damper vs. stabalizer

[REDR6]

My R6 gets a bit nervous over 70 mph. I know I want a stabalizer or a damper to tighten it up a bit, but don't know the difference in the two other than price. There must be pros and cons for each, so please fill me in. I mostly ride on the street and canyons, with the occassional trip to the track. (sooooo freakin expencive)
J

[dre_2k2_f4i]

I've never heard of a stabalizer, so I'd be interested to hear what people say. If you haven't already, check the tightness of your steering head. Supposedly you need a special tool to do this, but I hear of people just using a screwdriver and a mallet.

[Bryant]

Originally posted by REDR6
My R6 gets a bit nervous over 70 mph. I know I want a stabalizer or a damper to tighten it up a bit, but don't know the difference in the two other than price. There must be pros and cons for each, so please fill me in. I mostly ride on the street and canyons, with the occassional trip to the track. (sooooo freakin expencive)
J

Hi John,

See if you can resolve the issue of the "nervous" behavior of your bike at 70+mph... if this is just cruising speed down the freeway and your front end is wobbling, etc... that's a good indicatoin that something is wrong with your bike and it would not be a good idea to try to cover up the problem using a damper. Better to fix it first then put the damper on to help keep your bike behavin' in case you get into a nasty tank slapper.

Possible problems:
- Steering head needs to be adjusted
- Frame alignment issues
- Bent forks
- Unbalanced wheel (damaged?)
- Incorrect tire pressure
- Rear wheel misaligned
- ?

The only reason I put a steering damper on my racebike is cuz of those rare occasions where sometimes when i crest over the lip of a hill fully leaned over with the front end catching some air and landing sorta crossed up putting me in a scary tankslapper that takes a while to settle while i'm tankslapping away towards the outside edge of the track to potential oblivion!!! A damper helps lessen the effect of this happening and gives me a better chance of allowing the bike tosettle itself. I've actually had this happen to me twice at WSIR when I was cresting over turn 6 (did not have a steering damper on my R6 either time)... full lean wide open throttle (this was before I learned that i should probably taper off or shift as i crested that lip in the turn) and I'd be struggling to stay on the bike as it tried to buck me off all the way to practically turn 8!!!@#

Anyway, steering dampers definately help a lot in this respect.

[Bryant]

OH yeah.. i've seen some people use the term "stabilizer" before but it's actually really misleading to call it a stabilizer cuz it sounds like it's a tool that every bike needs to keep the bike stable under normal riding conditoins... which shouldn't be the case.

[GPTECHMAN]

listen to the bod...he is our master........

[pulse]

well i would say for normal street riding you can do without one unless you do a lot of wheelies cause then it will help you when you bring the front down crossed up or if you do alot of palomar and track riding. i bought mine off ebay for a very good price so i would say keep your eye on ebay if you want one or else expect to pay upwards of $400:cry:

[Bryant]

Yeah.. the reason some dampers are much more expensive than others is the valving component and piston used. Ohlins dampers (newer models at least) have valve/piston that only dampens the steering on sudden or forceful pressure against the fluid passing through the valve.. but does not feel like it's actually there when you are say.. trying to turn right at a stop light, etc. Older dampers used to make executing a 90 degree slow turn really difficult and a u-turn damned near impossible. My they have come a long way...