Steering damper needed or just holding too tight?

[virtualsolitude]

Guys/gals, I'm leaning towards getting a steering damper but wanted to reach out and get some input.

I have an '03 R6 track bike (with lower forks, if that matters) and have done two track days so far.

Day one (at T-bolt), no steering wobbles. Granted, I wasn't really riding hard. I tracked my street bike 3-4 times last year after a 10yr hiatus.

Day two (at SP main), lots of steering wobbles, immediately. and all day. I noticed them in two situations:

1) Accelerating off of turns 3, 9, 10 and also at two shift points coming off # 10 (along the rise to the apex).
2) Sometimes as I transitioned my body coming off these turns.

Relaxing seemed to help a bit as did rolling on the throttle more gradually than I felt I needed to. BUT, those techniques did not eliminate the problem.

Other than that, the bike runs nicely. Still puzzled why I had no issues at T-bolt.

Also, is Scotts brand the preferred choice and where's the best place to get a good deal?

 

[MagentaZz1]

I'll chime in on this since I rode for 4 years with a 2005 R6 as my track bike.... I had a lot of headshake at various tracks. One could argue it was me, so I'd try getting lighter on the bars but even then that didn't help. I'd turn up my damper but then would fight the bike flicking through chicanes or the like, so then I'd turn it down, but then I'd get into near tank slappers. I just had to deal with it and let off the throttle in places I didn't want to. Eventually suffered a heck of slapper at Road Atlanta last year which ultimately put me on the ground. This year I went with a new bike (08 R6) and it's now that I realize my 05 wanted to kill me! My most recent track day I had no headshake whatsoever - NONE! It was so nice. Bummed to know I spent so many years fighting my motorcycle. Also, in order to avoid any potential up/down adjustments while riding, I opted with the Scott's top mount damper. I'll never go back to GPR or Pit Bull. The high and low speed damping makes so much sense to me. I bought mine through my local shop.

Good luck!

 

[virtualsolitude]

Glad to hear you're still alive. )

I have an '09 R6. Now that you mention it, I ran the '09 on SP Main a few times in 2013 and recall I had no such issues with headshake (it doesn't have a steering damper).

I don't feel my '03 is trying to kill me. It just has an 'attitude'. I'll fix that shortly (with a damper).

 

[Mikey75702]

A steering damper isn't going to "FIX" the headshake problem. It will just mask it. Might want to check your steering stem bearing, and possibly consult a suspension tuning pro (like Mark from MarkBuilt) to have them check the geometry. If your geometry is screwed up it can cause that.

 

[Dylan Code]

Yes I agree that checking the bike's geometry is a good first step. Are the wheels aligned? Anything bent? Steering stem bearing as mentioned above? Wheels out of balance? Unevenly worn tires? Go for the most glaring things first, then things like suspension.