Steering Dampers Explained—Do You Need One on Your Bike? | MC Garage

Lots of sportbikes come with a steering damper from the factory, and for those that don’t, plenty of people add them as an accessory. But what do steering dampers do, and do you need one on your motorcycle? I’ll explain in this video from the MC Garage.

--

A steering damper, also called a steering stabilizer, is essentially suspension for your steering. Just as your fork and shock control the vertical motion of your wheels, a steering damper regulates the motion of your front end’s side-to-side movement. It even uses the same technology that’s inside suspension, namely oil passing through orifices. That restriction to flow creates the damping that controls how fast the front end turns. Learn more about what a steering stabilizer is and what they do in this MC Garage.

What Are The Different Kinds Of Steering Stabilizers?
There are a bunch of different kinds of steering dampers out there, from radial ones that mount to the top triple clamp to linear units that mount to the bottom of the triple clamp. There are even electronically controlled stabilizers that vary the damping based on the bike’s speed. Regardless of the style or location of the damper, they all do the same thing, and that’s slow down your steering.

What Does A Motorcycle Steering Damper Do?
Most riders like a bike with light, easy steering, so why would you want to slow down how fast your front end turns? Two words: Tank slapper. If you hit a bump that deflects your front tire, or if you’re accelerating hard enough to float the front wheel and you set the tire down at an angle, the front end’s trail can whip the wheel back toward the center. If you’re going fast enough and the wheel is turned far enough, the inertia of the front end’s self-centering movement can throw the wheel past center in the opposite direction and set off a chain reaction that can end very, very, badly.

Not sure what I mean? Search for “tank slapper” videos and prepare to wince. Tank slappers are some of the most violent, terrifying crashes in motorcycling.

Steering dampers help prevent and interrupt high-speed front-end oscillations, but for the most part they don’t inhibit slow-speed steering. That’s because of the circuitry in the damper, which, like a damper-rod fork, is rate sensitive. So if you’re turning the bars slowly there’s not much resistance, but crank on the bar quickly and the resistance ramps up.

What Kind Of Motorcycles Use Steering Dampers?
You mostly see dampers on 600 and 1000cc sportbikes because they’re the most susceptible to wobbles and tank slappers. Lots of power, short wheelbases, and steep steering geometry all improve handling at the sake of stability and make a tank slapper more likely. Lots of off-road bikes use dampers too since they’re ripping across uneven terrain that can deflect the front wheel. You don’t see them on cruisers because those bikes’ weight, fork angle, and other factors make them unnecessary.

Are Steering Dampers Worth It?
So stability and safety is a concern when it comes to steering dampers, but so is a personal preference. Some riders just like dampers because they can make a bike’s steering smoother and more controlled, or they see it as cheap insurance to keep their bike from freaking out at speed. Style is a big factor, too, and plenty of people just like the look of a damper and will install one even if their bike or riding habits don’t warrant it.

Here’s a tip though. If you bike has started handling oddly or gotten unstable, don’t bandaid the issue by installing a steering damper. A motorcycling traveling in a straight line is inherently stable, so if your bike isn’t, you should be looking at your tires, steering head bearings, and wheel alignment.

[twayland]

I installed one on my unicycle and love it

[linelevelmedia]

3 years later and this series is STILL the best information on Youtube. Thanks y'all!

[drmurda]

My Dampener has literally saved my life on multiple occasions. It's 100% needed if you're an aggressive rider. ZX10r #bikelife

[simonferguson-avery]

Thanks I am new to motorcycle and this information is great

[AirMiloTakManis]

Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of frame sliders

[gavindinsmore]

Piggyback ECU (PCV) vs Flashed ECU. I think that would make a good episode of MC Garage.

[HeroRR]

Hi Ari, Fellow Cape codder here ;) I have a question I'd like to see you make a video on and that's different headlights. HID's vs LED vs stock bulbs, etc. Advantages, disadvantages of each, etc. Such as lower voltage draw from LED. Thanks a bunch for all your free videos that are priceless to us fellow riders! :)

[stevenscribani]

A video on the effects of front and rear suspension adjustments would be very interesting!

[noreworks]

*sees footage* well if this is a streering damper ad I'm sold.

[claudebaron]

I would advised anyone that if you don’t have one stock on your bike, you should definitely put one, and believe me or not, the video here showing a race bike having a tank slapper, this was a little tiny one, I’ve experienced way more drastic one, on any sportbike it’s not you should, it’s you have to get one, and even on the big cruiser it’s often a necessity, one of my friend had a Harley FLH X, the kinda bike where you sit as comfortable as a Elran living-room sofas, and guess what she was constantly complaining her bike was always wobbly ( witch is how start a tank slapper, in Quebec, Canada, we have ( I think ) the worst potholes in the worlds, and a very long time ago, I hit one with a Ninja 750, and it tank slapp so hard that I couldn’t even hold on the handlebars, everything was like I was a moving earthquake, until I took a chance and when the try to grabbed it back but when they fly so fast in front of your eyes you can even just see them, anyway I was lucky but when I finally stop the bike, I was stunned, my gas tank was dented on both sides, the handlebars was flying so hard and fast that they hit both sides on the gas tank, since then and that was in 1989/1990, I had a steering damper on every of my bike, just think if it save you just one time, ( and that’s gonna be way more than that ) how much this crash would costs you to repaired it, and that’s without talking of you hitting the grounds, because often on a real tank slapper the rider even gets ejected, it really doesn’t take a genius to understand, you have to have one, stock from company are not the best, but at least it’s one, but to get a real one you shouldn’t hesitate. 👍👍👍

[TheSpeedKing]

MT 09 guys watching: I am not negotiating

[muddshshshark]

Many Goldwings and other bikes had bad slow or high speed wobble and guys would put braces on them to fix the problem. Many times the real problem was saggy fork springs. This caused the fork geometry to go steep and resulted in the shopping cart syndrome..Just replace the springs and fork oil for best performance and if your too cheap a spacer on top of the spring will lift the bike back up.

[TheMissendenFlyer]

Great video guys - clearly explained, nice one - keep up the good work. All the best - TMF

[draft]

"Steering dampers are not necessary on cruisers" meanwhile the harley death wobble

[defxed]

After learning how to use my damper, if you plan on doing any aggressive riding or highway riding, it's a must

[markanthonybaldovino]

Installed one on my lawnmower, best mod ever

[qdllc]

Honestly, I never bothered with them...thinking I didn't really ride in a way to need one. Got a new bike that had one. Had a bit of road debris BREAK both wheels at highway speed. That steering damper really helped me to maintain control as I stumbled to a stop.

[davidcrosby]

Just wanted to say, i watch your short informative videos all the time! learned so much! Thanks, and keep em coming man!

[sportstours]

I had only one wobble in my life. That was ten years ago on a 150 cc Yamaha FZ. It happened at a speed of around 40, when I hit the edge of a road from outside at a low angle.
So these are not limited just to high speeds or high performance bikes.
I couldn't control it, because I tried to increase my grip on the handle, and let go of the throttle.


Never faced it again in the last decade despite riding fast on all kinds of roads, including under construction ones, for more than 200, 000 km.

[MitEclipse]

I ride a 2017 Zx10r and for the first time in my life last weekend I had tank slap at 110 mph for about 5 seconds... it was the worst 5 seconds of my life... I did NOT wreck due to the Kawasaki steering dampener! Kawasaki literally saved my life... thank you so much