| Author | Message | ||
     Cruisin |
Okay, so I see Al at American Sport Bike has two types of steering damper's for our XB's - any major differences? It seems that the second one has a newer (better?) mounting location?  New compact design.  Anybody else seen the newer design - or tried it yet? Comments? | ||
| Barkandbite |
The top one is the Woodcraft unit whilst the other is the LSL. The latter actually comes in two different versions; the "regular" and the Showa "Gold" version. Couldn't really tell you what the differences are. You can obviously see the difference between the Woodcraft and the LSL in terms of mounting and cosmetic intrusion. There is a thread recently wherein some folks expressed discomfort given some potential inter- ference with the LSL, but I believe we concluded that these issues were due to incorrect mounting. I have the LSL. It works very nicely for me. Chris | ||
| Enigma |
I've got the LSL regular, as far as i know the gold is no longer available. Just a difference in amount of click adjustments. Not had any probs with it. | ||
| Slaughter |
I have the Storz - similar to the first pic above. The trade-off in my mind was the longer cylinder of the side-mount stays cooler in longer races (larger internal volume/surface area) while the other cross-mount is less vulnerable in a crash. (Message edited by slaughter on March 14, 2005) | ||
| Daves |
I have the LSL ones in stock. 10% Badweb discount. | ||
| Pcmodeler |
Forgive my ignorance, but what's the purpose? | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
It helps counter headshake caused by road debris or irregularites in the road(potholes,bridge seems, RR tracks, raingrooves, etc etc etc..oh and the occasional Havalina or Coyote that runs across your path at night). If your using one to get rid of headshake that is caused by bike issues its just a band aid. | ||
| Cmm213 |
Has anyone had a bad case of tank slapers here? I am knew here, and looking to get a xb9r this spring- just wondering because the fork angle is so steep. Cant wait to lay one down in a corner, they look like great machines and can't wait to join the crowd- anyone in northern Indiana or southern Michigan area  | ||
| Al_lighton |
The upper one is the storz, not the woodcraft. We don't have the Woodcraft at American Sport Bike. The lower one has the LSL damper. I spoke with the distributor about this and concluded that there was no reason to get other than the LSL damper. I hit a big freakin rock in the road on my wife's SV650 a couple years ago. Sent me up over the bars momentarily, bent both rims, rear lost all air. Bike went into the oncoming traffic lanes with a nice tank slapper that calmed down once I fell back on the seat and got my wits about me. A steering damper would have made for a LOT less drama. There are too many things out there that want to wrest the bars from your hands. Dampers can help here. I consider them to be very beneficial safety items. As Mikel said, they aren't band aids for fixing other stability problems, but they still serve a very useful safety purpose. I wish that Rotary dampers would fit Buells. I REALLY like the rotary damper that I put on my Wife's SV after that incident. Al (Message edited by al_lighton on March 14, 2005) | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Has anyone had a bad case of tank slapers here? Only when I raised the forks in the triples steepening the steering even more...otherwise, nope, got some wiggles but nothing that could be called a tank slapper, and I have fixed the issue that caused the wiggles.(loose head bearings) | ||
| Barkandbite |
Sorry Al (and everyone else) as I got the Woodcraft mixed up with the Storz. I apologize for the misinformation. I am relatively certain I own and installed the LSL, however  Chris | ||
| Henrik |
I wish that Rotary dampers would fit Buells. yep, me too. I really like the Scotts damper I have on the SV. Very nice fit too, and fairly well protected in a crash situation. Henrik | ||
| Buelldyno_guy |
Hi gang it's Terry from HD-Buell of Vallejo and we just put the Storz on our new Buell XB AFM F4 Race Bike. It sets just inside the Shark Skinz body work and looks like it will be fine. We use an Attack Triple Clamp to mount GSXR forks and later on in the season we are going to see if we can get a generic "Scott's" to fit this combo. Remember that in some types of racing or even at Bonneville for the 130 club dampers are required to pass tech inspection. PS will share pics and how we make the Scotts fit. | ||
| Trojan |
I wish that Rotary dampers would fit Buells. Like this one?  LSL have discontinued the 'Gold' version of their damper but still produce the 'titanium' one, which is cheaper but still excellent. The Woodcraft damper is designed for race use only and although it can be fitted to a road bike care must be taken to avoid snagging the wiring and cables under the headstock as it is a VERY tight fit. | ||
| Buellman39 |
Trojan Where can I get that setup? Chad | ||
| Slaughter |
Has anyone had a bad case of tank slapers here? I have to strongly recommend a steering damper if you're riding hard in turns or racing (like posted above, dampers are REQUIRED in many race clubs) I used to get teaser headshake every time I would load the front end going into a turn or if I was too heavy-handed - and sometimes it's not easy to bang the throttle to unload the front end. Never had much of a problem on the street - though I never push really hard on the street either. I have gone and raised my front end so the angles aren't quite so steep - AND put on the damper. No problem. When I crashed in turn 8 at Willow a year ago October (8 is the fastest section of the track), I got hit going pretty lickety-split by a guy I was passing on a litre-Gixxer and got a full stop-to-stop tankslapper before falling off. Don't know if a damper would have helped... but couldn't have hurt. (Message edited by slaughter on March 16, 2005) | ||
| Henrik |
Trojan; exactly  Henrik | ||
| Keith |
I have installed the LSL version from American Sport Bike as it is more protected from crash damage than the others. The CMRA, where I occasionally race, requires all race craft to have steering dampers. I have never personally experienced anything even remotely resembling head shake on the XB. | ||
| M1combat |
I've had just a tad bit of head shake exiting a tight right hander on the street. It was just after I installed a Force pipe and I was hanging on with my arms instead of my legs. Once I got used to the extra power and the change in power delivery the problem vanished (and it only happened once anyway). | ||
| Tatsu |
How does that LSL version install? Does it come in anodize blue? | ||
| Al_lighton |
Matt, I've seen that one before...any experience with it? The reaction forces from the rotary damper is not trivial, in excess of 1200 lbs force, according to Scotts themselves. I think those fastener points may be good enough for that, but that bridge piece doesn't look up to the task, but maybe it's just a bad picture of it. Do you have any other photos from the side? I looked at making a part similar, but more robust. The reason I didn't is more legal than technical. The steering head breakaway design of the Buell Frame that is supposed to keep the tank from rupturing MAY be compromised by attaching a link from the steering head back to the frame aft of the breakaway point. I personally don't think it would be a problem, and the link could be designed to break at forces that are higher than the normal stabilizer operating forces but lower than the breakaway forces (not that anyone is likely to tell me what those are). But all it would take is one crash with a fireball with one of them fitted and the lawsuit would then want to see the testing that I'd done to prove it isn't a problem. Too expensive, can't afford it. So I punted. Too bad, I REALLY like rotary steering dampers. Al | ||
| Cataract2 |
Are they ever going to release some steering dampers that fit the 05 Buells? I have an XB9SX and would love to have one. | ||
| Joele |
You mean the LSL wont fit the XB9SX? I hope that's not the case because I just ordered one. | ||
| Cataract2 |
As far as I know it won't. Checking on American Sportbike it says it won't. | ||
| Barkandbite |
USD Forks are a different diameter on the '05's. Call Al @ American Sport Bike or DaveS, but I don't think they have the larger fork yokes (yet.) Is this correct, Al? Daves? Chris | ||
| Cruisin |
From what I remember the new 05's have 43mm fork tubes, where these clamps fit the 41mm. They should be coming out with a bigger clamp soon, I think... | ||
| Daves |
Joel, I didn't even think to ask what year bike you had. Sorry, I will stop the order in the morning if it hasn't already gone out. If it has, just send it back, I'll cover the shipping for you. | ||
| Al_lighton |
We have the bigger clamp. The lower triple clamp on the 05's (except Scg) is 56mm for the 43mm sliders, and is 54mm for the 41mm sliders. The top triples are still 54mm with the O5 forks. I just fixed the web site. 9048 Al (Message edited by al_lighton on March 16, 2005) | ||
| Daves |
Thanks Al! Joel, I'll just get the right one for you. Call me in the morning. 1-866-757-1651 | ||
| Trojan |
Hi Al, I haven't any experience of the Scott/Ohlins type rotary damper personally. The photo is of a bike belonging to an Italian guy who made the conversion himself, including the new top yoke. I tend to agree that the fixings look a little on the spindly side to cope with the forces applied. I know that Hyperpro are working on a new fitting kit for their dampers but haven't seen the finished article yet. |
