Ducati Monster Forum

I really dont understand the fascination with dampers around here. you guys really all get such bad head shake that you want to throw ~$400 at it?

400$ would very comfortably tune your suspension with appropriate springs/oil in the forks and a proper spring in the rear. and it would make a far greater difference in the handling.

A damper is not and should not be used as a remedy for headshake.  It'll just mask underlying suspension problems.  If people are buying dampers cuz they're getting headshake, then they're being misinformed about the role of a damper.  That said, because of the rea-weight bias of the monster (or at least the earlier ones), a damper is probably even more suited to a monster than some other bikes with more weight on the front.  Some of the "fascination" you're noting around here may come from that. 

A damper is an insurance policy against a tankslapper.  Enough people around have either had--or know some who has had--a tankslapper that $400 seems like good insurance.  For example, as Scott Nelson about what he thinks of steering dampers.  I think of dampers like gear.  I don't need it until I need it.  Then I'm glad I spent money on it.  

BTW, thank you for spelling it properly.  I get all OCD when I see someone talk about a dampener.

it just seems that alot of people are very quick to drop the cash on a damper vs. getting their suspension properly sorted.

i see alot of mod threads with people listing dampers but no suspension work. I understand the insurance aspect in preventing a tank slapper.

steering dampers came about primarily to assist in diminishing wobble (a tank slapper being an extreme form of wobble, something I confused as headshake) thats it. it can actually make weave worse and BOTH of those are diminished with better suspensions. save for a few of the  [bow_down] monsters, the stock suspension can be upgraded pretty easily for under the 600$ price tag of the ohlins damper

I hear what you're saying, but if I had $400 to spend, I'd get a damper and then turn as many knobs on the stock suspension as I could.  After that, I'd start putting money into more serious suspension work -- oil, springs, valving, shock replacement, etc.

I guess id do (err did) the exact opposite [laugh] build a suspension thats close to what I want, twist the knobs, then get a damper.

the knobs cant change the damping curve

Yeah old Scott used to shovel out the same spew about how a damper wasn't required if you knew how to set up your suspension properly blah ablah ablah   

it was all on TOB 

then one day Scott went over a cattle crossing and got a dose of reality that transcended "proper suspension set up"

I really don't give a rats farking ass if someone gets one because their suspension isn't tweaked right for them

or if they get one because they want the reassurance that it can somewhat mitigate violent road conditions being transmitted into the bike

it is cheap insurance if you have ever gone into a slapper and crawled out of the bushes afterwards...

I did with my damper turned off when I slammed into a pothole at the apex of a right sweeper in full lean...and yes with a fully dialed in suspension Race tech tubes built for my config and the obligatory Ohlins rear set-up for me as well

i encourage anyone to get a good one if it gives them a better sense of confidence...

jeez it might even save their farking life....tuned and dialed-in suspension or not

why so hostile?

there is no doubt that a damper is a legitimate, useful, bit of kit for riding, it WILL save you from tank slappers. and for that reason I WILL mount one when the right deal comes along (now that my suspension is handled).

It just seems that the blingy part gets priority over an aesthetically invisible but more useful handling mod.

did you deal with your suspension before or after the damper, if you had to remove one/go back to stock which would you do? why?

 confidence in a bike is important, misplaced confidence in parts that don't do what you think they do is dangerous.

sorry if I came off hostile but having ridden a bike that was tuned and set for me specifically...

right down to the unsexy unblingy Nichols Bolts locking the chassis and motor in properly,,, I understand the value of a good set-up

I also know the hard way that road conditions and physics can transcend set-up..."perfect storms" do occur

My bike was dialed in as I said...and I had the damper shut off since I was driving in town in traffic and was not planning on going for an extended run which unfortunately is what I did after my errands,,,forgetting to up the setting from nil

I would like to think that the damper would have helped when I slammed into that crater...perhaps yes or perhaps not

The point is sure... folks will buy the right things for the wrong reasons...is it a work-around for a crap set-up?  no it is not

could it potentially offset the consequences of a crap set-up....might very well...I would not think that it would exacerbate it

my point is that there is no downside to a damper other than the cost of a "real one"....

under the best of conditions and under the worst it is still cheap insurance if you find yourself needing it

I don't think you need a damper.

The facination with getting one is mostly by those who have had tank slappers. its not fun.
Do I need one? I dont know. ive been bit twice by a tankslapper, one time sending me off the bike.

thats probably the only reason why i want one.  i have my fork setup with race tech springs and valves, and tuned. and i also have a proper spring on a showa 999 shock which is also tuned for me. so is it to help with headshake? no. Its so i dont land flat on my face again with my bike riding itself into the side of a dirt mound.

my kind of rider  ;D

To me, a damper is like wearing riding pants or a jacket. You never use them until you need it.

So you spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on safe riding pants and a good jacket to protect you when you fall. You might not have fallen yet, but you still wear them "just in case". There might come that one time when you do fall and they save your butt. .. Why wouldn't you get a damper to protect you from falling as well?

If a steering damper helps me control my bike that little bit more, saves me in a tank slapper, and provides me with that extra sense of security, then hell yes I want one... Just like I am going to wear a riding jacket, pants, boots, gloves, etc.

suck it nerds i just ordered a bitubo for my S2R1000 from BellissiMoto, now.... i just need to make sure my gas tank hasnt expanded so much that it wont fit at all.

If it doesnt, im going for a Scotts damper from oncycles.com

How are you fitting the Scotts to a Monster?  Oh and if the Bitumo doesn't fit send it my way.  I sent you a  PM because Bellisimo has not returned my emails about one.

+1000 on getting your suspension setup correctly. However, you can only get so far with theories and parts. When it comes down to it, you have to ride it and see how it feels to get it dialed in. Or let's say you're a racer and trying to go that little bit faster on the exit of a turn to pass someone. And when you're doing that, let's say the front end lifts at that one turn...you'll be glad you have that damper. Necessary no, you could be responsible and loosen your grip on the bars immediately, hoping the front end straightens out. But your natural instinct is going to be to tense up.

Now, I haven't really pushed my Monster to that limit yet because I bought it specifically to slow my ass down. But I can say on my old GSXR, that damper saved my rear many times. The damper is not a part to be overlooked. It won't make you faster, but it may save you from a crash.

Im not discounting the worth of a damper. it serves a definite purpose and will save your ass if it comes down to it.

but while a damper can prevent one kind of accident, suspension tuning can prevent a score of others. My question wasn't so much "why use a damper" and more "why a damper before everything else?". 

brakes, suspension, even ergonomics could be done for the same price or cheaper than a shiny damper and all would provide more bang for the buck in terms of safety and stability.

Because what you speak of is "boring" and most people want to accessorize

personally I find the entire subject of "road surface events" and "suspension reaction" to be the most fascinating and frightening aspect of getting on a bike :-)

If you are moving at a clip at which your suspension is still processing a first event and is hit with a series of secondary and tertiary events before it has cycled through event # 1...well where does that leave you? <laughing>

I guess it keeps things interesting

i dont want it to be interesting. Thats when the bike goes one way and you go the other.

My reasoning is that the OEM suspension with some knob twisting and spring collar banging is often good enough to prevent a lot of that "score of other" problems that could arise.  Once you've twisted the knobs, just slap a damper on and ride like an ass. [moto]  Then, if you have more $, spend it on suspension.  

That said, my calculus would *probably* change if I were 240 lbs though.  I *might* respring before getting a damper.  Depends on what I could get done with the initial knob twisting.    


What exact pacakage of brakes, suspension and ergos is $400-450?!?

Proper suspension setup should of course come first. Beyond that, my reason for getting a steering damper mostly follows from, as others, the time I got into a full lock to lock tank slapper on my old CBR. Having it on the monster has also been confidence inspiring and I definitely ride smoother and faster than I did before the damper. This could be all in my head but it really doesn't matter. Also, when the front wheel leaves the road under power, the eventual reunion is much nicer with the damper mounted.

I think most do it for peace of mind.  I had one on my bike but sold it - haven't looked back since.

To each his own.  [thumbsup]

with some lucky ebaying you can pick up a gsxr front end for ~200$, R1 radials can be had for about 100$. that leaves 150$ to pick up different levers, shifters, throttle cams (not all, but whatever a few you could pick)

for a couple hundred more you can re-do that gsxr front end with proper springs/oil, ohlins dampers msrp around 600$ dont they?


not on an s2r 800 you cant [cheeky]  the lower tier of monsters doesn't have a great suspension, twisting knobs on even the s2r 1000 (pretty sure it just affects preload right? no damping?) wont have much of an effect in more in more expressive riding. better than nothing though.

Okay be realistic.

If you swap to a GSXR front end, you probably still needs to swap springs. Thats more along the lines of $300 avg
If you get a radial fork, you have to get matching brakes, and you need to make sure your setup fits your bike. thats also more along the lines of $150.

Then youll want to (and more likely need to)  run radial brakes masters which is another $100
Then youll probably need to respring it thats $100
Then youll probably need to get the rear shock resprung too thats $100


Thats $750, + machining spacers + manhours if you intend to do the work yourself


and for most people you can set up the fork once for your riding style, and leave it like that. Very few people tweak around by themselves. So overall, i think settting up stock suspension is the way to go unless you got $$ to drop

I had a monster with a properly tuned suspension (after market) and got hit in the left handlebar by a piece of scrap metal from a passing car.  I went into a tankslap that I luckily pulled out of as I went into the median.

I now have a damper on all of my bikes.  I don't know if it has helped, because I haven't had the leather staining experience again.   [thumbsup]

alright but any one of those are going to improve the day in day out function and handling of the bike more than the damper and at 750$  you arent that far off from the upper tier dampers (~$500 bitubo, ~$600 ohlins).

also, you added 100$ for springs twice, there isn't a pending need to re-spring the rear in order to swap the front and you can find entire (straight) front ends (controls, clip ons and brakes) on ebay for under 300$ if you are patient.

not all forks are able to be set up beyond springs and oil. non adjustablt forks also have crap in the way of damping so unless you are dropping serious cash (1200$+) on your stock forks to change those you really cant set them up to well (though oil and springs are better than nothing if your on a budget.)

suspension and dampers do 2 different things. im not argueing for dampers as a mod over suspension. im just saying its really not that cheap to just simply do a fork swap.

I have stock S2R1k forks that i dropped $600 bucks to get new valves springs and oil done.
I also just picked up a $500 bitubo steering damper.

thats all ive been trying to get at.  I see alot of bikes both online and in person that are stock (save for some CF bling) and sporting a spanking new ohlins damper.

the thread was a question as to why people seem to gravitate to something so specific so early on in the lineup when there are so many mods that are similarly priced but have a much greater effect, suspension being one of them.

that just goes to show you, if most people just had a spring and oil change, they are going to be good to go. they dont even notice anythings wrong with the stock suspension thats untuned and not sprung for their weight.