| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
>>>May I ask why? I'm curious as well. I'm not a huge advocate of steering dampers. They, for the most part, do to handling what a brown paper bag does for an ugly date. That's not ENTIRELY accurate, but if you think you can cure poor handling with one, you are in for a surprise. | ||
| Dago |
I was under the impression that the only thing steering dampers do is reduce the oscillation of the front end that can occur within varied circumstances. Am I wrong? | ||
| Buelluk |
I am surprised at Paulinoz' statement about putting an Aussie on it to make it go fast, imagine how fast an Aussie rider could go without having to drag his ball and chain along. | ||
| Stonecoldbuellin |
A damper may not cure poor handeling,but it DEFINETLY will get rid of that squirly feeling that u get above 100mph. | ||
| Glitch |
You may wanna go over your settings. I have no squirly feelings above triple digits. | ||
| Darthane |
Ditto. Bike's rock steady at any speed I've attained. S owners beware of loose clothing - it CAN make a difference! | ||
| Stonecoldbuellin |
You guys are crazy. I went from 135 on my 9R to 170 on my freinds zx9 WITH an ohlins damper and the diffrence is freakin amazing. His bike felt like a solid chunk of aluminum sliding down a superflat metal surface,then when i got back on mine it felt ALL SORTS of squirley. | ||
| Darthane |
Kindly do not tell us what is or is not happening with our own motorcycles. Notice I did not say that YOUR bike was not squirrely, only that MINE is not at any speed up over 120. | ||
| Stonecoldbuellin |
Go do 130 on your bike. Then go do 150 on any litre bike with a damper. youll see just how squirlly your bike really is. The best way to describe it is,stand up do a fun ny little dance and shake ur butt. (Message edited by stonecoldbuellin on August 09, 2004) | ||
| Darthane |
I don't know anyone with a liter bike with a dampener, nor do I have any wish to see 150mph anywhere other than a closed course/strip. I will say once again, my bike is not squirrely at any speed I've attained on it, and is in fact steady enough that I had no problems with removing my hands from the bars for a rest. If you're unhappy with the squirrely nature of your bike at 130mph, then either 1) stay below that speed or 2) go buy a dampener. | ||
| Outrider |
Apples and Oranges...  Suggest comparing Buell to Buell, with and without after you check your alignment, tire pressure, wheel balance and grip. Subconscious grip tension screws up more high speed runs than anything else as folks have a tendency to tighten up when they feel the first perceived irregularity in the run. | ||
| Glitch |
Steven, I've been riding for many years. One thing I found out early on is that if your suspension isn't set up correctly, the squirrelys will get you. Bike independent, wrong set up, wrong feeling. Simple. That being said, I still have no squirrely feelings at high speed. Might I suggest giving your bike the once over? Sometimes (with the XBs) a little goes a long way. | ||
| Stonecoldbuellin |
Mabye its just the diffrence in the ZX9 with the damper n the XB9 without one. Mabye its just the awsome vibrations of the vtwin. I'm not sure what it is,but my bike is setup by the book for my weight and handles like a dream. Its not dangerous squilliness but do what i said and ull see exactly what i mean. Mabye it just SEEMS squirly because the damper n no vibration on the litre bike,im not sure but there definetly is a huge diffrence | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
wow i must say all yall people are nuts i have no reason what so ever to go that freakin fast on a public street | ||
| Glitch |
Hey it happens  | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
hey i said i have no reason to didnt say i dont still try when i think i can get awya with it  | ||
| Blake |
At the upper reached of the rev range, every IL4 I've ridden vibrates WAY more than my Cyclone or any other Buell I've ridden. | ||
| Outrider |
Thanks Blake...Now I understand why my huevos used to go numb on my FJ1200 and I have yet to experience that on the X1. "Only Real Men Ride Buell's." (said in my best radio announcer's voice.) "And We are Glad They Do!!!" (giggled by a herd of Hooter's Girls) | ||
| R1DynaSquid |
I don't know anyone with a liter bike with a dampener You know me dont you??? The R1 has it stock from the factory..is it required?? Hell if I know. The bike has been rock steady at all speeds from 10mph up to 172. I will get a tiny amount of oscilation if I let go of the bars at about 110 mph or so..but then I guess bikes arent made to be ridden no handed at those speeds anyways  | ||
| Dago |
Regarding the squirrelly behavior at speeds: Glitch is absolutely correct. Suspension setup is key to a stable bike. But you should also take a look at your tires. Here's my story: My bike became very unstable at high speeds (over 110 mph) the moment I put on the crossroads bars. (Or at least, so I thought.) I figured it had to do with my new weight distribution across the bike. If you don't know, the crossroads bars stretch you out quite a bit over stock. So I began adjusting my suspension settings in an attempt to compensate. After about 3 weeks of frustration, I was able to get it close, but not perfect. The strange thing to me was that the instability seemed to occur at different speeds. There appeared to be no "perfect setup" for me. But I found that if I sat just right, I could do about 120 safely. So I just sort of gave up and accepted it for a 120 mph bike. But then my cheap ••• finally decided to swap my shredded tires (especially my rear) last weekend. Guess what...she's rock solid again. I was amazed, and am now in love all over again.  | ||
| Glitch |
Tires make a world of difference! | ||
| Easyflier |
Back away from the stock Dunlops. You'll be glad you did. | ||
| Blake |
Dago, Did it occur to you that after switching handlebars and going to a much more forward leaning ergonomic configuration that you might need to re-adjust your suspension settings? Firstly to achieve proper sag and secondly to set damping more towards the recommendations for the XB9R/XB12R? A small change in tire geometry makes a HUGE difference in how a bike handles. Glad the new tires made good for you. Imagine if they had made things even worse. Suspension, suspension, suspension... | ||
| Blake |
Greg, When did you EVER go 172 mph on your R1? Answer... never. Unless that is you got the one honest and for true accurate speedometer that Yamaha ever put on a modern sport bike. More likely you were doing around 155 mph (10% short of indicated), about as fast as Aaron Wilson's unfaired street bike Buell M2 clocked at Bonneville with that big ole manly Aussie aboard. Agreed? Then please stop fantasizing. | ||
| R1DynaSquid |
Umm Blake, I have had the speedo topped out. It stops reading at 189 mph. And the bike was still accelerating. Every test I have read puts the actual speed somewhere in the low 180's. I didnt wind it all the way out so I might have been in the upper 170's actual speed. | ||
| Dago |
Blake, Yes, changing my suspension settings after installing the new bars did occur to me. In fact, the first thing I did was to adjust them quite a bit (as I mentioned in my post above). I had found numerous resources on how to do this the correct way (not trial and error). That's why when I couldn't get it dialed in, I got concerned. | ||
| Darthane |
You know Dyna, as I was typing that I was wondering about your R1. I'll rephrase. I don't know anyone that I can go over to their house this evening and ask to ride their liter bike with steering dampener...although the electrical supervisor for the program I just finished up has a GSXR1000 (along with a '98 S1WL) that he thinks I should ride, mainly by way of compensation as he really, really wants to ride my Firebolt. Not sure if it's got a Sorry, that's a pet peeve of mine... people calling a damper a "dampener" or "dampner (Message edited by blake on August 09, 2004) | ||
| Socoken |
dyna- i remember reading you are 6'3'' and 200+lbs. what makes you think that you can equal the measured top speeds of some one likely to be much shorter and narrower (not to mention professional), when aerodynamics are SOOOOOOO important at those speeds. true 170 i might buy, but 180, nope. | ||
| R1DynaSquid |
Never said true 180 & I can certainly live with 170 Usually I dont go much above 154 or so...seems like thats usually my cut off point. | ||
| R1DynaSquid |
Take that bad boy Gixxer for a spin. Wouldnt have to ask me twice. |
