today i hit a piece of road in dallas with construction on it, hit a spot of black bumpy highway and the front end wobbled fairly bad for just a second. scared the crap out of me and the first thing i thought about was steering stabilizer.


now i've been reading through the forums, and some people say its not a huge deal unless youre really riding hard. but does anyone think its a good idea to get these? also ive been a little heavy on the handle bars which is somethin i need to work on. i kind of put my weight on it. so i dont know if that had anything to do with it. iv ehit pieces of road like this before where the handlebars will shake real quick. and i just dont want to have the tank slap bs that i always hear about.

so i guesss my question is how many people have these, and is it worth it just for normal daily driving, for rough roads doing 60+ and situations like those etc...or is that just how it is, and its just part of driving a motorcycle.

 

I have one for both my bikes...they come in handy on the track and on the road...it's like suspension...just dial it in for the situation you are in (track/road)...

 

To me a damper is a bandaide to assist a radically setup ride (suspension/geometry)for a certain condition. Or for a poorly setup ride. Not saying that a damper will or will not help you, but suspension setup is key over buying a damper. Good luck and do not forget about your basic stem head bearing checks, suspension seal leak checks (proper fluid level), wheel bearings and axle checks, tire issues, etc.

 

+1 on the stem bearing check. i got a dampner only cuz i had it on my zx10.

 

or you just roll into it and itll come right out of the wobble... Most people think that when they start to get tank slap to slow down.... thats a terrible idea and makes it worse. Roll into the throttle so your front picks up a bit and thatll solve the problem. I roll stoppies and do stand up and sit down wheelies all day long when I ride and dont have a stabilizer... and I probably wont ever get one unless I do track days.

 

Did it wobble because the front end was coming up because you were accelerating hard, or did it 'wobble' just because the road was bumpy?

If the road was under construction I bet you weren't accelerating with the throttle wide open. Hard accelerating all the time is the only thing you'd want a damper for. If there were grooves in the road that weaved in and out it will pull the front of your bike in and out with it. There is nothing you can do to stop that, it will not cause the "wobble" you are thinking of (that only happens when the front tire is trying to lift off the ground). Just let the front end do what it wants to do in the construction (as long as the grooves aren't taking you off the road) and you will be just fine.

 

yea the wobble was just because of the grooves in the road. my only concern was that these could lead to a tank slap. you know like if the wheel turned hard enough or hit a big enough bump it would set it off. ive also had it wobble tho while accelerating hard and then hitting bumps. i think this may have had to do more with the wheel lifting up.

ive been riding easy lately but i think when i do start riding hard and actually get back into the groove of riding the bike like its made to do i may look into it

 

make sure your tire pessure is good also if the air pressure is wrong it can cause head shake

 

+1 on the tire pressure thing. if your tires are low you'll feel it going into the turns and under hard acceleration.

 

wat in tha hail is TANK SLAP??