Inexpensive steering stabilizers?

Does anyone know if inexpensive steering dampers exist for our bikes? The best thing I can think of is to get one for one of the old jap 4 bangers?

On ebay they have NOS stabilizers for the ka****** Z1 and its only 80 dollars. There are also just general fitment stabilizers on ebay as well.

I have a Dunstal damper on my bike right now, but it is completely dry of any oil, and it is non-rebuildable as far as I can tell. But, at least I have some kind of mounting hardware.

Any thoughts??

I believe the Kwacker damper is the one most often offered as a fitment option, it is cheap robust and has a good range of adjustments. You could try drilling and tapping a small hole in the body of your Dunstal unit, then refill with fork oil and see if it leaks or holds oil for another 30 years. This is a trick I have used on old rear shocks that have lost their oil over time. Obviously if the seals are shot then it will not work, but if it is as a result of gentle 'weepage' over the years then you can often reuse them and this even gives options for altering damping by using different weights of oil.

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Having owned commandos since 1974, none of which have been fitted with steering dampers, I would'nt be bothering about which damper to fit but finding the cause of the wobble in the first place!

Probably your front tyre too big or too worn. When fitted with a 3.60 tyre on the front, matched to the 4.10 rear, of course, there is absolutely no wobble whatsoever.

Bob.

Yes.. I went through this scenario as well ... had front end and handling issues.. so I fitted a Kwacka type stabiliser.. worked great but as suggested on site.. I was masking the real issue !


In the end I replaced the tyres and 'bingo' ~

They looked fine ~ but were way over their use by date as the bike had been in storage for some time in extreme temperatures ~

IMO ~ stabilisers are an asset ~ but not as a 'masking agent' !!!

Find the issue ~ and then add a stabiliser ~ 8)

Same story...tires. Those and the isos have to be in order. Had a mud flap too on the front fender, that caused no end of wobbles and I didn't know, till after 25 years, it fell off. :lol:

End of story...fix the problems and like mine, your damper will sit and be just for looks... :wink:

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Panic

Are there really those out there that use these machines only to show? Don't ride em? Only show em to judges that have never ridden one and therefore think they need all sort of useless trick doodads that have no purpose other than to shock and awe the ignorant gaukers that will look at the bike and say something intelligent like..."Those don't exist anymore"?

(Had one of those last week....looks right at the bike, points to it and says that they don't exist anymore. I straight faced told him he was correct, they don't exist...(pregnant pause...) and the one in front of him was a mirage caused by drinking too much coffee...or taking LSD. Walked right quickly away, he did.) :lol:

We all know these turkeys who never have ridden their bikes exist, but presumably no forum members will come out of the closet and start to brag about it...

Then again...never know. We'll see. :wink:

T'would though seem such a problem as mentioned above then would only worry them. For the rest of us...why use a damper if it isn't needed? I admit mine is still on the bike...and I suppose it looks cool...but since I fixed the problems...I don't use it anymore. Any other ex-users out there?

I believe Panic is talking about racing officials requiring the use of dampeners. Regardless of the builder/drivers opinion of the need on a bike to bike basis. Watching a helpless rider try to stop a tank slapper will do that...

Norbsa,
Maybe you are right and that is what he meant...not that it crossed my mind, dumb that I be and totally inept at such things as driving really fast. I decided a long time ago that I'm not cut out for that stuff and the pain of having had to fix myself and the bike up a few times has only re-enforced that instinct. But there are others out there that are made for it, so they might be the ones that understood if that is what he meant.

Panic,
Don't pack up the bags and slam the door...fill us in on what you meant...

I'm new to this list but have had my Norton since new so I've done a bit of playing with things and upgrading over the years.

The '71s and '72s seem to be the worst headshakers. I put a steering damper on mine in 1974 ('72 Combat roadster) after experiencing a vicious tank slapper when shutting off the throttle at 90mph. (I was young then!) The Kawi damper is what Norton was supplying back then and I bought the damper from Kawi and the mounting hardware from my Norton dealer to save some money.

I kept mine on there all these years as insurance. If I fail to maintain the isolastics or I have a large load on the back of the bike I don't want to ever be facing one of these tank slappers again! Although a lot of variables (tires, isolastics, steering head bearings, alignment, etc) can affect the tendency to headshake I think it is inherent in these years more than others. My bike and my roommate's '71 both had unstable tendencies since brand new. I rode a new 850 when they came out and it was rock steady.

I did find just recently that my bike became very stable after I replaced my top isolastic mount (later 850 box type) with the Dave Taylor rod link. It was a huge difference - more than anything I've done fighting this in 36 years. I can hit potholes while leaned pretty far over and nothing bad happens. I now leave the steering damper on the lightest setting and probably could remove it altogether.

Russ