- Joined
- Jan 31, 2010
- Messages
- 3,099
Today I went out for a bit after having removed the steering damper which was on the bike when I bought it. I had taken it off once before but the steering was definitely a bit tank-slappy after hitting any sort of bump so I put it back on.
But this time, I had recently changed the POs 18" rims with 120 rear, 100 front tires to oem 19" rims and 4.10 avon road runner tires on both ends. The POs 18" 120 rear tire was nearly 2" in diameter larger than the 100 front tire. This morning, without the damper, the steering was completely stable - no tendency toward tank slapping under any conditions and I looked for/found plenty of nice bumps/potholes to challenge. Max speed I was able to hit was 70 so perhaps it wasn't a complete test but it used to get twitchy even at 40 over bumps without the damper.
I didn't have a damper on my old 750 and it never exhibited any tendency to tank slap so I was always wondering why the 850 did it; Obviously it was the different diameter tires installed by the PO that was primarily responsible.
Regarding dampers/fork braces, etc...I recently read a quote that I thought was pretty good though I can't recall the specific article. It had to do with mods, including dampers and fork braces. A specific question was asked about the "improvement" gained with a Hyde Fork brace and the author stated something to the effect that a stock Norton Commando had lapped the Isle of Man course at over 100MPH with "no assistance needed by Mr Hyde."
I removed the PO's Hyde fork brace a while back because I found that it added considerable friction to the fork action because the brace itself was not true from upper to lower surface so the relationship of the forks did not remain parallel. This was an issue with the brace itself, not the eccentric bushings or the adjustment. The brace tried to make the forks closer together at the top than at the bottom.
But this time, I had recently changed the POs 18" rims with 120 rear, 100 front tires to oem 19" rims and 4.10 avon road runner tires on both ends. The POs 18" 120 rear tire was nearly 2" in diameter larger than the 100 front tire. This morning, without the damper, the steering was completely stable - no tendency toward tank slapping under any conditions and I looked for/found plenty of nice bumps/potholes to challenge. Max speed I was able to hit was 70 so perhaps it wasn't a complete test but it used to get twitchy even at 40 over bumps without the damper.
I didn't have a damper on my old 750 and it never exhibited any tendency to tank slap so I was always wondering why the 850 did it; Obviously it was the different diameter tires installed by the PO that was primarily responsible.
Regarding dampers/fork braces, etc...I recently read a quote that I thought was pretty good though I can't recall the specific article. It had to do with mods, including dampers and fork braces. A specific question was asked about the "improvement" gained with a Hyde Fork brace and the author stated something to the effect that a stock Norton Commando had lapped the Isle of Man course at over 100MPH with "no assistance needed by Mr Hyde."
I removed the PO's Hyde fork brace a while back because I found that it added considerable friction to the fork action because the brace itself was not true from upper to lower surface so the relationship of the forks did not remain parallel. This was an issue with the brace itself, not the eccentric bushings or the adjustment. The brace tried to make the forks closer together at the top than at the bottom.
