Who uses steering dampers?

im happy running with out one. $500 buys a lot of parts.

Never rode a bike with a damper. Then tried a Motosportz on my '09 TXC and I'm hooked! Love it. Makes me a better rider.

I bought a gpr stabilizer for my KX250 several years ago. I was doing a fair amount of racing and it seemed alot of people had them. So I went and bought one, plus I thought they looked really cool! My honest opinion of the unit I was using is: It looked cool, but I took it off on a loop one day that I had just ridden with it and I couldn't tell a bit of difference. Note: I only used this one gpr stabilizer so thats all I can go by. I ride a WR300 now and I will not be installing one on it. I think there is a place for a stabilizer, like really fast stuff, but I don't ever go that fast. I would spend my money on other things first, like suspension! The scotts and motosportz stabilizers may be a whole different ball game but the gpr didn't impress me very much.

I am running the Motosportz unit at and less than a 1/4 with good results. I do find I would like less of a range for the adjustment so that when I adjust the lever it could be a larger movement. I use my thumb nail to tweak the fine stuff which is a bit hard when pounding down the trail. Other than that I support the Motosportz product. It's good stuff.

This is getting interesting. When first posting about the popularity of them in dirt biking I did'nt think about how people applied thereeuse. It now seems that a pretty good number of folks make adjustments "on the fly".

And some units don't lend themselves to that action too well ..... not easy to adjust while riding, or whatever.

So say, if all brands were easy to adjust while riding/racing maybe even more people would be attemting it?

What I'm getting at is, generally the degree of damping is usually set according to what your mostly gonna ride that day. I mean someone might ride Jersey sand, some firecuts but maybe alot of open faster stuff on one weekend and then go to Pennsylvania for rocks/ tight woods next weekend.

Dave

This is interesting.

I've never ridden a bike that had a damper on it. I thought that they were used to prevent deflection off of large objects or on race bikes that have a sharper turning geometry.

I'd like to take one of these dampers out to the desert for the Pepsi challenge. It'd be nice to go ride the Bradshaw Trail and not have to wrestle with the bars as much.

using them for years, WER, Scotts and GPR all are good products that work as advertised, I have used all three and currently have a GPR V4 on my 08TXC450, I never set any of them up with alot of dampening always on minimum setting just to keep the edge off but while keeping quick steering and lots of feel.
If I always rode in on smoother type tight single track.....I would consider not using one, but add rocks and roots and they help with fatigue.
Some of my crew have removed theirs since we have been doing alot of tight and ugly terrain, that is their opinion and their feel, all of them are Kato riders, I still like it for tagging rocky stuff and keeping the bars in my hands. 100% my opinion.
I agree the first priority (overlooked alot) is get the suspension set up for your personal skill or style/feel (yes that usually costs)
Bikes are so good now that an OEM stock machine with a well setup suspension is much better than a parts heavy machine at getting most of us through terrain faster and more comfortably.

Do they all lend themselves to easy "on-the-fly" setting changes? Ya know, slow down and quickly twist a knob or whatever. You don't need a tool to do it, right?

dave

Yes they do adjust easily with a knob. Some have numbers and the GPR even has a optional thumb adjuster. Once you get used to using the damper in your riding areas you rarely find a need to adjust it. Here on the east coast you are adjusting it so you don't feel it until you hit something. You don't want to have to fight the damper and the bike in the tight stuff.

That's what I did with mine last winter. I gave it a service and lightened the oil up a bit. I also added a bit brake fluid to the oil to swell the main pivot seal, which had been leaking a bit.

Hope this doesn't sound stupid, but can you ever ride hard enough to heat it up like a rear shock?

And if it's possible to actually warm it up a bit by hard riding, are they subject to fading damping force? I mean they're smallish .... not a lot of fluid volumn. And I assume they don't have any cooling fins on them.

Wouldn't they be very useful to a motocrosser? Avert high speed tank slappers? There not very heavy, a big concern to those guys.

Dave

They are needed on most japanese bikes but my 09 txc tracks through the rough stuff like no other. If I was to buy one it would be the Motosports to support one of our own

I used to have a 1990 Honda XR250 and I installed a W.E.R. (Works Enduro Rider) damper. It made all the difference in the world. I mainly used it for riding in the woods. I have a 2000 Husky that I am trying to get a damper for now. Parts are hart to find to modify the handlebar clamps and such. I think I am almost finished. Wasn't cheap but so worth the moola.

Now that's what I'd call service second to none