been experiencing some scarey tankslapping.
Will a steering damper fix some of this problem?
Do i have to set my bike up differently?
Which damper is the best one to buy?

Can someone please help me.
Thanks for the advice,
Who (out west) would be the best place to take it to get set up.

[WINJA]

Thanks for the advice,
Who (out west) would be the best place to take it to get set up.

DO IT YOUR SELF , GO TO THE OHLINS http://www.ohlins.com/Motorcycle/Settingupyourbike/tabid/59/Default.aspx SITE AND READ ABOUT SAG ,AND DAMPING SETTINGS ETC, YOULL NEED A FRIEND TO HELP SET THE STATIC SAG AS ...... OH NO HANG ON YOU DONT HAVE FRIENDS

[slowpoke]

Similar to Winja's slappy bike, I had a 916 that was just a pig when I first got it: heavy steering, cumbersome direction changes, but slapping if I didn't have the adjustable damper fairly heavy.
After research and trial and error I softened up the BACK end which cured the slapping, I could then jack up the rear ride height, lighten the damper and the thing was transformed. I could even run the steep 23.5deg head angle on the street (supposedly for track use), making it much more flickable.
A couple of bikes before the 916 I had a VTR that I fitted a spacer above the rear shock and dropped the front forks to sharpen the steering, and it still didn't need a damper.
Dampers are handy if you are running racebike steering geometry but shouldn't be necessary on a VTR. If you need one, something is wrong and you should be able to sort it without spending that sort of folding stuff.