Scotts Steering Damper installed! :)

Holy crap I never imagined that pic would be so important! I was just having a fun day! LOL!

 

Yup, mine is the middle one, the 46DRS. Has rebound + remote preload adjustment, the next one up adds the remote reservoir w/ compression adjustment.

I've given thought to selling mine and upgrading, but I can't bear to be without my VFR for that long!

 

I would like to point out that you are still centered on the bike, others should take note of the lean angle of the bike and the fact that you dont need to hang off the bike to make it corner like that.:thumbsup:

I find it kind of funny to see all the folks hanging way off the bike in the corners while I pass them at twice their speed while sitting centered on the bike.

 

Hanging off the bike allows you to corner fast without excessive lean angles that could potentially end up a low side. By hanging off a little you can do the same corner faster with less lean. The guys hanging off the bike that are slow simply haven't mastered it yet. From my experience the bike is more stable hanging off it then leaning over more and fighting inertia sitting centered. Alot of lean doesn't necessarily mean your fast, i know of alot of guys who are alot faster then me with less lean angle then me around corners, i still have alot to learn. Funny as it sounds i know guys with a little chicken strips on their tires that are actually quite fast. One of my co-worker's friends has a Concourse 14 and he can tear me up in Angeles Crest with normal touring tires, its actually funny to see someone on a big ass touring bike hanging off it, but he is fast.

 

Almost - I am hanging off the bike - but not as much as I normally do, because I had the bags packed full(each one weighed about 30 lbs), and that affects the way the bike goes through corners. You tip it in and then almost have to counterweight it to keep'er steady once you pick a line.

The pic is a little deceiving, I actually have my Cortech sport tailbag on the bike, but you can't see it due to the angle!

It is definitely possible to not hang off the bike and take a corner like that, I've done it - but, I prefer to hang off because I feel less commited & and more in control.

 

BINGO! :thumbsup:

 

It was! Thank you again! If I can get sparks to fly, it will be the most fun day I ever had (well, maybe apart from the day with those twins in Bangkok :wink.

The other factor was two4one's line in the ZX14 thread: "In my years and miles of riding one fact is becoming blatantly clear; those who want more power can't use the power they already have". I literally did a handbrake U-turn on my way to the Kawa dealer. Screw the brain crushing acceleration - maybe next bike.

Am I glad I found this forum :smile:

The new VFR will be fitted with Scott's dampers (otherwise I will not get on it), and have ABS :thumbsup: . Still trying to find a copy of "The Pace" (this seems to be the hardest part).

 

Here you go: The Pace - Nick Ienatsch - Motorcyclist magazine

 

LOL yes I still have chicken strips as well- my point was that I see so many hanging so far off on their bikes when taking a corner ( to the point of their body is in the next lane ), this is not nessasary to do on the street at the speeds they are going as well as they look like fools hanging off that much LOL

Hanging off will give better benefits on high speed and on the track more so then the street.
All I can offer is to try to stay centered on the bike and pick good lines.
Be Smooth it will help you to go faster ( then you will need to work on hanging off )

seb good form GREAT PIC:thumbsup:

 

OK, so someone knowledgeable please educate me, and if this is a re-hash, forgive me, I'm not reading back today, too lazy.

What is the purpose of a steering dampner on a street bike? I am under the impression (perhaps misguided, wouldn't be the first time) that a steering dampner is for riding so hard (e.g. track/racing), to stop/limit head shake/tank slappers. Yes/no?

So, if I'm not riding to that limit, (why) would I need one?

 

yes you are correct Echo, it is used more so on a top of the line sport bike like the GSX-R and CBR-R 1000. Or for any bike that you will get headshake from at high speeds. ( rake and angle set up for faster steering )
IMO it is not needed on VFR's, I have even done the 19mm tail riser and thought by changing the geometry of the steering but the ol' VFR is still rock solid:thumbsup:

 

I am praying you are wrong on this - I just wrote off a 6 month old VFR due to massive tankslap approaching a sharp corner (as described earlier in this thread). I was getting mild/controllable headshakes on hard acceleration too (reasonably frequently with luggage).

Admittedly my suspension was not set up great, but tomorrow I'm picking up a new VFR and if I can reduce the risk of another 'death rattle' with a $400 damper, I'm all for it. I mean, three fairings, a headlamp and a radiator = insurance total loss.

In my local Honda service, mine was the second VFR this summer to come in for megabucks fairing work due to headshake (quite a high % for a city that has maybe a dozen of these machines flying around).

 

Wow Repsol 04, I've never experienced headshake/tank slapper on my Viffer... Even riding hard with the sportbike club, keeping up with the Gixxers and such.

02 VFR Rider, I thought about that tail raiser too, did you see a big difference? Where did you get yours?

 

I have riden my share of 5th and 6th gens to compair other mods vs my stock bike and have never had any VFR shake its head.
alignment not right on front wheel, bad front tire ( or stock POS ) suspension way off for your weight and not set up at all as far as sag goes.
bike overloaded?? both tires not balanced.

 

THURN MOTORSPORT
eBay Store - HONDA CBR 600 CBR 900 CBR 1000 RR VFR 750 VFR 800 VTR 1000:

you have to email them for the 6th gen I think it was 50 bucks
you could make your own as well. PM me for info on that.

It seemed to quicken up the steering and put a little bit more on front tire, I like the results very much.

Headshake was an issuse I thought I would have to deal with w/ this mod but have had no ill effects at all and I have Metzler M-3 on front.

 

Per Wiki: "Wobble or shimmy begins when some otherwise minor irregularity, such as fork asymmetry, accelerates the wheel to one side. The restoring force is applied in phase with the progress of the irregularity, and the wheel turns to the other side where the process is repeated. If there is insufficient damping in the steering the oscillation will increase until system failure occurs. The oscillation frequency can be changed by changing the forward speed, making the bike stiffer or lighter, or increasing the stiffness of the steering, of which the rider is a main component."

So, shouldn't be an issue on Viffer, unless there's an issue.

 

I had the headshakes but not a full out tank slapper. The steering just shook violently in small left/right increments but in small sweeps not totally left to right uncontrollably. Most of it was to blame on the shitty Michelin HPX tires that came on the bike, i swapped them out for some Bstone BT016's and i can turn off the damper and it doesn't do it anymore at the 50mph. But all in seriousness this damper allows me to pick a line in a corner and maintain that line uninterupted even if its bumpy, i totally love it! I also don't have the freeway expansion joint wandering anymore where it follows the grooves, that used to bother me soo much since all the LA freeways have this offset grooves everywhere!!

 

Ie it can happen if the front wheel lifts off and comes back down slightly out of alignment with the rear wheel (sorry, I ditched physics after high school). In my case I had two consecutive squeezes of the brake causing the bike to oscillate, right before leaning (and the road surface had some mild tramlining - which may actually have been a major contributor). I vaguely felt the front lift off a tiny bit before the lean (from the brake oscillation) - and when it came back down to earth I was already a few degrees into the turn. *S*M*A*S*H.:rip:

I doubt the VFR is anywhere close to being as shimmy-prone as the crotch rockets, but it is in no way immune. My bike had just 2k on the clock - and that's km, so, what, about 1.3k in miles? As I said before, I do realize I was at fault for believing the showroom had set the suspension up for my 180lbs lard, and that that was probably the key factor that set off the chain reaction. But with fairing prices being effectively some weird form of revenge for Midway - I personally am convinced I need to invest $400 in the damper to stop this ever happening again. I'm also going for R&G sliders and ABS.

 

I am going to get a Gold scotts damper because my R6 600 had one and it helped a lot on bumps. Having a Hydro shock on your steering does the same thing that big trucks use- to prevent jarring over rough roads. it does not fix poor dampers or help with old oil in forks, but it will help in making the steering less jarring on pot holes, sink holes, bad roads and on the highway the bike will hold its line better. Oh course tires make a huge difference-I got that one covered with a New set of latest generation M5 Metzler's-really can't wait to try those tires out. It takes very little time to put a damper on and the after market one's are much better than any stock units. I all ways mod the hell out of anything I use- Just a hobby of mine. :smow::vfrshorty: here in Freezing maine going down to 3 degrees tonight

 

I just got the new M5 Metzlers, and even I could tell the difference!