Steering Damper installation

[79XS11F]

I made a bracket for the mounting of the steering damper on my modified bike and want to know if I am on the right track for this installation. i still need to go to the bike shop to get the parts that clamp to the fork tube and the small steel bracket has some bend-ability to fine tune the dampers finial position. If your using a damper, how did you mount it?
Rob

[Rstyduck]

Does the damper relly make much differance?

[79XS11F]

Yes, The XS11 has a reputation for getting light in the front end and shaking its head on hard acceleration. My modified bike is also a lot lighter then the stock bike so I want this added stability.
Rob

[mxmikie]

snake oil at its best

[Pat Kelly]

As long as the dampers travel is more than the fork travel from stop tp stop then you should be ok.

[Guy_b_g]

Just be careful not to dial in any more damping than what's needed to control a head shake to a comfortable degree...too much damping can transfer the forces from the front end to the frame and create bigger, slower frequency oscillations that are even more dangerous than a manageable head shake.

[Rstyduck]

Hmm, i had an 81 XS1100 and it never shook or wobbled. Must be just certain bikes.
Ill be aware of it when i get my 80 Special home.

[jwhughes3]

Only reason....

It might have wobbled when Crazcnuk had it was when he was trying to set land speed records on it!


It will be fine. Nothing a fork brace couldnt solve I am sure.


Never heard of a damper on a bike before. I would be curious to see if it slowed emergency maneuvering.

John

Hmm, i had an 81 XS1100 and it never shook or wobbled. Must be just certain bikes.
Ill be aware of it when i get my 80 Special home.

[fredintoon]

snake oil at its best

Hi Mike,
if your mxmikie handle implies motocross experience you should know that most motocross bikes do have stock or aftermarket steering dampers.
I put a WER simi-rotary hydraulic steering damper on my XS11SG sidecar rig and it does a great job of controlling the sidecar rider's curse, headshake. Admittedly, for the $380 list price, I too would have thought "snake oil" but Dennis Kirk was discounting them by 75% so it was worth the gamble.

[79XS11F]

It might have wobbled when Crazcnuk had it was when he was trying to set land speed records on it!


It will be fine. Nothing a fork brace couldnt solve I am sure.


Never heard of a damper on a bike before. I would be curious to see if it slowed emergency maneuvering.

John

When set up properly they will not hinder handling. They will improve handling. Once a bike is in motion almost all maneuvering is done by leaning the bike. There is very little actual turning of the handlebars except at slow speeds like while making U turns and putting around in parking lots. When set properly a damper will not affect the ability to maneuver the bike in those slow speed situations.
Rob

[79XS11F]

Hmm, i had an 81 XS1100 and it never shook or wobbled. Must be just certain bikes.
Ill be aware of it when i get my 80 Special home.

When I say "head shake" I'm being polite. I'm talking about tank slapper side to side movement of the handlebars or the starting of such handlebar movement. I have had it happen in the past on my original 78 XS11 2 times and in both cases was VERY lucky to not go down. Back in the day when it seemed like everyone or their brother had one of these bikes the potential for head shake, as I call it ,was not considered to be uncommon. Anyone who has experienced this sort of situation know how terrifying it is.
Rob

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Rob,

This has got me thinking. With my "accidentally" adjusted front end trail of only 2" instead of the stock 5"+, that this might allow me to get a more stable situation for the front end for those RARE high speed runs I like to do, and still maintain my more nimble steering geometry that I have become accustomed to!?!? Hmmm? Will be watching for the finale, the type of clamp you get, etc.!

T.C.

[79XS11F]

I will keep you posted TC. The last time I was over at the bike shop they had an assortment of 2 piece alloy bolt on fork tube clamps in assorted DIA sizes. Some had a stud mounted on them others had a hole. I just have to hope there will be one that is the right DIA and has a hole to accept the dampers stud. If not I will have to get a friend to make one up for me.
Rob

[jmnjrpa]

Hmmmm

Wonder if there is a better (more eye appeal) way of doing this?

[79XS11F]

Wonder if there is a better (more eye appeal) way of doing this?

This type is typical of what was available in the 70s and 80s. It is "right" there where it can be seen easily and adjusted easily as well but that is where they go. There are nicer arrangements these days like the WER simi-rotary hydraulic steering damper that fredintoon describes in his post but they can be very costly. I also have been trying to do this modification with vintage type equipment as would have been available in the day. I got this unit on e-bay pretty cheap.
Fork braces alone add tons of stability to these bikes and adding a steering damper with the fork brace will make the front end of this old beast as close to rock study as you can get without switching out your forks.
Rob