NYC Norton steering damper

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Fast Eddie

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And another shout up for Kenny at NYC Norton for the top notch steering damper kit. I’ve been looking for such for a while, but dislike the angle iron brackets and ‘bottom drawer’ damper units that seem to be included in kits on offer elsewhere.

Kenny’s Kit is top drawer!

NYC Norton steering damper
 
That looks nice and modern. Clubman Racing has a kit that doesn’t use the ugly angle iron.
 
That looks nice and modern

Way too modern imho, at least the all-around-the frame tube-clamp is way much better than the horrible flat-denting the frame tubes-bar as provided by the AN steering damper kit. Btw who needs a steering damper to a Commando for road use anyway :cool:

NYC Norton steering damper
 
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you can always replace the metal down tube shackles with rubberized ones (pictured below) and they don't crush the frame tubes while gripping very well. I have a pair of them on my downtubes to hold the support arms of my fairing. I wanted a substantial lower support structure for the fairing and these were integral to the mounting of it to the frame tubes. The same could be done for the AN steering kit and it wouldn't damage the tubes at all.

NYC Norton steering damper
 
“Who needs a damper for road use?”

Well not me, I put it on for peace of mind for track day use. It’s kinda like a comfort blanket kinda thing !
 
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What is a source for the rubberized brackets? They look like a good substitute for the Craven mounting hardware that wraps around the rear loop, and tends to chew the paint.

Stephen Hill
 
yes, I think they will fit. If you go to this page; https://www.mcmaster.com/u-bolts and click the vibration dampening category, you can see the specs and the different sizes available. Personally, I order them by matching up my requirement to the "ID" listing numbers. In the past I've mistakenly ordered by "pipe size" and I guess that size is the measurement inside of the pipe, not the outside...

here's a pair I used for a mount point on my Givi bag frames. It looks like there's still a little bit of space in the rubber bushing for a little smaller tube to work

NYC Norton steering damper


Sorry for the thread hijack Nigel!
 
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“Who needs a damper for road use?”

Well not me, I put it on for peace of mind for track day use. It’s kinda like a comfort blanket kinda thing !
I was wondering why you wanted a steering damper on a road going commando! Now it makes sense if you are racing,
But what about all that extra weight !!
 
Nice. I recently fabbed up a similar round-the-tube clamp to mount a damper I pulled off an old R6, though the triple tree end of mine mounts to the bottom yoke rather than the fork tube. I milled the bracket opening to 1 1/8", and used a rubber insert to get the right "squish".

NYC Norton steering damper

NYC Norton steering damper
 
Stainless T-bolt clamp

The 22-25 mm clamp's bolt is too short to allow the damper's Heim (rose) joint to be nutted to it, so I swapped in a longer T-bolt from a larger clamp. IIRC, the longer bolt came from a T-bolt clamp in the 35-40 mm range but which had the same diameter bolt.
 

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yes, I think they will fit. If you go to this page; https://www.mcmaster.com/u-bolts and click the vibration dampening category, you can see the specs and the different sizes available. Personally, I order them by matching up my requirement to the "ID" listing numbers. In the past I've mistakenly ordered by "pipe size" and I guess that size is the measurement inside of the pipe, not the outside...!

Pipe is always ID (don't ask me why) and tube is OD (I think, don't quote me).
 
“Who needs a damper for road use?”

Well not me, I put it on for peace of mind for track day use. It’s kinda like a comfort blanket kinda thing !

Road bikes might not need a steering damper but if you mount one on a road going bike they do make a big difference to the way the bike track even on a straight road even when traveling it plays a big part and they help as well in tight twisty roads, just makes the whole bike more stable and if you have a good suspension set up it makes everything work even better, you be surprised in what effect a steering damper has on a road going bike.

Ashley
 
Anybody who rides a bike without an hydraulic steering damper is not right in the head. The big tank-slapper will launch you, if you don't get your hands off the bars quick enough and grab the tank. Personally I like to remain in control.
 
Anybody who rides a bike without an hydraulic steering damper is not right in the head. The big tank-slapper will launch you, if you don't get your hands off the bars quick enough and grab the tank. Personally I like to remain in control.

Will the stock Norton get you in a tank slapper? I don't think it has radical enough geometry or enough power to do so. Am I wrong?
 
Anybody who rides a bike without an hydraulic steering damper is not right in the head. The big tank-slapper will launch you, if you don't get your hands off the bars quick enough and grab the tank. Personally I like to remain in control.
I used to have one on my Norton but it wasn't needed so I binned it I didn't like the look of it or the weight of it it came from a TL 1000 Suzuki widowmaker I think
I guess you are talking about racing Al ?
 
Mine attenuates the "weave" that my Commando enters as it nears triple digits. Rode it without the damper, and through the weave, for decades. Liked it when I installed it.
 
They certainly can do a mammoth tank slapper. When mine was brand new if you snapped the throttle shut at 90 mph or above it would set it off. (Please don't go trying this.) I was never happy with the handling until I put in a link rod headsteady decades later. The steering damper came off then too.
 
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I would be leery of using rubberized clamps for steering damper mounts. More clearly stated, I would not use them to mount steering damper components. Depending upon “how much rubberized”, I think one would be defeating the whole purpose of the damper.
Commandos can and will go into a tank slipper so a damper is cheap insurance.
 
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