Hydraulic steering damper

I see FullAuto is in the land down under .... didn’t realize they had road destroying frost heaves that far south .... live and learn , eh

Fast Eddie said:

I spoke to Steve Harris about steering dampers when I was building my Harrier. I been reading about chassis set up and how someone had wrote that a steering damper is just covering up poor chassis design.

When I relayed this to Steve his reply was something along the lines of: “hmmm... frankly ALL motorcycles should have steering dampers. It’s insurance. You hope you’ll never need it a d yiu probably won’t, but if you do, it could save your life”.

Click to expand...

A good frame is close to being very unstable. Under normal circumstances it does not mishandle unless it is ridden past it's limits. In about 1974, I had a crash which almost killed me. The drum front brake locked when I braked a fraction too hard to miss a fool who cut in front of me, and the bike went into the tank slapper and launched me onto the top of my head at about 70 MPH. Because the meeting was 'historic' I had been ordered to remove the Kawasaki steering damper by an idiot scrutineer. That crash virtually ended my racing days.. I still feel the pain.
I would be very surprised if the steering geometry Peter Williams prescribed for the first Commando was not perfect, but needed a damper.

acotrel said:

A steering damper id like an insurance policy, you don't need it until you need it. Any bike can be ridden past the point of adhesion of the front tire. When that happens, you get the tank slapper - just a fact of life.

Click to expand...

I'm talking road riding here, Al., not racing. Steering dampers can be a problem too.