Review: Steering Dampers

[somegirl]

Review your steering dampers here for everyone to see!

Suggested format for posting

Model of bike:

Make/Model of damper:

Why you chose this damper:

Ease/difficulty of mounting:

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.):

Type of riding you do (street / track):

Comments on performance:

Pictures:

[somegirl]

I'll start:

Model of bike: 2007 M695

Make/Model of damper: Matris M2 top-mount

Why you chose this damper: I preferred a top-mount damper, and didn't need a really high-end one.  The M2 had been discontinued and was available on sale at the time from CA-Cycleworks.

Ease/difficulty of mounting: Very easy, went on in a few minutes.

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.): None.

Type of riding you do (street / track): Primarily street riding, with occasional track schools.  I was originally inspired to get a steering damper after experiencing major headshake.  However, I also ride regularly across a very windy bridge (San Mateo bridge), and the crosswinds were inducing a lot of front-end wobble.  (I did have my suspension adjusted for me as well.)

Comments on performance: I keep the damper on the lowest setting, which is sufficient to smooth out all of the wobbles caused by the crosswinds on the bridge.  It also feels nice and stable when I hit bumpy patches on turns.  I don't feel that the damper has affected my bike's ability to turn at all, either at low or high speed.  It is doing exactly what I wanted it to do.

Pictures:

[Pancake81]

Model of bike: 2001 Ducati Monster S4

Make/Model of damper: Matris M4 Top Mount

Why you chose this damper: Heard great things about the company on TOB and really wanted a top mount damper. Also got to deal with Jason at DOP which is always a treat.

Ease/difficulty of mounting: Pretty easy. A few beers and some AC/DC and she was on.

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.): Well... I have the S4, so it is kind of a screwed up setup from the start. But I had no issues.

Type of riding you do (street / track): Street and Stunting. Ride hard twisties on the weekends and Stunt during the week when I can get away with it.

Comments on performance: Great  . Keep it on fairly high settings ussualy. When doing high speed wheelies it on full blast (aka 11)

[LA]

Model of bike: S4RS

Make/Model of damper: Ohlins side mount

Why you chose this damper: Wanted to be able to install clip ons if I wanted to with the least hassle

Ease/difficulty of mounting: Very easy. Pit Bull front stand allows slipping down of fork tube and slipping on mounting ring. Cake

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.):

Type of riding you do (street / track): WFO street riding

Comments on performance: Work extremely well and is definitely needed on the RS as the front gets very light under accel

Pictures: To dumb to post em

LA

[hypurone]

Model of bike: S4RS

Make/Model of damper: Matris M4R

Why you chose this damper: Wanted a top mount. Only one with nitride coated piston rod.  Read good things about it. LOOKS BADASS!

Ease/difficulty of mounting: Piece of cake

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.): NA

Type of riding you do (street / track): 90% street (aggressive) 10% track (aggressive)

Comments on performance: Top notch. Has more adjustability than you need. Once you get it dialed in you never touch it. Except switching from street to track. Has instilled full confidence in the front end over the ugly stuff and when the front end comes back down!

Pictures:

[johnster]

Model of bike: 2001 Ducati Monster S4

Make/Model of damper: Matris M4 Top Mount

I just put my order in @ OnCycles for the same one (S4).....$290, I had to jump on it!!   

-Glad to hear it works well....I was inspired to buy one after getting some scary headshakes while throttling out of turnsm, so hopefully it'll smooth things out....I'll post a review after putting it to the test....

[thruxton]

2007 S4Rs

Bitubo

Why you chose this damper: I had a gas shock from Matris on my previous bike, so I wanted that over oil. And since Matris has fitting issues (according to some reports) I looked for an alternative. Bitubo is italian, beautiful, the right color, and

Ease/difficulty of mounting: fits perfect

Type of riding you do (street / track): Commuting

Comments on performance: she is set at 7 and perfect

Pictures:
  maybe too early for me to figure this out, but i'll try...

[Dave328]

Model of bike:2006 S2r800

Make/Model of damper:Arrow 11001DG

Why you chose this damper:High pucker-factor headshake in highspeed sweeping right one night 

Ease/difficulty of mounting:Very easy to mount

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.):None

Type of riding you do (street / track):Street

Comments on performance:Makes huge difference in same sweeper. Could use a little more adj. though.

Pictures:I'll add some when I get home

[rgramjet]

Very interested in seeing some M900 configurations....same as 2001 S4?

 

[teddy037.2]

Model of bike: 2005 M620ie

Make/Model of damper: Hyper(?) something, something... side mount

Why you chose this damper: it was cheap and lightly used

Ease/difficulty of mounting: super easy! no issues

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.): N/A

Type of riding you do (street / track): street w/sporty intention

Comments on performance: there's like 20-ish clicks of adjustment, have it set on 6 and it seems to help keep her from getting jittery on the rain grooved freeway.

Pictures:

[ducati_steve]

Model of bike: 2005 620ie

Make/Model of damper: Top Mount Matris M2

Why you chose this damper:  Wanted a top mount, on sale at oncycles

Ease/difficulty of mounting:  It was a half-beer job...only about 5 minutes.

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.):  I added clip ons and the damper requires me to keep the stock top triple because it mounts to the handlbar clamps.

Type of riding you do (street / track):  Street

Comments on performance:  It has 7(?) levels of adjustability, I usually keep it around 4 and it keeps it very stable over uneven roads.

Pictures:  When I get home from work...

[RandyFloyd]

Model of bike: 2007 S2R 800

Make/Model of damper: Arrow Competition titanium steering damper - Ducati Monster S2R and S4R

Why you chose this damper: Research on TOB, seemed to be a very popular model

Ease/difficulty of mounting: Very easy.

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.): None

Type of riding you do (street / track): All Street...hopefully track one day

Comments on performance: I'm new to riding and it helped with any kind of wobbling of the front end, had it set to max in the beginning, now I'm somewhere around the middle.  Anything to improve the saftey of riding...

Pictures:

[FLSTFI_E46]

Model of bike: '07 Pearl S4RS

Make/Model of damper: fg Gubellini / Ducati Performance

Why you chose this damper: ease of install plus bling goes with bike color scheme

Ease/difficulty of mounting: it's a snap but do use proper torque when tightening bolts

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.): none, stock setup

Type of riding you do (street / track): country road twisties

Comments on performance: a plus and a must for agressive riding on twisties.  0-24 clicks and I currenlty have it at 12.

Pictures:

[Monstermash]

Model of bike: 07 S2R1K

Make/Model of damper: Matris M4R w/01-02 S4 mounting kit.

Why you chose this damper: I had an M3 on my last Monster. I like the look, performance, and the build quality. This time I also did the F05R fork cartridge kit and the M4R damper had the same look so I went with that.

Ease/difficulty of mounting: Moderate. It had to be custom mounted because of the Cycle Cat top triple.

Other mods you have that could affect mounting (e.g. handlebars, triple clamp, etc.): Cycle Cat DBR13 clipons and DTC8 top triple.

Type of riding you do (street / track): Both

Comments on performance: Arguably the best damper money can buy. I've owned Ohlins, Hyperpro, etc. and this is by far the nicest one.

Pictures:

[Pancake81]

MonsterMash,

How did you use hte S4 mount with that top tripple. I have wanted new triples for a while, but dont want to drop the $400 on a  new damper.

Heath