[arai]

I've read a couple places now where people have had some pretty bad experiences with tankslap on the r6. Granted I'm sure it can be somewhat avoided with proper riding but is the r6 prone to this? What would it cost me to throw a steering dampner on it and would it be worth it?



-arai-

 

[TeeTee]

Speaking as a Kawi owner........ What's a steering damper :confused


:flip


Ya know I kinda miss the little green two fingered guy. He has such a nice smile.

 

[Over40]

I've read a couple places now where people have had some pretty bad experiences with tankslap on the r6. Granted I'm sure it can be somewhat avoided with proper riding but is the r6 prone to this? What would it cost me to throw a steering dampner on it and would it be worth it?



-arai-

I've experienced two vicious tankslappers on my R1. Both times were on the track (SIR-turn 2) and due to my inexperience in dealing with hitting a rut on the track while leaned over. If you intend to ride on the track and ride hard, I would highly recommend a steering damper. The R6 is probably more prone to tankslappers than the R1. A good damper cost about $600-700.

 

[adamantium]

I'm not exaclty sure what Bruce is smoking... but...

I've read many messages on this subject, all the answers turning out to be: if your scared, but a dampner. Goes for any bike on the track, but the R6 is possibly a little more prone to it on the street as well, but not so much so like a TL1000R which comes with one..

 

[Ryan R]

Get a damper man, you will be a lot safer with it and it smooths out the ride a lot. An R1 might be one of my bike choices as a next bike in the future and I am gonna have a damper ready to put on the day I get it.

 

[Human]

Speaking as a Kawi owner........ What's a steering damper :confused


:flip


Ya know I kinda miss the little green two fingered guy. He has such a nice smile.

me neither, sorry can't help you.....our bikes might not come with huggers but we Kawiks got no clue what a steering damper is....

 

[TeeTee]

Yeah the little guy with the toothy grin. That's the one. Yeah I know I could link over to it but it's just not worth the time.

And if you do get a damper be very careful at slow speeds for the first little while. It will slow down those quick lock to lock transistions you rely on in parking lots and leave your butt hanging out in the breeze if you're not careful. SMZ mentioned on one of our rides last summer that he hated the damper on his Gixxer for that reason.

And just to give you an idea of why we Kawi owners don't need no steeenkin' dampers.....

Last September while on that fateful trip where I dropped my bike I was coming hard around an 80 kph corner leaned over at about 40 degrees. The road looked smooth and clean with a shadow from a tree on the road. Well the edge of the shadow was hiding a 1 to 1 1/2 inch lip running across the road ( it looked like about 3 to 4 inches just before I hit it so I'm guessing at 1 to 1 1/2 ). The bike hit this and kind of bounced up into the air, slipped sideways about a foot, landed, did a little squiggle that was over before I realized it had started and then it was business as usual as I finished the turn. How I got away without bending the front rim I'll never know. Yep it hit THAT hard.

And on a couple of occasions I've gotten carried away exitiing a corner around town and rolled on a little too hard while still leaned over about 10 degrees. In one case I just felt the front get light and skitchy and got a couple of wiggles for my brashness. The other time I tried to correct my line slightly and got no reaction. The front end was airborne and I was still leaned about 10 degrees. Got another couple of wiggles when it landed from that one too. But in both cases they damped themselves out about the same time I realized it had started.

I'm in love with the idea of feather light, almost thought controlled steering but the more I ride the Kawi and my past experience with the Duc the more I'm willing to trade a tiny bit of turn in quickness for some butt saving stability.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to try an R1 or R6 (Adam? You're probably wondering what a liter bike would feel like? Hmmmm?) but for the long term I think I'm sticking with my ol' green freight train thankyouverymuch

 

[thr1]

since i plan on hitting the track everyone that i trust has told me that should be the very first mod for my bike so i'm saving up for a Scotts dampner

 

[Kit]

with the exception of slow speed manouvers there is no harm in getting one,

it will definetly provide you piece of mind and all it has to do is save you once and its paid for itself, think of it as an investment

i havent needed one on my R6 yet, but may look into one,

i dont ride fast enough to need one

 

[vrecksler]

If you want tankslappers, ride a 929! 929's are notorious for headshake, which can lead to real tankslappers and although I have never had the full tankslapper, I bought a Scott's steering damper. It set me back 6 bills, but it provides excellent piece of mind and from what I hear it works extremely well--it also does not affect slow speed steering which is a nice feature.

Having your suspension properly adjusted will help absorb some of the bumps and shakes that can lead to a tankslapper too, so a little time on the Internet researching how to set your bike up (sag, preload, etc) would go a long way.

 

[SMZ]

Kawi's are known for their stable front ends. Either that, or they're not fast enough to need dampers :laughing

Ever had a tank slapper going straight? I switched with my friends F4i one day, while trying to catch up to him on the sfu highway, we hit a series of little imperfections, no biggie....on the gixxer that is. The tankslapper lasted approx 10sec bruising both my wrists very badly. Luckily I hung on to the bike, and I didn't end up part of the shrubs.

I figured since I was following my bike (gsxr), that the f4i would be ok, but it nearly killed me and I hate that bike for it haha.

 

[Over40]

since i plan on hitting the track everyone that i trust has told me that should be the very first mod for my bike so i'm saving up for a Scotts dampner

Where did you get your Scotts damper? I heard you can only buy directly from the manufacturer.

 

[thr1]

Where did you get your Scotts damper? I heard you can only buy directly from the manufacturer.

haven't bought one yet going to buy one soon

 

[TeeTee]

...., but it nearly killed me and I hate that bike for it haha.

What's the "haha" for? If I had a bike that did that to me I'd drop it into an active volcano and say good riddance............ and no "haha" to suggest I was anything other than :2up towards it.

If defense of Honda I wonder if your buddy hadn't been tweaking the suspension to give it that superlight turn in feel and the slapper was just the outcome? Or maybe he was built a lot different than you and your weight was not right to keep the suspension in the sweet spot sag wise?

 

[vrecksler]

Where did you get your Scotts damper? I heard you can only buy directly from the manufacturer.

Check with Dan Kyle for your damper needs. His prices beat most of the wholesalers such as parts411, and his customer service is the best. When UPS left my damper on the porch with no one home, and it was stolen, Dan sent me another one BEFORE waiting to get reimbursed by UPS.

To me, customer service is worth more that finding the cheapest price, and it is a great thing when you can get both!

 

[arai]

thanks for all the reply's guys. This weekend I get to do the test drives and hopefully because I hate wasting time, I'll come home with a new bike

-arai-

 

[SMZ]

What's the "haha" for? If I had a bike that did that to me I'd drop it into an active volcano and say good riddance............ and no "haha" to suggest I was anything other than :2up towards it.

If defense of Honda I wonder if your buddy hadn't been tweaking the suspension to give it that superlight turn in feel and the slapper was just the outcome? Or maybe he was built a lot different than you and your weight was not right to keep the suspension in the sweet spot sag wise?

I dont think he tweaked his suspension. I'm laughing cause I got out of it alive, and didn't have to replace his bike :eek

 

[Ryan R]

thanks for all the reply's guys. This weekend I get to do the test drives and hopefully because I hate wasting time, I'll come home with a new bike

Well Sunday will probably be your best bet for a test ride, cause friday and saturday are gonna be rain extravaganza.

 

[jonathan]

ive been told numerous times on sbn that the f4i chassis was specifically designed to NOT need a dampener. hrmm, I havent have any troubles with headshake

although I have had some problems with the rear tire moving around while exiting a corner

Not trying to defend the f4i's as the perfect bike but I would say atleast witht he f4i that the suspension does need to be set correctly. Now that I think about it after the front wheel comes down after shifting to second (it gets a little hop if I shift it just right) I have noticed a bit of shake... since setting the sag correctly etc I havent experienced this since.

 

[TeeTee]

Jonathan, getting a little reminder wobble after kissing down the front end is pretty standard. You'd have to have the wheel bang on straight to not get one..... even then it might be pretty standard. Even my freight train of a 9R gives a little squiggle when the front end is just barely touching.