919 steering damper

129CBRider · 06-23-2007, 2:10 AM

This works really well at all speeds, steering lock still works. At triple digit speeds it is like a different, and much better, more stable bike!

The damper is a OEM GSXR of off Ebay for $28. Drilled out the steering stop with a 7/64" bit and tapped it with a #8x 1.25 metric tap, also the same to the frame brace plate. Bolted it right up using a 1/2"spacer between the body swivel and the frame brace plate.

Going to change the frame bolt to a round head tomorrow as it just touches the bottom of the tank. The round head bolt should give me sufficient clearance.

If you have never ridden a bike without a damper, then ridden the same bike with a damper, no amount of my explaining the difference will be sufficient. The stability is now unreal!

NY2003919 · 07-31-2007, 9:40 PM

Just order the same thing to give it a try! Way better then paying 450 or so for a damper!! Post some new pics and how you like the ride.

129CBRider · 07-31-2007, 10:17 PM

After riding about 500 miles around town and surrounding roads, I still am amazed at the difference the damper makes. Part of it might be the new Pilot Powers I put on about 3 days later and the fact that I thoroughly cleaned, oiled and carefully adjusted the chain, too, but it really feels like a totally different bike. We have a lot of constant road construction here trying to stay up with the population boom so there is a lot of uneven pavement or it's brand new, nothing in between for years it seems. Before the damper the bike would be unsettles by the bad pavement, especially in the curves, but now it is rock steady and unbelievably smooth.

129CBRider · 07-31-2007, 10:22 PM

I'm not saying the 919 needed a damper, it just got a whole lot better with installed. kinda like when they started putting radial tires and disc brakes on cars, they didn't 'need' them but man what a difference...the attached photo would probably be the ultimate damper for the 919.

129CBRider · 07-31-2007, 11:02 PM

If you drill the hole in the triangular frame brace 1/4" straight back towards the rear of the bike, you can get a lock nut on the bolt easier as it won't bind on the square frame section which is kinda twisted out of plane with the bike. The pad is to keep the damper from rubbing on the frame.

Scuse the rust

been riding in the rain a lot...

ratdog · 08-27-2007, 1:12 AM

ok, not that i condone this sort of thing...mod'ing the 919 <g> but for $30 and some time, it's a mod worth thinkin about...for the 919-owner who has everything

fella from the phillipines raved about the toby unit he installed...loved it over the rougher pavement up in the hills, also a side mount

can't remember who spent the big bucks on the matris pro unit for the big bucks, woulda guessed sclarke (mod whore that he was) but i don't think that's right...someone did...but $30 & diy, can't beat it

stock 9r's don't need a thing but mod'ing is a sickness

129CBRider · 08-27-2007, 8:38 AM

All my street bikes over the last 25 years have been Honda CB*** or other, un-modded, starting with a '72CB350 and working up, so I understand the concept of riding a stocker on the edge and the adrenaline pump of feeling a bit out of control!
TAG handlebars, partial header heat wrap, and damper, all for under $150 total, for the 919 is all I've done, mostly to be able to ride it longer in hotter weather here in the Deep South.
Going to the mountains Labor Day week to try the Pilots/damper combo on the twisties!

129CBRider · 09-17-2007, 11:24 PM

Well, went to the mountains but didn't make it to the Dragon. Had to ride 30 miles back down the Cherahola Skyway in the dark in the pouring rain.

Pilot Powers and damper work really well together in the mountains but bring up other small problems that weren't noticeable before, namely needing new front fork oil and better front brake pads and maybe getting a shop to pressure bleed the front brake lines.

Better lighting that will shine through a curve when leaned way over would be nice too. Tipping the headlight housing up a bit to make the high beam shine further around the corners helped some...

ratdog · 09-22-2007, 10:01 PM

get a mighty vac and do the brakes yourself

get some stainless steel or kevlar lines if you don't have them already

adj levers like the pazzos let you dial in the brakes after they get warmed up

adjusting the headlight is key, i do the same thing but i haven't gone the hid route yet

if u'r doin fork oil, consider doin springs to get it right for your weight / style (an extra $100)

great riding down that way, the dragon is too well known and there are far too many twisties to sweat the dragon

129CBRider · 09-23-2007, 11:33 AM

I was looking at the gold valves, too. I weigh 183 so I was thinking 10w fork oil. Usually try to ride smooth, not too hard into the corners (80%) then WTO when the bike starts to stand up after the apex.

The issue in the mountains was that at least half the turns on the Cherohala Skyway are downhill, increasing radius blind off camber tight sweepers. I think it is the way the mountain ridgelines the road goes around are pointy at the ends. Makes you brake waaayyyy into the corner every time unless you happen to remember that particular corner out of the 1000's of other corners up there that look just like it, Lol.

Wolf Pen Gap Road (Highway 180) from Blairsville, GA to Two Wheels Only is lot's tighter and steeper than the Gap. You go south on 129/19 out of Blairsville, turn right onto 180. TWO has the best food in the state! Great bunch of people work there, too.

XRsteve · 10-14-2007, 2:46 AM

I have a steering damper on my dualsport XR650L and it makes a huge difference at higher speeds. I've only had my 919 about a month and haven't really thought about one for that yet. It does sound like a good idea.

129CBRider · 10-14-2007, 9:48 AM

Huge difference at all speeds...makes it feel like a $30,000 bike.

rangermania · 12-03-2007, 12:41 PM

129CBRider I've done the same modification with you...I didn't have the time to try it on but as first impression steering gets a bit harder...But corners are facinating...Thank you for the information...

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/IMGP4915.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/IMGP4912.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/IMGP4919.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/IMGP4920.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/IMGP4917.jpg

XRsteve · 12-03-2007, 5:15 PM

I noticed the other day that Scotts Performance make a rotary style damper for the 919. They don't have any pics of it on their website, so I'm interested in knowing how it mounts. It's not cheap, but I do like the way the Scotts damper work. Anybody seen one of these?

rangermania · 12-03-2007, 6:03 PM

XRsteve I didnt see it on a 919 but i know how it is mounted...

See the thing that makes a scotts damper universal is that the rotating part (Big yellow one) is on the handle bar and it is mounted the same as you put a gps on your bar... (It uses two piecec of metal and four bolts to squeze the bar)

The stable part which sould be fixed to the chassis is fixed with two bolts between the tank and the front fork as you can see in this matris damper...

http://www.pdq1.co.uk/MATRIS_HORNET_600.jpg

That one seems nice for its practical use and they say yamaha uses this on track... But as you said it is not price effective...

129CBRider · 12-03-2007, 7:06 PM

Good job Ranger! After a few rides the slow parking lot turns become second nature, kinda like getting used to a different bike.

Makes the rest of the riding so much enjoyable though, does it not?

Scott's won't publish a photo of their 919 mounting kit for their rotary damper for some reason, not sure why. They always show the kit for an F3i which uses two bolts for the front tank mount, something the 919 doesn't have. Very confusing and why I adapted the GSXR damper (not to mention the $400 savings).

Glad to see someone else rides more than they polish, too! Lolol

129CBRider · 03-19-2008, 10:11 AM

Well, I got a nice old '94 XR600R now, to round out my Red Rider herd. Put a Scott's damper on it that I had bought for my XR400R but never mounted.

Anyway, I found a way to calm the front end down on the 919 without using new springs after reading an article about fork oil levels/rider weight.

You just add 2cc of fork oil to each one and they calm right down. Duh-me!

I guess the factory level was kinda a compromise between their estimation of what an average rider's weight would be and the way an average rider be riding the bike.

I keep looking at other bikes to replace the 919 with but then get back on it to ride home and say to myself...no no no.