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Steering Dampers

DAMN maintenance and repair thread; including Farkle Fests! :boohoo:
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mdubya
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by mdubya »

Cool. Thanks for the info. :thumbup:
DRZ S and SM
Vertemati SM
KTM 520 EXC
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Hare
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by Hare »

Not all steering Dampeners are made alike, for our riding in the east, it needs to return quick after the hit, many have just one setting for both and can wear you out more than help


Stability in rocks is all suspension, in sand not so much

KTMs are stable cause they are longer than most Jap stuff, to add a little more stability be sure your forks are not sticking up above the triple clamp, also you can put the rear wheel back as far as possible. I usually do the opposite to make her more nimble and turn quicker in the tight stuff.

in the sand it helps to kind of let go, the bike will catch some grooves here and there but its all good, lots of throttle, getting the front wheel light in the open, standing on it in the turns, after a little while that jersey stuff feels like your on rails and cant do no wrong. of course until it goes wrong.


Bud Matto is a great guy and knows his shit
same with Donny at B&B
Andy at Dirt First is also good and local Golden Ring area

Factory Connection is really great but been getting pricey lately
crofrog
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by crofrog »

I installed a Scotts damper, and Scotts top triple clamp w/sub mount today. On my DRZ400 it took me about 1 hour to install and was well documented and straight forward
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Rut Row
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by Rut Row »

crofrog wrote:I installed a Scotts damper, and Scotts top triple clamp w/sub mount today. On my DRZ400 it took me about 1 hour to install and was well documented and straight forward
go take a ride and give us a product review! :ride:
Ken
Die young as late as possible, remember who you were before the world told you how it should be. -- Barry Morris
crofrog
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by crofrog »

Alright so the first time I had a chance to ride it on the dirt sense after I installed it was sunday at day 2 of the hammer run...

It is the dirt version where it only dampens away from center.

It was honestly one of the most amazing changes I've ever made to the bike. I was running it 1 full turn away from full hard (8 clicks I think), with the high-speed circuit 2.5 turns out from full hard, and the sweep set to 45degrees.

For those not familar with the hammer run, it's lot's of sandy fire cut, tight stick farm style bars don't fit through the trees single track, and power line blasting with patches of deep sand.

It was amazing on all of the conditions. I never once felt like the bars trying to fight me, hitting the occasional root, downed tree, upright tree, tree that I knocked over with my bark busters. It allowed me to really relax my upper body and let the high-speed circuit take care of all that.

Hitting the patches of deep sand and mud on the power lines the bars barely wiggled at all and I found it much easier to precisely control the bike in the sand. The bike didn't want to follow the ruts and tracks of the other bikes as much as before. Also you could roll the gas off with out the fear of a head shake.

On the flat fast corners you could still occasionally feel the front end trying to tuck under, but where before that would have required a quick tug on the bars to correct, the damper just gave you so much more time to make the correction.

In the tight stick farm terrain I never felt like I was fighting the damper and when I occasionally misjudged how much room there was, or if my bar was going to clear that tree. It almost completely eliminated the bars from trying to be wrenched from your hand.

And once you hit the roads, you could crank up the low speed circuit on the fly to almost full hard and suddenly that little 400 I'm riding feels planted like a street bike. Even running an MT16 front and a 606 rear.

I could not recommend it any higher. I had my doubts about buying one at first as it's a lot of cash for the full setup I purchased and I was afraid that would not make enough of a difference to make it worth while, but every dirt bike I buy from now on will get a bracket for the scotts as it only requires 2 alen keys to remove to move it between bikes.
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Rut Row
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by Rut Row »

sweet! Now I know I gotta have one! How hard was it to install?
Ken
Die young as late as possible, remember who you were before the world told you how it should be. -- Barry Morris
crofrog
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by crofrog »

On a scale of 1-5 it was a 1.

If you did the sub mounted triple clamp kit like I did it would be the following steps.
  • Move headlight out of way and unbolt computer from triple clamp
  • Unbolt handle bar from triple clamp
  • Remove steering stem bolt
  • loose upper triple clamp bolts
  • lift upper triple clamp from steering stem and forks.
  • Install collar with stud for damper.
  • install new triple clamp
  • install and torque steering stem bolt
  • install damper
  • install handle bar
  • reattach computer
  • reattach headlight.
Roadracer_Al

Re: Steering Dampers

Post by Roadracer_Al »

I have an older, single-speed-damping Scotts on my DRZ, and I'm thinking of spending the big bux on a new Scotts. I got mine many moon ago for my road racing setup, and I think that while it's better than nothing off-road, it's still not ideal. In fact, if you turn the damper adjustment knob just a tiny fraction (like 1/32 of a turn) too stiff, you can real easy wear yourself out from the added effort required to turn the bars -- and it's a pretty subtle change, but it adds up quick.

Last time I looked at Scotts web site, they didn't show a part number for the sub-mount top triple & damper package. Is yours the sub-mount? If so, can you PM me the part number? Thanks!
crofrog
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Re: Steering Dampers

Post by crofrog »

Roadracer_Al wrote: Last time I looked at Scotts web site, they didn't show a part number for the sub-mount top triple & damper package. Is yours the sub-mount? If so, can you PM me the part number? Thanks!
That's for the S:
http://scottsonline.com/Stabilizer_Purc ... I_ID=14753

They don't have a part number for the SM because of the inverted forks.
Roadracer_Al

Re: Steering Dampers

Post by Roadracer_Al »

Yes, of course, that would be important data --- I have the SM. Thanks!
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