I’m beyond fed-up now with the joke of a steering damper Suzuki included with my 2008 GSX-R 750, the electric one where it stiffens up the fast you go. It’s a bloody liability as it does NO damping at all at low speeds, which is stupid because that’s when it needs it the most! You come out of a corner or get on the gas hard at a low speed and the bike goes CRAZY, shakes its head all over the place, it’s scared the hell out of me more times than I can count now.
The suspension has been setup, so there’s nothing odd going on there, it’s just that there’s no damping at low speed.
Today coming back form the Jetstream rideout with PJ, we hit some roads that rise and fall and don’t have an even surface, were giving it some stick and the bike was trying its best to throw me off. Having the performance uprated with the Graves Motorsport full-system exhaust, Power Commander 5 and Avon VP2 Extreme tyres means it’s exasperated.
I’ve had enough, it has to come off, it’s going to kill me otherwise. Time for an upgrade. I’ve run Ohlins dampers before, but might look at other models. Are there any recommendations?
Mate i would change it for an Ohlins without a second thought. Had one on my K5 1000 and used to have it wound right up and never had an issue with it.
As it happens the stock damper on the Ducati is no better, i had been thinking about changing mine to the Ohlins to help.
Stick with the Ohlins, it works, thats all that matters.
Aye, I had that on the K5 1000 as well. I’m just wondering how much difference there is between the Ohlins and a lesser-known (and less expensive) option.
My 2007 ZX6 came without a damper and after raising the rear of the bike it would slap dangerously on even a straight road with a few bumps when accelerating, horrible. Had several nasty slaps where my hands were thrown off the bars and bruised by the bars coming back and hitting them.
Fitted a Sprint SXC damper and all is well. It does a brilliant job, is adjustable on the move with gloves on, is small and light, no drilling required to fit and looks good. I’ve adjusted it so I can still feel the bars getting light and a slight bit of slap but it’s like a shimmer coming through the bars so you know it’s getting a bit light but all under control.
I was considering an Ohlins damper but the Sprint is UK made and is serviceable by the factory for little cost and was cheaper than the Ohlins.
Apparently a lot of the Ohlins dampers on eBay have come off bikes like the ZX10 where the damper has an Ohlins badge but does very little so be careful if buying used.
I would have a good look at your suspension set up. It looks like you are trying to cover other problems up with the stearing damper. What have you done to make such a sweet handling bike behave so badly.
I use a Matrix progressive damper on my K7 1000 track bike it is better than the ohlins in the slower corners because it backs itself down.
I also use WP and Ohlins and Std Suzuki on others bikes (None act as badly as yours?)
If you do change dampers you may want to take the servo motor out of the original one and leave it wired up so that the FI light does not stay on.
All the older model suzukis with the non electric type dampers are all shite and need changing.
I understand where you’re coming from here Mark, but think it’s just that the stock damper isn’t good enough. I’ve not had major problems with previous Suzuki steering dampers, but this new electronic one is just rubbish, it offers no damping at lower speeds. There’s also the problem of the bike getting out of shape too easily under heavy braking as there’s no damping.
The suspension’s been setup by B, so I don’t have any doubts in that department. After the K5 1000 was tuned up, I needed the Ohlins damper on that, and now this 750 has the full-system and custom map made for the power-commander 5, it’s the same effect, more kick, more twitches.
If it’s the same chassis as the 600 (which I’m 99% sure it is) they slap their heads off. My good friend had to pack up and go home from a race meeting after his damper gave up and he physically couldn’t hold on, he had a crash in a straight line down the start finish at cadwell because of it.
Just buy any well known damper and be done with it. Easy!
As for the suspension being right, I’m certain B himself wouldn’t claim to iron out all suspension problems as a result of bouncing it up and down a bit - as it’s not that straight forward! Unfortunately…
Yeah Seb, it’s the same chassis. This isn’t very scientific I know, but there is a noticeable difference between my old K5 1000 and this K8 750 in the head-wagging department. As stock the 750 would shake its head, but it’s worse now I’m pushing it a bit more (willing to concede the power-hike issue Mark :))
I don’t mind the back moving, but the front… Kinda spoils things for me.
