Finished installing Ducati Steering Damper on my VFR700

I machined some mounts and fitted a 1098 Steering Damper, it rides sweet now no more crosswind weaving and it feels rock solid, best $15 I ever spent on Ebay.

 

cool...machine them and sell them

 

Lookin' good there Captb! :thumbsup:

I can see the fork mount bracket,but just curious how did you attach the damper body mount bracket to the frame? Can't quite see it in the pic.

 

Very clean looking installation!

 

I am gonna take a stab and say its mounted to the fairing bracket or at least incorporated into the bolt hole there.....

 

Yes, I have it bolted to the fairing bracket, so far it don't move but next time I have the fairing off I'm going to brace it so there's no chance of flex.
I allso machined the rear bracket pivot to include 2 small ball bearings so it won't get play later on.

 

If I didn't have the GPS on top of the Triple Clamp I would have installed the HESD. I machined all the mounts and built a manual electronic controller operated by the rotary pot knob by the throttle, it's the tits works great. It's a 2010 CBR600RR HESD control range 1 volt to about 8V full damp. It's on my DRZ400E.

 

Capt B...cool install..quick question on another part of the build...what type of mirrors are those and can u give detail on the mounts?

 

CBR600 mirrors, you have to modify them to work, remove glass with heat gun and suction cup, swap mount stock left to rt - rt to left, dremel or cut out ball pivot area so they will tilt farther upwards, I tinted them blue with tint film while out, then just bolt and make spacers to mount on the stock mounts. They work great lower, wider, lighter and look better. Link below.
Mirrors Mirror for HONDA CBR600RR CBR1000RR Black 03-08 | eBay

 

Nice upgrades. With all the work youve done, I'm suprised you opted to keep the stock brakes.

 

With the EBC HH Pads it stops good and all my original parts only had 5k miles, I have to find a place here to do the braided brake lines, last time I had a hydraulic shop do it for $60 using the original banjos.

 

nice upgrades! thats definitely a bad ass 2nd gen. i just put the ebc hh pads on mine and they super brakes. really strong and not touchy at all. i would like to get a steering stabilizer in the future and go a little more aggressive on the front/rear ride height.

 

Same with my EBC HH pads, good stopping without being touchy, 1 stop to warm them up. The Steering damper is a must, bike feels like it should...very solid now.

 

Wow, very nice. You should post a DIY... or make 20 and sell them!

*edit* what mirrors are those?

 

CBR600RR Mirrors from ebay $25 total, lighter, wider, lower but some mods necessary to get the correct angle , tinted them blue while I had the glass out.... since I ride at night mostly, no more nagging headlight glare in the mirrors.

 

I like your work but i've never had a hint of headshake, so am i not riding fast enough or what ??

 

I never had any shake at any speed on the VFR but after riding the Blackbird for 10 years I wasn't used to the wind blowing my VFR around so the damper fixed that, it has to be very windy to affect it now. It's all so nice to go around a corner hands off with 100% stability and pot holes no longer upset it.

 

Obviously the Capt has figured it out but one thing about a steering dampener is that the handling can get very sluggish at low speed with the damping turned up. Make sure you need it before you commit to one.

Dropping your bike in the parking lot is embarrassing.

 

This Ducati damper like most oem ones in Not adjustable so it seems factory set to about what was midway in the range on my Lockhart I had on another bike, I had allways set them just to where you could feel a slight tendency to weave when coming to a stop. With the 600RR HESD I modified and put on my DRZ400E made street legal. I have full control with a knob next to the throttle I run it midway on the road, much better at 70 mph with full knobbies on the road, it used to be a handfull with fresh knobbies on the superslab. I crank it up in the trail to about 3/4 I've had it over 90 mph off road on gps and very stable compared to before the damper. I bought a few of them as new condition, one may find it's way onto the VFR someday, I'm trying to figure out a sensor to turn it off (0 volts is minimal dampening) when speed drops below about 20 mph, my control range is about 1V to 8 Volts, Honda controls it by ECM, but it's cool having a thumb knob for control.

 

Hey Captb, can you give me some specs on that damper, like body diameter (22mm?) and stroke?

My 86 came with a damaged damper that was a Daytona looking unit. Anyway, the mounts are still good, but new damper cylinders are well over $100. Maybe a 1098 unit will fit.