I have a top spec steering damper sitting in my shed [old style long stroke one, not the short 916 type that fits below the clocks], and an thinking of fitting it to my Storm.
I did a quick google search, and cant come up with any fitting kits for the firestorm for the old type, any one got any links to suppliers who do one, or pictures of their fitting kit so I can get one made?
I would also like to see a picture of where the frame mounting is and did you have to modify the air scoop / inner panel thingy?
ta
Steering damper fitting kit
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
up date, just found a kit on M&P site, anyone tried one of those? any good?http://www.mandp.co.uk/productinfo.aspx ... itting-Kit
AMcQ
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
Save your money the last thing a storm needs is a steering damper
The storms pretty sedate when it comes to steering all you’d be doing is making it worse than a cow to wrestle around a corner
I have mine set to make the steering faster and have it just about right now with a rear shock that’s 5mm longer than standard and the front fork yokes dropped by about 35mm from std (using up rated fork springs don’t try it on the standard ones!)
The bike just wags a little bit out of corners when hard on the throttle and the road is bumpy
The storms pretty sedate when it comes to steering all you’d be doing is making it worse than a cow to wrestle around a corner
I have mine set to make the steering faster and have it just about right now with a rear shock that’s 5mm longer than standard and the front fork yokes dropped by about 35mm from std (using up rated fork springs don’t try it on the standard ones!)
The bike just wags a little bit out of corners when hard on the throttle and the road is bumpy
its big----- its red ------its throbbing and it’s a thousand CC
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
Warby, I agree with your comments, like you I have set the rear higher and the front lower, and there is no real threat of a tank slapper since I had the forks done by Roger D.
So it is more a bling thing, than real need, but If I could knock up the mounts and I have a free damper , I was getting drawn by the need to add mods!
You mentioned 35mm front end drop with 5mm higher at the rear shock, in your set up, so it sounds like you have a steeper set up than me.
I have made most of my adjustment with the back shock, as I have long legs, and I didnt want to sacrifice ground clearance, but it does lean over a fair bit when it is on the side stand, so perhaps I need to move some of the adjustment to the front end. You dont have any grounding problems with 35mm drop at the front?
Over the past few weekends I have been adding 0.5 of a turn [1mm pitch] on the ride height of my back shock, and it still hasnt got to a head shakeing point, but it had lost the mid turn stability on bumpy roads and was getting much harder to make fast direction changes, so I have now backed it off to a point where I think I have a good compromise with fast turn in, mid turn stability and flickability.
This is now a 5mm drop on the forks, [Resprung by Roger] and approximatly 5mm increase at the rear WP shock with Sag back and front as defined by Roger.
So it is more a bling thing, than real need, but If I could knock up the mounts and I have a free damper , I was getting drawn by the need to add mods!
You mentioned 35mm front end drop with 5mm higher at the rear shock, in your set up, so it sounds like you have a steeper set up than me.
I have made most of my adjustment with the back shock, as I have long legs, and I didnt want to sacrifice ground clearance, but it does lean over a fair bit when it is on the side stand, so perhaps I need to move some of the adjustment to the front end. You dont have any grounding problems with 35mm drop at the front?
Over the past few weekends I have been adding 0.5 of a turn [1mm pitch] on the ride height of my back shock, and it still hasnt got to a head shakeing point, but it had lost the mid turn stability on bumpy roads and was getting much harder to make fast direction changes, so I have now backed it off to a point where I think I have a good compromise with fast turn in, mid turn stability and flickability.
This is now a 5mm drop on the forks, [Resprung by Roger] and approximatly 5mm increase at the rear WP shock with Sag back and front as defined by Roger.
AMcQ
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stormingjoe
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Re: Steering damper fitting kit
35mm, 
35mm talk to Roger at Revolution...........................man that is unstable 10 max 5 good for road as wet time you crash no questions trust me been there done it !!
35mm talk to Roger at Revolution...........................man that is unstable 10 max 5 good for road as wet time you crash no questions trust me been there done it !!1998 Firestorm, 47,000 miles, forks valved & sprung, proflex shock +4mm over standard, manual ccts', k&n, 50#slow 185#/190# mains, front carb slide mod, R6 throttle tube, Tank raised, Viper cans, Coerce fork brace, EBC lite front discs & pads.
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
I'm also quite amazed by the amount of drop (35mm) you have on your front forks Warby 
But everyone to their own, if it works for you then who am I to argue. I must admit though, even with my uprated forks by Roger D, I wouldn't have the balls to try that myself.
The only think I can come up with is, you must have weight related springs fitted that are for someone twice your weight, that's how you get away with so much drop, as the front sits higher than it should be
Chris.
But everyone to their own, if it works for you then who am I to argue. I must admit though, even with my uprated forks by Roger D, I wouldn't have the balls to try that myself. The only think I can come up with is, you must have weight related springs fitted that are for someone twice your weight, that's how you get away with so much drop, as the front sits higher than it should be
Chris.
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
Lol your not the first to comment on the set up FSM was surprised when he seen it 
Roger was surprised too and after a bit of quizzing came to the conclusion that it’s set to my taste for a faster steering and that I steer with my hips a lot. cheeky sod even had a sneaky peek at the head stock
The bike handles fine for me the front springs are .9’s and the back is weight related with what was on the wilbers shock when I ordered it “I’d have to have a look at the documentation to give you the right weight for the springâ€
The only possible drawback with this set-up is on heavily rutted ground at very low speed i.e. walking pace as you’re riding with a bit of weight on the front
And no it doesn’t tank slap every were
Anyway back to it
The point I was making is that the storm is probably a little over stable and even with what you are thinking is an extreme set-up it don’t need a steering damper and if its on there for a bit of bling I’d have it at it’s lowest setting or disabled in some way
PS I run my viffer with more than 10mm of drop on the forks and that go’s well to
So it’s a taste thing me thinks and works for me
Roger was surprised too and after a bit of quizzing came to the conclusion that it’s set to my taste for a faster steering and that I steer with my hips a lot. cheeky sod even had a sneaky peek at the head stock
The bike handles fine for me the front springs are .9’s and the back is weight related with what was on the wilbers shock when I ordered it “I’d have to have a look at the documentation to give you the right weight for the springâ€
The only possible drawback with this set-up is on heavily rutted ground at very low speed i.e. walking pace as you’re riding with a bit of weight on the front
And no it doesn’t tank slap every were
Anyway back to it
The point I was making is that the storm is probably a little over stable and even with what you are thinking is an extreme set-up it don’t need a steering damper and if its on there for a bit of bling I’d have it at it’s lowest setting or disabled in some way
PS I run my viffer with more than 10mm of drop on the forks and that go’s well to
So it’s a taste thing me thinks and works for me
its big----- its red ------its throbbing and it’s a thousand CC
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
Warby,
I'm still amazed at the set-up you use on your Storm, I can imagine Roger's surprise He probably thought you may have had adjustable yokes fitted to be able to get away with so much drop.
As you say, if it works for you that's what counts.
I did have 0.9 springs in my Roger D modified forks, but found with the now fitted 0.85's to be better suited to my 12.5 stone body weight. Before with the heavier springs I found the front end to be very harsh, but it did handle really well.
AMCQ46,
What have you decided
Chris.
I'm still amazed at the set-up you use on your Storm, I can imagine Roger's surprise
He probably thought you may have had adjustable yokes fitted to be able to get away with so much drop. As you say, if it works for you that's what counts.
I did have 0.9 springs in my Roger D modified forks, but found with the now fitted 0.85's to be better suited to my 12.5 stone body weight. Before with the heavier springs I found the front end to be very harsh, but it did handle really well.
AMCQ46,
What have you decided
Chris.
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
On the steering damper, the jury is still out, If I got hold of a fitting kit I would do it, but have it set at minimum. Thinking is that it would allow me to play with the settings further and see if it got to the point of instability.sirch345 wrote: AMCQ46,
What have you decided
Chris.
An interesting point to note is that I used to get some pretty bad tank slappers when running the standard suspension, especially when landing after a long wheelie a bit crossed up. This is is why I kept hold of the steering damper I had left over from my road race days. With the Roger forks and WP shock, there is no trace of that problem, but it is in the back of my mind as I experiment with dropping the front.
I also noticed when I fitted my new tyres [Mich Pilot Road 2CT] mid summer, that the turn in was much slower on the same set up than the old [well very old as I didnt use the storm much for the last 3 or 4 years] tyres. I have put an extra mm on the shock to get to the same turn in with the new tyres. But I have to say I am impressed with the tyres now I have the settings adjusted.
Any one else find that with new tyres?
On the set up, as I said earlier, I have backed off the rear ride hieght to get a good balance from turn in and mid corner stability on fast bumpy roads, but this was also helped by dropping the tyre pressures by 2psi from the Honda standard [feels like there is a little bit extra compliance and the bike is not deflected by every bump].
I tried the tyre pressure drop after reading one of the posts on here [will look for it later and link to here] that was what Michelin reccomended, but I am still a bit concerned about that, as I have always been religious about keeping the tyre pressure at the hand book setting till now.
Sirch, sound like we are similar weight, so I will have to check what springs Roger put in my forks. On the back shock I ended up with a 14kg/mm spring, what are you using?
AMcQ
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
AMCQ46,
If I had a steering damper I'd more than likely fit it too, but as Warby says it's not really needed. The reason I'd fit it would be just to try it out really, as I noticed quite a different feeling in the handling by tightening up the new tapered roller steering head bearings by a very small amount (approx turning the adjuster nut by 1/8" only), so having an adjustable steering damper I could in fact adjust the steering tightness/slackness much easier than having to keep moving the adjuster nut.
I can appreciate how those tank slappers are in the back of your mind. I'd probably be the same if I'd experienced that myself.
As for new tyres I find my bike normally turns in quicker with new tyres, usually because the old ones have that flat part in the middle, whereas the new ones have a nice continual radius. But that's with the same brand of tyre, different brands I expect will feel different to each other for sure.
I have the standard rear shock with a Maxton weight related spring I fitted. That is similar to yours at 14.25 kg/mm, according to Roger that is about right for my body weight. The Maxton spring has 800 stamped on it.
Cheers,
Chris.
If I had a steering damper I'd more than likely fit it too, but as Warby says it's not really needed. The reason I'd fit it would be just to try it out really, as I noticed quite a different feeling in the handling by tightening up the new tapered roller steering head bearings by a very small amount (approx turning the adjuster nut by 1/8" only), so having an adjustable steering damper I could in fact adjust the steering tightness/slackness much easier than having to keep moving the adjuster nut.
I can appreciate how those tank slappers are in the back of your mind. I'd probably be the same if I'd experienced that myself.
As for new tyres I find my bike normally turns in quicker with new tyres, usually because the old ones have that flat part in the middle, whereas the new ones have a nice continual radius. But that's with the same brand of tyre, different brands I expect will feel different to each other for sure.
I have the standard rear shock with a Maxton weight related spring I fitted. That is similar to yours at 14.25 kg/mm, according to Roger that is about right for my body weight. The Maxton spring has 800 stamped on it.
Cheers,
Chris.
Re: Steering damper fitting kit
The comment on steering head bearings is interesting, as I still have the std ball & cup parts in [Taper set is on the shelf waiting for the winter strip down], and I got a good improvement in the precision of the bike setting up to turn into fast bumpy bends when I thightened them.
Having only ever used taper rollers before it turns out I was not preloading the standard parts enough [may be that I still havent got it high enough] so I am hoping that a well set up taper roller will give further improve this, as I know how to set them up.
I did also read that one of the top super cross riders in the States was very particular in his steering head bearing set up, as he like them to be a little over tightened to provide a small level of damping, so it is a known tuning option as long as you dont over tighten.
Having only ever used taper rollers before it turns out I was not preloading the standard parts enough [may be that I still havent got it high enough] so I am hoping that a well set up taper roller will give further improve this, as I know how to set them up.
I did also read that one of the top super cross riders in the States was very particular in his steering head bearing set up, as he like them to be a little over tightened to provide a small level of damping, so it is a known tuning option as long as you dont over tighten.
AMcQ