Effects of a steering dampener

The last paragraph on the instruction sheets from the Andover-Norton supplied Steering damper kit:

(quote)

USAGE:

The steering damper kit will be found particularly useful in restricting handling problems occasioned by crosswinds, rutted road surface, groove freeway surfaces, heavy touring lugage, etc. It is not intended to rectify maladies in handling occasioned by incorrect maintenance though an improvement even in these undesirable conditions may well be noted.

(un quote)

JD

The steering damper kit will be found particularly useful in restricting handling problems occasioned by crosswinds, rutted road surface, groove freeway surfaces, heavy touring lugage, etc. It is not intended to rectify maladies in handling occasioned by incorrect maintenance though an improvement even in these undesirable conditions may well be noted.

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Yes it does exactly as stated above and I indeed at first appreciated its calming effect, till I got better at riding the weird stuff and found I couldn't save the slight upsets to dodge some hazard and then was a bog on smooth tarmac.

FWIW, my Combat used to like to shake its head around 90mph. New isolastics, new shocks, rebuilt forks, new headstock bearings. I added a steering dampener. No dice, still shaky. Next I went through the swing arm. New bushings and an oversize spindle with a shrink fit in a reamed cradle. No dice. I decided to live with it. Eventually, I needed to replace the rear tire. New Avon Super Venom to replace same. First run up to 90+, no head shake.

Whewee Cdo's are sure tire sensitive. Racers and land speeders have assured me a basic factory Cdo is stable over 150 mph, if everyone up to snuff.

My 71 came with a damper on it. I used to twizzle the knob back and forth to see if anything would happen or change. Made no difference to anything I could make out. Bike has never shimmied or shaken. Damper is still on it. I sometimes ride with no hands on while putting gloves on or just stretching hands and arms. I have cruise control which I think is a must. Damper looks cool so I left it be.

I forgot to mention the possibility of the rear tire being improperly mounted when I said I replaced the Avon Super Venom with another and the head shake problem disappeared. Both times the tire was mounted by a shop.

There was an interesting thread about steering dampers on the mc-chassis list a while ago. The consensus seemed to be that they aren't a great idea. They can't make a bike feel like it's on rails in a corner if it didn't already and it won't cure wobble or weave either. They said it's because a hydraulic damper is sensitive to velocity not acceleration. The upshot of the thing is that the damper lags behind the ocillations and can actually make things worse.

Low front air pressure and a loose front iso have both caused the low speed headshake on my bike. Whether or not you're trying to cure a problem, there are two things you probably want to look at. A link type headsteady and a decent set of shocks that actually have rebound damping, preferably adjustable. Besides helping with some aberrant issue, they will almost certainly raise the level of play as far as handling and control goes.

I have felt a bit of head shake once or twice with a steering damper (not on a Commando) and the damper just catches it and stops it going to the opposite lock. This was mostly on Ducatis both old and modern, which are prone to shake their heads on bumpy roads unless the springing is softened. I found the Commando more forgiving, tracking very nicely while also steering quite quickly. I think the combination of stability and pleasantly quick steering is ideal for the road and makes the Commando such a nice bike to ride — when properly set up.

Edit: I should add that I never had a damper on the Commando and the Ducatis didn't need one after the suspension had been sorted. Just seen Bob's post (above) and it makes a lot of sense.