Steering damper, who's got what and are you hapy with it?

[Pierce]

As of recently I've been doing a bit more trail riding and I am pretty keen to put some money into purchasing a steering damper.

Whose using them and would you recommend one?

[Danger]

I use them on both my bikes and would not ride without one. They can be transferred to your next bike, you just might need to purchase a new fitting kit.
I use Ohlins/Scotts, very good quality, a bit better in my opinion than the Roc Stomper which I have sold a few off.
Ohlins have a nice new one out, it replaces the top steering head bearing but its super expensive, about $1300.00 to $1400.00
Roc Stomper have a basic and advanced, its worth splashing out the extra $100.00 for the advanced which doesn't dampen back to centre. About $799.00 for the basic and $899.00 for the advanced. An under bar kit is about an extra $50.00 as I recall but I wouldn't recommend raising your bars any unless your about 6' and I've never hurt myself on my dampers that sit on top of the bars.

[scott411]

i have used wer, gpr and are fitting a new Ohlins underbar one tomorrow, i think they are brillant, the GPR was definatly better than the WER, and everyone tells me the ohlins are the best

[Reckless]

OK here's the $500-00 question (or however much they are?). Tell us how they aide your riding?
Like on a road bike a damper stops a bit of head shake out of corners but mainly for high speed wobbles.
We are not often tapped out so how do they help through the trees etc?
I nearly bought a GPR one off trade me but didn't know if the $380-00 was just bling or would be help at my level? So I gave it a miss.

I imagine a lot of guys would want to know this? Do tell "OH experienced ones".

[vazza]

Yeah, I was looking at that GPR damper on trademe also, thought id get a bargain but nah haha..

[Danger]

They do what the name implys' they dampen the steering input, protect against sideways deflections and enable you to ride with a looser grip on the bars and so save energy. They work well in sand as well when traveling down a fast straight with slight ruts forming the front wheel is more likely to go where you want it to go instead of following where the last person went. When jumping they promote a straighter flight as everything pivots around the steering head. I certainly notice it when riding a bike without one.

[scott411]

They do what the name implys' they dampen the steering input, protect against sideways deflections and enable you to ride with a looser grip on the bars and so save energy. They work well in sand as well when traveling down a fast straight with slight ruts forming the front wheel is more likely to go where you want it to go instead of following where the last person went. When jumping they promote a straighter flight as everything pivots around the steering head. I certainly notice it when riding a bike without one.

what he said,

basically i use one because they stop the high speed tank slappers that occur when you are at race pace on rough tracks, i am horribly unfit so it stops me having big crashes, you can take your hand off at any speed and the bike will not tank slap,

[Danger]

Yeah good for grabbing a drink too!

[ArcherWC]

I was happy with the WER one. mounted down the bottom of the number plate so well out of the way

[ArcherWC]

If the damper is well setup, you shouldnt really notice it, untill you try to ride without it :-)

[Reckless]

Yeah, I was looking at that GPR damper on trademe also, thought id get a bargain but nah haha..

It was for a Ktm 200 as well which tempted me more!!

I certainly notice it when riding a bike without one.

Very helpful Danger!

what he said,

basically i use one because they stop the high speed tank slappers

Helpful too scott although a lot of us wouldn't get up to the high speed you guys do! Which is sorta why I gave the GPR a miss.

Thanks guys sorta new what you where going to say but have decided to ask a few "why" questions on here even if I already know the answers. Done it on two threads now as we are always taking for granted that everyone already knows what we mean? We need to somehow suck the expertise outa you guys to benefit the unKnowledgeable! That was a perfect situation. Cheers.

[warewolf]

My ktm 200 shakes it's head at triple figures or more with little provocation to none. They're in a 125 frame which is a size smaller than the 250/300s, which has its ups with turn speed but makes them flighty. Fortunately I'm conscious of what's happening and bang the throttle open to stifle the shimmy at that speed, could be na-a-asty if you weren't on the ball.

100km/h might be fast between the trees or around a mx track but is nothing on more open cross-country terrain: farm tracks, open paddocks, gravel roads, racecourse, beaches etc (or even highway if you are that way inclined) where you can hit max speed or near to it (140+ on my 200).

Steering damper would eliminate that tank-slapper shimmy off bumps, as already mentioned, plus helps stop deflection in ruts and rocks. Less deflection means less correction to the bike/bars = less energy input from the rider.

I'd buy one AFTER getting the suspension sprung & valved to my style, and maybe also (for this particular bike) after buying a triple-tree with different offset. At the moment I think a damper would mask a multitude of sins.

Is it MSC who offer three settings on return to centre: 0% damping, 50% and 100%? Can't remember the applications, might have been MX, enduro and desert racing?

[Danger]

The KTM200 really benefits from a reduced set of off set triple clamps due to their lack of trail. You are correct the light weight two stroke can be a bit flighty but all KTMs have the same geometry issues. I use 17mm on my 200, but 18mm is more common. Added trail will create stability and front tire grip.
However there are a couple of other things that you can do to add trail without a different triple clamp which will help. The '03 in particular has a very long shock with a top out spring and as mentioned in other threads you need to be careful when setting the sag on these. Anything that makes the rear higher than the front will promote head shake. And many KTM riders use forks springs that are too light in relation to the rear spring and in combination with the check plate like mid valve (or lack of mid valve) the fork tends to dive through the stroke too quickly, again reducing trail and stability.
Make sure your rear sag is correct, on the '03 push down on the swingarm and adjust the preload ring to 0-1mm preload. If the spring is the correct rate it will be good to go. However KTM's benefit from a little lowering in the rear shock and is a common mod in my workshop and this also adds trail to the geometry.
Then make sure there is a little drag on the steering bearings. With the front wheel of the ground the steering should not flop from side to side should slowly move from lock to lock.
Run the forks flush in the triple clamps.
Add a link to your chain if necessary to run the wheel right back in the swing arm. Recheck your sag after doing this modification.
Another issue with the '03s is the 3 bushing fork design and the harsh valving. This does not enable a smooth fork stroke which can absorb bumps rather than bounce around on them. Too much HS compression damping, too little LS compression damping (which also describes the '03 fork) can contribute to head shake. Too much LS rebound damping also can cause problems and because the '03 lacks in HS rebound damping and often too much LS is dialed into the fork to compensate.
There are many other things that can create head shake but those are the first things to look at on the '03 KTM. A steering damper will mask some of the issues slightly but is not really the answer to that bikes problems.
Where the steering damper really helps is with a side ways deflection from that tree root running parallel or at an angle to the bikes direction. Or that hidden tree stump or rock that you glance the side of. For head shake as commonly complained of I would look at the cause rather than trying to dampen the result.

[camchain]

I've experiencing a couple of 'interesting' higher speed head shakes on the exc200 already (so far only on decell - so Danger's 200 geometry info enlightening and revealing) Was considering an extra chain link to increase wheelbase a little but hadn't considered effect on sag. Hmm. Seems extra leverage might only exaggerate effects of already too soft spring as well?

Anyway, I started looking into dampers and my impressions from what I've gleaned so far:

1. Steering dampers are a very good thing to have and you don't have to be a pro level rider to benefit from one.

2. Some GPR owners report not being overy happy with them, but clearly a hell of a lot better than nothing at all. GPR operation a bit 'stiff' and obtrusive especially at lower speeds, not quite enough subtlety in the design? Scott - Ohlins designed(?) ones apparently much better, at least according to owners who had GPR prev and worth the extra money. The most expensive damper I found was in the KTM hard parts catalogue, $1600 - sans mount kit. Ouch. So I was watching that GPR one on TreadOnMe too.

BTW, I came across one that was adjustable via a remote thumb operated control on handlebar (hydraulic hose runs from thumb control to damper). Can't quite remember what brand name was but it's out there somewhere and obviously worth having a look. Seemed like an excellent improvement on existing designs.

Wondering if a standard new Honda one might be retro-fitted to your CR Pierce?

[scott411]

i have jsut had the boys fit the ohlins this morning, and i am planning to race the Harrisville Clubday tomorrow, ill give you a report