Steering Damper

Datafunk · Post by **Datafunk** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:33 am

G'day,

bought a 1991 Kawasaki KR1S was looking around for a steering damper to purchase, but what a surprise, there's no specific one for this model (expected) so i thought i'd come to the experts and ask, what steering dampener do you guys reccomend? this will be a pure twisty street bike.
also, how do you go about mounting it? since there's no specific one.

quick intro, as this is my first post.
been riding for a little while ~3 years, i have previously owned;
2007 Hyosung GT250R
2004 Suzuki GS500F
1988 h***a CBR250R
1980 Yamaha XS250

i currently own;
2006 Kawasaki ZX-6R (track bike)
1974 Suzuki RL250 (going to turn this into a custom digger bike)
1979 Yamaha XS250
and now a
1991 Kawasaki KR1S

cheers!

Bikemike · Post by **Bikemike** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 8:20 am

You need a mounting bracket. Kawasaki kindly put a mounting boss on the frame bit don't be tempted to use it alone- it is not strong enough and will warp or pull out of the frame spar, writing off your frame. The bracket mounts under the tank and loops over the frame, where it bolts onto the existing boss, reinforcing it. I recently sold the one I had as I found I don't need it after fitting a zxr front end. Keep an eye on eBay UK, the brackets do crop up occasionally.
Oh, and welcome!
Mike

Datafunk · Post by **Datafunk** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 8:30 am

would i be better off just getting an engineer to mount it?
any suggestions on the actual steering damper i should get?
is the zxr front end conversion hard? much work in it? i take it you mean zx4r? 2r? or 6r?
how bad is the standard kr1s front end?

cheers.

JanBros · Post by **JanBros** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:58 pm

you can fit any forks you like, depending on your skill's

I've already fitted ZXR750H, ZXR400L, ZX6-R '95, a combination of CBR600RR '04 and Blade 94', and ZX6-R 2004 in KR's.

personaly I don't like steeringdampers. they just hide suspension problem's and don't solve them. I believe it is better to solve your problem than to hide it

dave32 · Post by **dave32** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:45 am

i agree with Jan,you dont need a damper.
Providing the head bearings and seats are in good order and adjusted as should be then you wont have any probs.
There was alot of talk on the release of the kr's about them being unstable/flighty/slappers but thats because compared to what else was available at the time they were and still are extremely light with super quick steering,hit a series of bumps at high speed and you may have the odd tank slap but there far from unstable most of the time.
I found that raising the froks through the yokes in 5mm increments calms things down a bit as it puts more weight on on the front end,give it a go as stock first though and see how it goes.
on the steering damper front there is/was a specific type that was called a kawasaki style damper due to the way there mounted,its the same as they use one early 90's h***a RS125's and cost around £40,pretty basic but it does the job on out and out racers like the RS.
HTH

Datafunk · Post by **Datafunk** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:42 am

got a name/brand for that steering damper mate?
will look into a front end swap later down the track.

cheers for the info.

SP_BOTT · Post by **SP_BOTT** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:44 pm

Hers a pic of the damper and how it's mounted,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laytona-Steer ... 415fef05ba

Luders · Post by **Luders** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:08 pm

That's the same as mine

JanBros · Post by **JanBros** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:41 pm

don't fall on your left side Ben ....

surely you can rearrange the setup so it's a lot closer to the frame and more protected

smithyrc30 · Post by **smithyrc30** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:15 pm

Crikey, I had forgotten how F'in ugly those brackets were....

Surely using a top yoke mounted damper in this day and age would be so much better?

If not for anything else it would save a kilogram of iron.

I am with Jan on this, sort it out before you need a damper.

I remember seeing an H2 with 3 of those "Kawasaki' dampers on it......

Luders · Post by **Luders** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:53 am

It's just one of those things that's never bothered me before.
Smashing up a steering damper is usually the least of my worries.

Datafunk · Post by **Datafunk** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:49 am

yoke steering dampers? mmmmmmmk might look into those.
with steering dampers, does it matter what bike the damper was made for? i see them all listed with specific models in mind, is this just the brackets? or is the actual damper different? ie, can i just buy any damper and adapt the brackets/clamps and its all good or?

apart from your rc30 smithy, you got a kr1s as well? might have to come pay you a visit, i live very close to you

i got this bike to make into a GOR weapon. purely the GOR.

Bikemike · Post by **Bikemike** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:41 pm

One has just popped up on ebay uk, Item number: 280786723583

JanBros · Post by **JanBros** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:53 pm

smithyrc30 wrote:Crikey, I had forgotten how F'in ugly those brackets were....

you make it sound less bad than it looks ...

smithyrc30 · Post by **smithyrc30** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:55 pm

Datafunk wrote:yoke steering dampers? mmmmmmmk might look into those.
with steering dampers, does it matter what bike the damper was made for? i see them all listed with specific models in mind, is this just the brackets? or is the actual damper different? ie, can i just buy any damper and adapt the brackets/clamps and its all good or?

apart from your rc30 smithy, you got a kr1s as well? might have to come pay you a visit, i live very close to you i got this bike to make into a GOR weapon. purely the GOR.

Yup I have a KR1, and a ZXR750M1 and a few others as well......

Most of the steering dampers are the same, the specific things are the brackets to bolt them on.

The aftermarket units are generally adjustable, I can't think of one that isn't, but there may be....

The standard fitment units (Ducati 996 NOT the Ohlins one, Suzuki TL1000 etc) tend to be set at one rate, which is mostly soft.

Fitting across the top yoke makes sense in that the damper is smaller because it requires less stroke. It will suffer less in a crash too.

You can pretty much buy any damper, but when you adapt the brackets you need to make sure that the damper stroke is not exceeded or that you are running into the damper end stops. They do not like being used as a steering head stop....

It might even be possible to fit one of the stem dampers from a CBR 600 or 1000, not sure about the space.

I would suggest though that the best thing you could do to the KR you have is spend the money you would spend on a damper and brackets on a good fork rebuild and a shock rebuild. A good check on all the shock/swingarm links for bearing play, then new steering head bearings and maybe some new wheel bearings as well would certainly be higher up my list than a steering damper.

These are the weakest links on the KR, especially when the parts are 20 plus years old.

Best money you can spend on an old bike is on the suspension in my opinion. You could spend $1000 on the engine and go maybe a second a lap faster but if you spent the same $1000 on the suspension you would go 5 seconds a lap faster.