Steering Dampers for Dirt Bikes.
Steering Dampers for Dirt Bikes. (Part 1)
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first heard of people talking about steering dampers on dirt bikes. I was fully aware of their function on road and road race bikes. Having somewhat limited experience as a club racer the humble steering damper on my Yamaha R6 saved my back side on more than a few occasions, but as to their relevance on dirt bikes, I was a little dubious. That was, until I tried one. In this article, we’ll cover the different types of damper available which we hope will help you make the right decision when purchasing one for your dirt bike
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first heard of people talking about steering dampers on dirt bikes. I was fully aware of their function on road and road race bikes. Having somewhat limited experience as a club racer the humble steering damper on my Yamaha R6 saved my back side on more than a few occasions, but as to their relevance on dirt bikes, I was a little dubious. That was, until I tried one. In this article, we’ll cover the different types of damper available which we hope will help you make the right decision when purchasing one for your dirt bike.
There are a few styles of damper available for dirt bikes. The first is the standard over-bar arrangement pictured below.
These are the original style and should suit most riders from weekend trail bikers to motocross racers. I guess the obvious pitfall with these is the obtrusion into your dash space. For the trail biker or enduro racer it could mean anything from not being able to view your instruments to a bad place to be finding your chin during a crash. Most have either factory or after market pads available for protection, but this will obscure any behind the bars instruments even more.
Next up we have the under bar units. Most manufacturers are now offering under bar (or sub bar) mounts for their units. These usually raise the ‘bars somewhere between 19-25mm (3/4 – 1” in the old scale). Quite often, riders of around 6ft or over prefer the bars to be higher than the stock positions allow, so this could be a good alternative which also leaves any instruments in full view. They are usually exactly the same unit, just mounted differently, but the affect on the bike as its original purpose is the same.
The latest style in dampers is an on the fly adjustable, sub mounted system as we see here{josquote}These are the Rolls Royce of dampers{/josquote} and offer the rider all the advantages of the under bar units, with the addition of being able to adjust the damper from a remote location up near the hand grip. So, when you reach that bit of gnarly technical, first gear single track, a simple thumb action can release pressure on the damper to back off the damping effect in that situation, and when you get to some 5th gear wide open stuff, you can stiffen it up the same way.
Another important aspect to consider when purchasing a steering damper is that some dampers work both ways, whereas some only work away from centre, but allow the bars to free play back to centre. Some dampers also have both high and low speed damping adjustment. You need to take all these aspects into consideration when looking for the damper that best suits you and if possible, ride some of your mates bikes that use them before making your purchase.
Here at Motoaus, we’ve made our choice and soon we’ll be giving you the scoop on fitting a damper, different settings for different conditions, and the effects it has on the handling and rideability of our long term KTM450EXC.
