Steering Damper

[Luvanicebum]

Mission accomplished!
90W gear oil swap.
Holy smokes what a difference. I could easily pump that thing 300 times with the old oil.

Now it's nice and firm................the steering damper.

Not to mention there was a pocket of air in there making the action kinda jumpy.
Raining out now, but can't wait to ride er.

 

[mike04busa]

how do you change the oil in the damper??? sounds like a good idea.

 

[pure_ego]

(mike04busa @ Jun. 08 2007,23:30) how do you change the oil in the damper??? sounds like a good idea.

when I did it ... it was a messy processes... but worth it.


The oil that comes with it kinda sucks.

Anyway...  the way I did it was to remove the damper completely from the bike.

Remove the screw from the housing of the damper (the part where the oil is) and work it back and forth a few times (careful,, pumping your damper could cause it to squirt in yer eye  

 )

once all that old stuff is removed....

take your previously purchased quart of 90w gear oil and pour it into container large enough to put the entire damper in, but small enough to allow the damper to be completely submersed in the 90w gear oil.

Stick the damper in there and again.. start pumping it open and closed (the screw is still removed.. thats where the oil is going back in) until it flows back and forth smoothly with no "jumpy" spots (jumpy spots are air bubbles). You will be able to see air bubbles coming out of the small hole where the screw goes for a little while.. keep pumping till pure fluid is coming in and out and it's moving back and forth smoothly

After you get it flowing smoothly your pretty much done.   Re-install the screw (I did it while it was still submersed in the oil to make sure no air entered to mess up my hard work)

All over now but the clean up...   and re-install

 

[CAT3]

Similar results, different process...

I emptied out my old oil same way, shooting it into a drip pan (and some on my shoes!). Then I used a mighty-vac adapter ontop of the gear oil bottle, slipped it into the fill port on the dampener, and squeezed the bottle while working the dampener until all air was gone. Replaced screw, tested full lock to lock, and installed. I would have used the bucket like pure-ego did, but didn't have anything at the time sizable enough to get oil and dampener in.

 

[Luvanicebum]

Mt first true test of the new 90W gear oil mod in the damper was amazing to say the least.
Anyone who's been from Brattleboro to Bennington, VT on Rt.9 knows how the highway swirves double lane up through the mountains. I was taking some of those banked corners at 100+mph and there's was absolutely no wheel jerk what-so-ever. I actually had a very loose grip on the bars. Unreal....totally new bike.
Now I just need to get my new stands and set up my suspension with some new springs in the front and a couple turns in the back...

 

[LB ROLLER]

man i keep hereing about this FIX/MOD but i havent done it yet.. I HAVE TO GET OFF MY LAZY A$$ and do it...lol

 

[quipuah]

+1 You can tell the difference immediately. As Luv said taking the corners at 100mph+ is so smooth I do not know how to describe it but awesome. Get it done and you will not regret it one bit.

 

[rubber2burn]

Just do like we did. Find a few people that want to do the Mod and do what the TXHR guys did and hold what we called a Mod and Ride. Do the Mod together then take the bikes for a spin what better way to do a mod like this.

 

[rockadaous]

here's a couple of pics from when I did mine.

drain hole

 

[rockadaous]

bottom view

 

[rockadaous]

other side (bottom view)

 

[TurboSN95]

Can you get the damper out by simply removing the bottom panel (above the front fender) ?

 

[heavybusa]

yes, you do not need to take the nose off if you can get in above the fender

 

[SnapAttack]

(TurboSN95 @ Aug. 28 2007,11:28) Can you get the damper out by simply removing the bottom panel (above the front fender) ?

Yep, just did mine.

I took the top inners out just so I could have more light.

Took about 30 minutes.

Just make sure you don't lose the dust sheilds on the center nut and torque to 16.5 ft lbs (+/- 2% variance).

 

[TurboSN95]

Very cool, might attempt this in the next few days. Thank you!

 

[bquinn]

a little late, but I figured I'd chime in anyways. I've done this mod on a couple of my previous bikes, a few of those were race bikes too. I used 20wt fork oil mainly because I had it available. It was pretty darn stiff to say the least, but worked great. Just another option rather than engine oil.

Just make sure there is NO air in the dampner. Just a tad bit of air will effect the performance.

 

[JusPlaynBob]

I experienced the worst "tank slapper" ever, yesterday.
I'll be doing this mod before my next ride.

90w gear oil?

 

[heavybusa]

(JusPlaynBob @ Oct. 01 2007,22:06) I experienced the worst "tank slapper" ever, yesterday.
I'll be doing this mod before my next ride.

90w gear oil?

yep it doesnt have to be straight