| Author | Message | ||
     Mckennaxb12r |
I own an 04'Buell xb12r. I recently picked up a Storz steering damper for it and had it installed. Driving the bike at slow speeds with the damper set a 1(minimum) seems to make the steering wander from left to right but then at higher speeds the steering flattens out and is solid in feeling. I have never owned a bike with a damper on it before but is this normal for the steering to feel heavy, weighted, and wandering at low speeds till you hit higher speeds? Is this the compensation you have to adjust to for high speed stability? If so I just burned $300.00 because without the damper the steering felt agile and responsive at slow speeds and we all know when your on the freeway at 2 a.m. and open it up there's some slight head shake at higher speeds. So in light of that, I purchased a damper to counteract that slight shimmy. Anyone have a Storz steering damper on their bike? The same steering feel? Thanks for reading this and giving input. | ||
| Race_pirate |
I have a 03' XB9R, when I had no damper the bike was rock steady from 1mph to WFO. I was actually amazed how "Non Twitchy" the XB was for having such radical geometry. I never experienced any shake any where. I put a LSL "Low Mount" steering damper on. I havent felt any difference riding the bike, but it is reccommended (and a real good idea) for racing. The steering damper really comes into play on exiting corners and accelerating hard, and also when you roll off the throttle at high speeds and turn in. Having your damper on setting 1, steering input should be almost as light as stock with no damper. Three things to check: Have you checked your tire pressure?? Have you checked for any play in the steering head bearings?? Tire balance/condition??? Low speed could be tire pressure. | ||
| Henrik |
It's important that you don't over-tighten the bolts that hold the ball-pivots. A buddy of mine did that, which distorted to pivot just enough that it hindered movement in the pivot slightly. Made the bike handle very strange. The kicker was, when we took the damper off the bike, all pivots and damper action felt ok. It was just when there was clamping force on the pivots that they would start to stick. My buddy bought new pivots, and was back in business, and made sure to follow installation instructions for torqueing the bolts  Just an idea. Henrik | ||
| Imonabuss |
Dampers definitely have their downside, which is exactly what you are feeling, and probably why they aren't stock on the bike. On a race track, they can stop some of the wobbles that come from wheelying and dropping the front end back down while still leaned over, but they definitely make the steering stiff and vague, and can actually decrease high speed straight line stability. | ||
| Bud |
 never felt the need for a demper driven hard over bad roads, some times a little wiggel when the front wheel lands after a high speed lift off because off the bad road but noting serious | ||
| Fullpower |
" we all know when your on the freeway at 2 a.m. and open it up there's some slight head shake at higher speeds. So in light of that, I purchased a damper to counteract that slight shimmy." we do NOT all have head shake. you have a problem that needs to be addressed. that is NOT what a damper is used for. | ||
| Patrickh |
many dampers will cause a "weave" at low speeds, it is very common. I have had dampers on a couple bikes and ended up taking them off after a while. I even removed the steering damper from my 99' TL1000S, and if you remember those bikes had a bad reputation for tankslappers. I did in fact have a fair amount of headshake with that bike, but I still kept the damper off because I lived in the city and at low speeds it was to difficult to bother with. I only ever tankslapped once on that bike but it was my fault. IMO dampers are really only needed on the racetrack. | ||
| Mckennaxb12r |
I would like to thank you all for responding to this posting. The problem has been solved! The tires were over inflated which caused the weaving while at low speeds. I also loosened up the damper bracket so that it had 6ft. lbs. of torque which allowed the piston to move freely without any hindrance. The 1000mile service was done 2 weeks ago and it was not loose head bearings. I can feel the difference with the damper on and off the bike. I guess for the time being I will try to conform with the damper on. Thanks again for your input and experience.  |
