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part of the problem with the stock damper is that they have air in them. i believe the stock weight is something like 5. people suggest 10, 15, and 20W and i just went with 20. its not hard to throw around, its just a little different when you're in parking lots and stuff. you will get used to it. yes its fork oil. i used bel ray its all they had. completely submerge the damper in the fork oil and cycle it a bunch of times till there is no bubbles coming out of the hole. cap it off when its still submerged.

as far as having an adjustable damper, i just dont see the benefit for me personally. i dont mind my 20W in parking lots, i got used to it. i dont see myself cruising around the city at 25% damper and then to a 55mph road and clicking my damper five times. head to a freeway, get on the onramp, and start chasing each other. five more clicks. the ease of moving it around inside my garage isnt worth forgetting to have it turned up when i'm on the freeway. i think a lot of us know a special someone/vendor on here that was moving his bike in the pits with the damper down and forgot to turn it back on and dumped his bike doing 160+ on a track. easy to do, but with a big consequence
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
Lol, ok Scotts is quality, but to save the money, I am rebuilding the old one.

Hopefully tomorrow.

I picked up some 15 weight fork oil, all my shop had. If I can get that puppy off there it will give me something to do tomorrow. I like stiff, so if 15 is at least twice as stiff as stock the 7 bucks I invested will be worth it.

Thanks for the tips and how-to's. I will let ya know how it works out.
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Well, I refilled my damper lastnight. It was a breeze to get off of there, and the 15 weight is pretty stiff. I kind of still wish i could have picked up some 20, but theres always time to find a bottle later in the year and do it all over again.

It is defantly performing 100% better then it did, and there is no "click" so i guess I got all of the air out of there. I can't wait to road test it, i will suggest the rebuild to my other buddies that think dampers are a waste of money. Most of them have wrecked a few times, many of those times probably could have been prevented if not improved with the use of a stiffer damper.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will keep my eye out on a GPR or Scotts going cheap on ebay. I need to devote more money into some new lowers then anything right now. My left lower is shot, and I am still debating whether to order 2 new lowers from suzuki or get the entire set including tank online with the Grindaz guys. I guess as tax money rolls in I will ponder more.

TJ
 
glad it went well and you're happy with it. i really like mine, i just wish it wasnt 15 degrees outside. you should see how well the 20W moves with the temp this low when i try to move the bike around the garage. kinda comical
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
Yeah I just backed mine out and twisted it around to back in the garage. It was kinda stiff. I forget that these things really don't have much turning radius when being pushed.

Reminds me of that little clip in Austin powers when hes on that little motorized cart trying to turn it around in a hallway.
 
Since I have quit riding, the GPR's have apparently taken the scene. Back when i rode in 00-01 I purchased one of the dampeners similar to the factory ones on our bikes, but I believe it was a Toby. I hear our factory ones can be rebuilt with heavier oil, but I fear that still won't be stiff enough for me.

I was wondering what you guys run and what is the most practical for the weekend warrior type thats not racing and just wants to be able to do a trick or two now and again, and have some stiff wheel control.

tia

TJ
Busted open the stocker on mine and emptied out all the oil (actually is was about 1/2 oil and 1/2 air, I think that big air bubble in there is a big part of the problem with the stocker).

Refilled it with 20wt fork oil and bled all the air out. Works perfectly now. Definately try this first before shelling about $300+ for an aftermarket damper. All it takes is about 20 minutes of your time and $5 of fork oil and it's probably good enough for 80% of riders since most headshake problems are caused by improperly set-up suspension and chassis. A steering damper really only treats the symptom, not the cause.
 
Do a little more research. They look nice, but they've got some serious quality issues. Lot's of people tried these because they're cheap, but regretted it when they blew oil all over the front of their bike.
 
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