Another steering damper question

Peter R

Peter R

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A recent steering damper thread on this forum made me decide to fit a damper on my Commando.
I looked at the damper kit as offered by Andover Norton, and I find the fitting to the frame a bit crude/agricultural.
So I would consider a alternative method.
And I have a question: Does the Andover steering damper limit the max. steering angle in any way ?
 
I have to agree with your assessment: the stock mounting hardware is a bit crude.
However, it is a step over the original factory option, which if I recall correctly used u bolts instead of a split collar.
I made my own mounting hardware out of aluminum, and made two split collars which were welded to the cross bracket. It was very fiddly to construct, given the angles of the downtubes, getting the spacing correct, etc.
Perhaps consider the buying the Andover unit and then modifying a couple of split collars so the downtubes are being clamped properly, instead of being flattened against the bracket.
 
Peter R said:
A recent steering damper thread on this forum made me decide to fit a damper on my Commando.
I looked at the damper kit as offered by Andover Norton, and I find the fitting to the frame a bit crude/agricultural.
So I would consider a alternative method.
And I have a question: Does the Andover steering damper limit the max. steering angle in any way ?
Click to expand...
No.

The bracket is quite elegant in it's simplicity/rigidity/function and ease of bolt-on installation.
A lifetime of fabrication speaking.

If you want jewelry, well, then, make sure the design you choose is also as functional.
 
Last edited:
It's a flawed design. It uses 1/2 a split collar to sandwich a thin piece of tubing against a flat piece of steel.
The original design used a u bolt to suck thin tubing against a flat bracket, and it was total crap.
This improved version is better, but is half crap, IMHO.
 
NYC Norton offer a sexier mounting bracket with either (what looks like) the standard or an ohlins damper.
No limit on steering range with the Andover kit, and even i could fit it. :)
 
I will fess-up. The Kawasaki damper on my bike is attached to a bent triangular steel bracket which is secured to the cylinder head by the two screws which hold the plate against the front rocker spindle. The screws are bullet-headed high tensile. They would not break in a tank-slapper, but if the bike fell on the damper, the plate might bend. Normally the loads on the ends of the damper are not high, even in a tank slapper. The oil in the damper offers more resistance the quicker it moves and will pump to stop oscillations before they get too serious.
When I ride my bike, the first lap of a circuit tells me if anything is wrong. I know how it should feel and turn,
 
The main time the damper is needed, is when braking at high speed with a drum brake, when the linings have become hot and sticky through hard use - depends on the linings - soft linings usually fade with use, race linings work better as they heat up. If the slapper happens- get your hands off the bars immediately, the bike will go straight - then be patient. Even without a damper, the bike will usually stay upright.
 
jamesp said:
Whenever I have looked at this, they were out of stock.
Click to expand...
It is true - the NHK ODM500 Dampers have been out of production for well over a year now and we ran out. They are still available from random sellers, as mentioned, but NHK has ceased production.

We will have an updated version of our kit available soon, now with a more adjustable damper than the NHK, that will still be considerably cheaper than our top-spec Ohlins kit.

In any case, adding a damper is a wonderful thing, whichever route you go. Highly recommend it for minimizing the twitches!

-Kenny
 
When 'historic racing' began in Australia, I had been racing my 500cc Triton in Allpowers races against Z900 and H1 Kawasakis. The scrutineers objected to my steering damper because my bike was late 60s, and the damper was 70s. They made me remove it. During a race a guy got in front of me and grabbed a handful of disc brakes. I barely touched my drum front brake and it locked and produced a really big tank slapper. Because I was out of practice, I did not let go of the bars quick enough. I went down the road on the top of my head with my feet in the air at about 70 miles per hour. By the time I reached a ripple in the bitumen, I was on my side. I copped a dislocated chromo-clavicular joint. It could so easily have been my neck. The ambulance lady watched it happen - she was really rattled.
 
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