Steering damper schooling

[oldbike54]

We are not talking about 40+ year old brit bikes or Buicks here, we're talking a modern vehicle with lug nuts and like Chuck said it one breaks it would make sense to stop and figure out what is going on   no?

:-)e

  Unfortunately stupid never changes Mike 

 Dusty

[Tom]

The stock steering damper can be rebuilt.  Rob in Honolulu rebuilt his California.

[Kentktk]

There was usually an "L" stamped on the end of the wheel stud to remind you.

In this the modern era, it is signified by small notches cut into the points of the nut.

[chuck peterson]

For the original discussion...

My impression of steering dampners...they are there to prevent the extreme cases of a tank slapper...keeps the slapping left and right from amplifying all the way to the stops, into a case of getting spit down the road...modulates and slows in extreme cases, otherwise you should never notice it...in case of emergency use only, it takes over by itself

Hit a small dog once....instant tank slapper, that slowed instead of accelerating and throwing me off...bmw r60 with big ass honking steering dampner knob in the middle of the steering stem, adjusted on, loosely

Not likely to feel it work unless you really get your underwear in a knot...good to have them there as a safety function

[PeteS]

What kind of damper does a Calvin have? My EV had a friction damper. These have the most resistance when not moving. A hydraulic damper is just the opposite. Litle resistance with slow movements increasing as the speed of motion increases. Thats what your want.
The damper on my 850 LM has been in the off position almost since new. The damper on my EV was removed when it became a hazzard. The bushings wore and the rod was rubbing on the body metal to metal.
Never needed a damper.

Pete

[Sheepdog]

I believe the CalVin steering damper is the same old friction type found on the EV. It isn't the best...I leave mine loose. A nice bolt-on replacement is available from Matris, but the price is dear...

http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=197_199&products_id=115

[Orange Guzzi]

I installed a hydraulic damper on my 03.  It was easy.  Made an angled bracket out of aluminium for mounting the cylinder and used a long screw to mount the rod to the steering triple clamp.  If I was smart and new how to post pictures of the installation, I would do so. 

On my bike, the lower triple clamp has a hole cast in it.  I threaded that hole to mount the rod end.  I mounted the angled bracket to the horn mounting bracket on the frame left side.  Keeping the direction of the rod at a right angle to the steering stem. 

Damper are cheap from China (jina as don say's) on ebay.  They work and can be rebuilt. 

[tris]

Of course there is the case of some British cars that had righty/tighty on the wheels on one side, and lefty/tighty on the other side , and the bearing locking ring on lots of British motorbike hubs that are righty/loosey- lefty/tighty . Maybe that poor beemer guy grew up with one of those 

 Dusty

On wheel nuts/bolts?

If they had a centre spinner on wire wheels that you tightened with a deft blow from a hammer then yes.

I've never seen LH threads on a typical 4/5 off bolt/nut arrangement but I'm happy to be corrected

[rocker59]

We are not talking about 40+ year old brit bikes or Buicks here, we're talking a modern vehicle with lug nuts and like Chuck said it one breaks it would make sense to stop and figure out what is going on   no?

:-)

yes.

 

[oldbike54]

On wheel nuts/bolts?

If they had a centre spinner on wire wheels that you tightened with a deft blow from a hammer then yes.

I've never seen LH threads on a typical 4/5 off bolt/nut arrangement but I'm happy to be corrected

 My memory could be faulty , but it tells me the lugs on my '67 Sprite were reverse thread on the left side .

 Dusty

[Rough Edge racing]

 When my 85 Cali cafe bike was run at the LSR track in  the rules require a hydraulic steering damper...On the street ,even on the lightest setting it made the bike seem to fall into slow speed turns...Some bikes don't need them but if the factory installed a damper it's probably necessary....

   Chevys ,at least since the mid 1930's, had right hand threads on all wheel positions...The wheels didn't fall off more than vehicles with left threads on the left side...Some bikes with left side mounted clutches and drive sprockets have left hand threads, some don't....

[FGO]

Just my experience with the Cali series, if the suspension is set up correctly, and you have good tires, bin it, no value added

[Tom]

If your steering neck bearings and adjustment is correct.  You don't need a damper.

[Sheepdog]

Those big windshields can input a great deal of unintended forces into the front forks. Overfilling a top case can also create bad oscillations. For a bike like the Cal Vintage, I can understand why Guzzi would include a steering damper. However, I wish they would use a more modern interpretation of one...