NYC Norton steering damper

batrider said:

They certainly can do a mammoth tank slapper. When mine was brand new if you snapped the throttle shut at 90 mph or above it would set it off. (Please don't go trying this.) I was never happy with the handling until I put in a link rod headsteady decades later. The steering damper came off then too.

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I've never had a commando go into a tank slapper I've had them weave at high speed and shake there heads when decelerating
I've had some full lock to lock tank slapping moments on some Japanese strokers though and wouldn't want to do that again!!

Just for the record, mine has never gone into a slipper, it’s never done anything other than shake its head and settle back down.

But, to me at least, it often feels like it’s about to, or could do so at any moment with a tad more provocation!

With having the suspension sorted out, and hopefully, fitting the 920 engine in the winter, I’m rather hoping to be entering corners a little quicker next year and I wouldn’t want to find out then that this was that tad extra provocation to cause a slapper.

So, as Dances said, it’s like insurance. Or like I said, it’s my comfort blanket !

Footnote: I don’t ride fast enough on the road to make any of the above relevant, I’m only doing it cos I take it on the track now and then.

I used to race with a steering damper because is smoothed out the twitches at high speed and improved stability. It worked great until I seriously overcooked a turn after wheelieing over a hill. I saw I wasn't going to make it so I pushed it into a slide to scrub off speed. As I lost speed I had to make quicker and quicker steering adjustments to keep it sliding instead of highsiding. I was fighting against the steering damper which slowed down my corrections. As I slowed further and needed to correct instantly, I reached a point where I couldn't turn the handle bars quick enough to counteract the sliding wobbles and highsided smash down onto the pavement. I naturally extended my leg to save myself and broke my ankle. It was a hard lesson and the only time I broke a bone in all my crashes. I've never used a steering damper since.

I doubt I’m likely to encounter quite the same circumstances Jim ...

The time you are likely to get the big tank slapper is when you have to brake suddenly when cranked over and you lose the front. If it ever happens to you, don't panic - but let go of the bars and grab the tank and keep tossing the bike upright until it straightens out. Then place your open hands back on the bars - don't grab it too soon or you will get launched. All the reaction to the bike's antics comes back through the handlebars with great force. Hydraulic steering dampers respond by increasing resistance as the rate of oscillation increases. Friction dampers don't do that. I had one instance when I lost the bike after grounding a footrest and throwing the bike back up vertical. It straightened out and looked as though it had finished shaking, so I grabbed the bars - it flicked me straight over the front.

Always remember, you are not dead until you are dead. In most circumstances, while you are still on the bike, the bad situation can be rectified. Letting go of the bars and grabbing the tank might sound horrible, but it is the only way to save yourself in a really big tank-slapper. This is one of the reasons I never worry much about crashing while racing. The big tank slapper is about the worst situation that can happen - if you can cope with that, not much else will deck you in such a serious way.