Steering dampers

Hi all,
None of my bikes have ever had a steering damper fitted. The truth being I just haven’t owned that many bikes in my life. I keep the ones I have a very long time.
I notice most earlier bikes (pre 1970s) were fitted with some type of a friction damper in the form of a friction nut on the steering head but obviously they fell out of favour and were deleted. I have certainly had a few unpleasant tank slappers after hitting potholes etc.
Were the dampers a good thing? why were they deleted? I note that particularly on period Japanese bikes that bolt on hydraulic dampers were popular accessories. Did they contribute to improving these bikes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them on a pommie bike
regards
Al

Alan L said:

Hi all,
None of my bikes have ever had a steering damper fitted. The truth being I just haven’t owned that many bikes in my life. I keep the ones I have a very long time.
I notice most earlier bikes (pre 1970s) were fitted with some type of a friction damper in the form of a friction nut on the steering head but obviously they fell out of favour and were deleted. I have certainly had a few unpleasant tank slappers after hitting potholes etc.
Were the dampers a good thing? why were they deleted? I note that particularly on period Japanese bikes that bolt on hydraulic dampers were popular accessories. Did they contribute to improving these bikes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them on a pommie bike
regards
Al

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My 1950 Garden Gate ES2 has the friction type with large knob and it is helpful indeed as the plunger sprung rear axle is susceptible to bump steer.

Alan L said:

Hi all,
None of my bikes have ever had a steering damper fitted. The truth being I just haven’t owned that many bikes in my life. I keep the ones I have a very long time.
I notice most earlier bikes (pre 1970s) were fitted with some type of a friction damper in the form of a friction nut on the steering head but obviously they fell out of favour and were deleted. I have certainly had a few unpleasant tank slappers after hitting potholes etc.
Were the dampers a good thing? why were they deleted? I note that particularly on period Japanese bikes that bolt on hydraulic dampers were popular accessories. Did they contribute to improving these bikes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them on a pommie bike
regards
Al

Click to expand...

Loads of people fit hydraulic ones to commandos , usually the Kawasaki type
Opinion will be very varied over whether they are useful on a commando and personally I don't like them but many do

Steering damper = Dented fender - lol

I have the “Kawasaki” damper on my ‘72. Most of the time it isn’t needed. Rough twisty roads at speed it does help keep the handlebars/forks steady. I bought the damper kit at a swap meet for $20 then bought a new NHK brand hydraulic unit for the brackets. I believe these things are rather expensive new and I’m not sure it is worth it.

I fit a NHK damper to my Commando a couple years ago, and a couple years after giving it a strip down resto-mod treatment. Rather than buy the kit with the ugly bracket, I used a 1" 316 marine pipe clamp fitting which I slightly modified, and bought the spacer from AN for the fork mount.



I do notice a difference in having it - all for the good. Mainly I find it helpful in two scenarios: additional stability in long, high speed sweepers on a rough road (our country A/B highways are all rough chip tar-seal and can be... uhhh... funky at times); additional stability on the motorway with a good side wind or passing trucks (in either direction).

No noticeable negatives to me, steering is still quick and no reduction in steering lock.

My modern Duc also has a stock damper. Ohlins units are supposed to be better, but for the Norton I think the NHK is sufficient.

Most people think if you use a steering damper you have a problem with your bike handling, no a steering damper will improve a bikes handling even with improvement to the frontend and better shocks on the back a good steering damper will improve those suspension set ups and will make the bike more stable, make the bike handle better with heavy loads when traveling and most sport bikes have them fitted from the factory, most people who knock them have never used them and if you ride on bad roads then a steering damper will make them good roads.
I don't have one on my Norton but have one on my 2013 Thruxton with Racetec spring up front with Eclumators and Ikon shock on the rear add a steering damper all work together for a great handling bike and of course good tyres, makes the bike stick like glue to the road in all conditions.

Ashley

ashman said:

Most people think if you use a steering damper you have a problem with your bike handling, no a steering damper will improve a bikes handling even with improvement to the frontend and better shocks on the back a good steering damper will improve those suspension set ups and will make the bike more stable, make the bike handle better with heavy loads when traveling and most sport bikes have them fitted from the factory, most people who knock them have never used them and if you ride on bad roads then a steering damper will make them good roads.
I don't have one on my Norton but have one on my 2013 Thruxton with Racetec spring up front with Eclumators and Ikon shock on the rear add a steering damper all work together for a great handling bike and of course good tyres, makes the bike stick like glue to the road in all conditions.

Ashley

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I agree. When I rebuilt my bike I added a Lansdowne damper kit, turcite bushes, IKONs, vernier iso's, and AM26s. This was a very nice setup, and the damper made it better.

I am very happy with this set-up. You can't see it but I used one of Kenny's NYC Norton frame clamps.

Ohlins are at the high end!

Nice.

This is a controversial topic.
Some folks install a steering damper on a Commando to deal with oscillating handlebars, also referred to as a weave or wobble, which can occur spontaneously or predictably.
Some see a steering damper as a bandaid solution to a problem that needs to be addressed at the root level. The list of "causes" is very long.
Others see it as a characteristic of the bike and live with it.
Or install a damper.
Those who have survived severe weave/wobble/tank slappers swear by them.
If you currently don't have a weave/wobble problem, you don't need a damper.
If you do, look up weave wobble tank slapper etc and pour yourself a tall beer.

Stephen Hill said:

This is a controversial topic.
Some folks install a steering damper on a Commando to deal with oscillating handlebars, also referred to as a weave or wobble, which can occur spontaneously or predictably.
Some see a steering damper as a bandaid solution to a problem that needs to be addressed at the root level. The list of "causes" is very long.
Others see it as a characteristic of the bike and live with it.
Or install a damper.
Those who have survived sever weave/wobble/tank slappers swear by them.
If you currently don't have a weave/wobble problem, you don't need a damper.
If you do, look up weave wobble tank slapper etc and pour yourself a tall beer.

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There’s another category of user… those who do not currently have a weave problem etc but see a damper as a safety net / insurance against the possibility of a tank slapper.

As Steve Harris (of Harris fame) said to me once, EVERY motorcycle should have a steering damper. And I doubt he was saying it to mask root causes within his chassis !

Of course, Steve was talking about fast bikes. IMHO a classic Commando ridden like a classic bike, on the road, most likely doesn’t need one. But for hooligans on the road it’s a good idea. For those venturing onto the track it’s a very good idea. For hooligans on the track it’s a must have !

Fast Eddie said:

There’s another category of user… those who do not currently have a weave problem etc but see a damper as a safety net / insurance against the possibility of a tank slapper.

As Steve Harris (of Harris fame) said to me once, EVERY motorcycle should have a steering damper. And I doubt he was saying it to mask root causes within his chassis !

Of course, Steve was talking about fast bikes. IMHO a classic Commando ridden like a classic bike, on the road, most likely doesn’t need one. But for hooligans on the road it’s a good idea. For those venturing onto the track it’s a very good idea. For hooligans on the track it’s a must have !

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I think it was alcotrel who made a good point once
He said even if the damper is backed right off and you do end up in a tank slapper it can help you?
Maybe I'll put my one back on one my commando

I've never experienced a full lock to lock tank slapper on any bike
I've had high speed weaves
And handlebars shaking violently
But not a full lock to lock I'd imagine it's terrifying!

Yes Baz, a good damper on a very low setting is probably all that’s needed to save your neck if a slapper ever occurred, and being on a low setting you then hardly notice it, so there’s basically zero downside.

I had a full on slapper once on a GSXR 750 at around 130mph (years ago). Bruised my knees and thighs hitting the faring and tank. Absolutely scared me shitless and I have no idea how I stayed on.

In fairness to the Suzuki designers though, I had done a half-arsed job of some suspension ‘upgrades’ and that’s wot dunnit !

Yeah , I would always recommend a damper , once mounted on my now gone Norton , set in middle setting only time I noticed it was with my eyes … it provide the peace of mind I was after and seemed to make all the upgrades mentioned above more worth while …. not much money and the look never bothered me … knowing it was there certainly freed up the throttle as well ….

I installed the Kawasaki damper, which is the same as the original spec damper. When it was turned "off", it produced enough drag to get rid of the usual one hand off the bar wiggle waggle that took place around 30 miles an hour.

Motorcycle jewelry for a 60HP street bike. Get you some.

Never experienced a tank slapper with the couple dozen street bikes I've had. I have had the arse end get away from me under power in a turn, high sided, and ridden upside down on my helmet before though. That was a crappy day on the 996S. I lied, that was a tank slapper before it was all over. All happened quick. The Ohlins steering damper on the bike didn't help. I screwed up when I hit the glycol somebody left behind.

Bars wiggled once on my Norton P11 at around 109mph without a steering damper. I wanted to see how fast it would go on a long section of straight road. I didn't have the balls to go any faster on it once it started wiggling. I have a steering damper on it now, but mostly because I had one in a spares box, and needed some more motorcycle jewelry. I doubt I'll ever do 109mph on that old P11 again.

What is sort of exciting is entering a turn on a vary fast off camber nearly blind rise at close to 100mph and having the front end get light and shake a little while leaned over. That is where a steering damper is a nice safety cushion. Only experienced that once on a little FZR 400. It was a very light weight over the nose motorcycle. The cause was mostly suspension related though as mentioned by others.

I prefer having the damper. Makes the leading end of the bike less skittish.

Fast Eddie said:

There’s another category of user… those who do not currently have a weave problem etc but see a damper as a safety net / insurance against the possibility of a tank slapper.

As Steve Harris (of Harris fame) said to me once, EVERY motorcycle should have a steering damper. And I doubt he was saying it to mask root causes within his chassis !

Of course, Steve was talking about fast bikes. IMHO a classic Commando ridden like a classic bike, on the road, most likely doesn’t need one. But for hooligans on the road it’s a good idea. For those venturing onto the track it’s a very good idea. For hooligans on the track it’s a must have !

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My 750 combat roadster was and is a hooligan bike…classic hooligan.

Fast Eddie said:

There’s another category of user… those who do not currently have a weave problem etc but see a damper as a safety net / insurance against the possibility of a tank slapper.

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That's me!!