I was thinking of fitting a steering damper to my bike and I would like to know if it is actually useful and if the one I found is a good one and it is at a good price.
I tried to have a look on the Ducati internet site and the steering damper they list for my bike it is difficult to find and expensive (£480). I tried to call my dealer here in London and the one in Italy and both of them did not have it and told me that it is difficult to find even if I order it.
The other night I had a look on the internet for alternatives and I found a steering damper with fitting kit for my bike from Öhlins that seems good and it is not that expensive either (£261).
What do you think? If I get it, is it easy enough to fit myself?
Cheers,
F.
If you want to have a look at it you can find it at:
http://intobikes.co.uk/products?vhlMake=0006&vhlModel=003559&x=30&y=8&detail=product&id=000917&search=ducati+supersport+steering+damper&sg=OR&mn%5B%5D=0039
while the one from Ducati is at:
http://www.ducati.com/shop/product.jsp?_DARGS=/shop/details/ddd_boxproduct.jsp.1_A&_DAV=/shop/category.jsp%3Fcatsearch%3Dcatimp00140&prodid=prodimp96607698&catsearch=catimp00140
They come with fitting instructions. I have an Ohlins on my ZX7, it was easy to fit and does the job nicely. Highly recommended.
Do you need one for the road? I don’t have mine turned on for the road on the gixxer (it’s adjustable) but crank it up for the track when using max power and the front goes flighty.
Thanks for the recommendation chuffster (I think I’ll get it).
Jay, I’m thinking to get it mainly for when we’ll be in Silverstone, however if it is good and useful I might use it on the road as well; it happened sometime that on a curve with uneven asphalt the front wheel started to jump from one side to the other when normally the bike is very stable, nothing too serious but I do not want that happen at 100mph or more.
Like Jay, mine is not turned on very often for road riding. It gets turned way up on the track and the Nurburgring. If having a heavy play session on roads better than carpet conditions I tend to run it at about a third.
For most riders a damper would not be required and it quite often masks a fault elsewhere with the bike. I just happen to push my bike very hard, it started tank slapping which was caused by the rear suspension being worn. For peace of mind, I put the damper on.
I hope that in Silverstone there will be somebody that do suspensions so that I can do a proper setting to the bike (I wanted to check actually).
I just had a chat with one of my colleague and he told me that the tank slapping that sometime happen might be caused by the fact that I am pretty light and therefore in acceleration the front wheel tend to become pretty light.
Francesco, it can also be an issue with the setup of your suspension. Have a read of this article we’ve just published:
http://londonbikers.com/article/aba224f7-3414-4cd4-a083-14a633134c58
Now I’m at work and I cannot have a proper look at it, I’ll have a look later once I get back home.
The suspensions are pretty stiff (I like stiff suspension!) when you get a hole on the street you can feel it, the bike itself remains quite stable. Nevertheless as soon as I get the chance I’d like to do a proper set up. If not before I hope to be able to do that in Silverstone.
Cheers
Francesco, it could well be that your suspension is too firm and not tracking the road well, especially under acceleration. Sometimes the feeling is exaggerated by holding on to the bars too tightly as an instinctive reaction
I`ll be at Silversone spectating and helping out where needed and will check your bike out for sure.
See you there.
Very nice article, it definitely clarified the idea I had about settings and regulations of the suspensions. I agree with Brian I think my bike is a bit too rigid for me.
Not to mention that the guy I got it from was at least 5 stones havier than me and he might have done the settings based on his weight.
I understand that I can do the settings myself however I would be more confortable in doing the regulations with somebody who did them already and who know what to. I heard that in certain garages do the settings, I’ve never been to one of them but I thought they have special instruments to check the settings. Do they?
Brian - I will be v happy to be helped by you at Silverstone and try all possible regulations.
Steering damper… steering damper… steering damper…
Shall I get it? It definitely wont cause any arm but improve the stability of the bike and therefore its safety especially on track and on bumpy roads. Right?
Personally id be reluctant to spend £250 just yet, until id explored other possible causes. There again you could always take it off when you sell the bike and put it on your next one.
It may well fit, plus the cost of another fitting kit.
The suspension will need different settings for the road and track. No special tools are needed. A good place to start is with the std settings for the road given in the owners handbook.
If you still have problems i`ll be around more next week and could have a look.
Thanks Brian, PM sent to you.
Yesterday evening I then decided to get the damper, in the worst case it won’t serve much but, in any case, it won’t cause any arm either.
I had a look at the mounting instructions already which I downloaded from the internet and it doesn’t look too easy to fit it. I might need some assistance or get it mounted by a mechanic.
I then found out that the back suspension of my bike is a Öhlins as well (not sure about the front ones) and that many racing cars and bikes laceType w:st=“on”>mountlaceType> laceName w:st=“on”>ÖhlinslaceName> suspension therefore it has to be good!
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