steering damper

[david lee]

with 1 end of a steering damper mounted to the left side of frame should the other end be mounted to the right fork brace to work correctly thanks



Edit: added pic

[kd]

The way I see it, the ability to dampen will be directly related to the angle the dampener rod is set on the radius of the turn of the forks (ie. 90* to the center of the travel) and the strength of the dampening is related to the distance the dampener is attached from the axis of the front end steering radius (ie. neck brg. spindle). More simply put, the physics of the Law of Levers.

[Breeze]

All that I have seen are pretty straight. Works like a shock absorber, fit like a shock absorber.

[76shuvlinoff]

Got front end shake?

[Burnout]

No steering damper needed if the steering geometry is right.

I thought that it was inspected and approved safe?

[david lee]

will investergate.maybe something with the rake

[HotRodShovel]

Glad you started this thread. Since I put a new triple tree on my Shovel, its 2" stretch, 37* rake, with 21" front wheel. its a little floppy.  Kinda loose.  Checked everything is tight to specs. Never had this with FL triple tree & 16" wheel.  Was thinking of a dampener.   

David Lee, what dampener did you use?

[dirtymike]

Good thread, going to watch this one. I have used them but never on a Harley. Rake and trail are your friends on a rigid trike. As Burnout stated "Geometry" is the key. If you have ever had a high speed wobble you can relate. When the downward force overcomes the upward resistance your screwed. Nice trike. Dirty

[JW113]

Hotrod John, is your set up similar to Wide Glide front end? I've only been on a couple, but I thought they do indeed feel a little "floppy" until you get moving, then quite stable. My iron chopper, with 21" and 6" over was also really floppy until rolling.

-JW

[david lee]

you could say its a similar wide glide setup.the damper was on it when i bought it.maybe its the wrong one or mounted wrong.the front end is all tight eg bearing adjustment.thanks

[Hossamania]

Disconnect the damper, jack up the front end, and check your bearings for wear, looseness, tightness, notching, etc. Then hook up the damper and check for binding or it being over tight.
Check to make sure your triple trees are square as well. Might have to loosen the pinch bolts and fender, bounce the front end a few times, and re tighten. Again, without the dampener connected.
Make sure your fork tubes are not bent.

[Hossamania]

I see you have a fork brace too, that will need to be loosened as well to "square" the triple trees. When done with all this and it back on the ground, check your steering tightness with and without the dampener connected.

[JW113]

I always wrote off steering dampers as a band aid for bad chassis set up. They look cool and all, especially on those old Brit bikes, but see the first sentence. That said, I've never been on a trike in my life, so perhaps there is something about them that begs for a steering damper. After all, no leaning into a turn. More of a front wheel scrub, which might want to fight the handlebars?


-JW

[hbkeith]

I always wrote off steering dampers as a band aid for bad chassis set up. They look cool and all, especially on those old Brit bikes, but see the first sentence. That said, I've never been on a trike in my life, so perhaps there is something about them that begs for a steering damper. After all, no leaning into a turn. More of a front wheel scrub, which might want to fight the handlebars?


-JW

some people think ya just sit there and ride it 

[david lee]

I always wrote off steering dampers as a band aid for bad chassis set up. They look cool and all, especially on those old Brit bikes, but see the first sentence. That said, I've never been on a trike in my life, so perhaps there is something about them that begs for a steering damper. After all, no leaning into a turn. More of a front wheel scrub, which might want to fight the handlebars?


-JW

some people think ya just sit there and ride it 

that does make sense

[HotRodShovel]

JW113, sorry forgot to mention my forks are FLH with 6" over tubes. It pretty much leveled out the rake & stretch.  I put Progressive springs in a few years back and changed the oil of course when I did that.  Always very stable.
Truth be told I only took it out for a short local jaunt before I put it back on the lift.   So I'm not sure about highway speeds yet.   

Ive got a nasty crank shaft leak that I will be addressing here with photos.  I'm trying something new for me  as a fix before I have to split cases and look at bushings.  I'll do this in the coming weeks as well as some top end work.

You guys will get the whole story, photos and all.   Hopefully you are right but of course I'm concerned about tank slap and that dreaded death wobble.  I'd like to address it right away if it looks like its going there.

[david lee]

Disconnect the damper, jack up the front end, and check your bearings for wear, looseness, tightness, notching, etc. Then hook up the damper and check for binding or it being over tight.
Check to make sure your triple trees are square as well. Might have to loosen the pinch bolts and fender, bounce the front end a few times, and re tighten. Again, without the dampener connected.
Make sure your fork tubes are not bent.

i did notice it was set fully clockwise at the adjuster which to me is for highway use not city

[JW113]

Dave, what I think a few of us are suggesting is to investigate why the previous owner put a damper on it in the first place. It is for looks, or for function? Maybe ask the guy if it was having steering stability issues? I saw a brand new trike on the showroom floor last week, and no damper on it. So I'm not so sure trikes are inherently prone to head shake.

-JW

[Burnout]

Head shake because the trail geometry is too big.

Just like a shopping cart if you push it too fast.

[hbkeith]

Dave, what I think a few of us are suggesting is to investigate why the previous owner put a damper on it in the first place. It is for looks, or for function? Maybe ask the guy if it was having steering stability issues? I saw a brand new trike on the showroom floor last week, and no damper on it. So I'm not so sure trikes are inherently prone to head shake.

-JW

My ol Servicar had a Springer , it had some good head shake on a rough road . get some head shake going and that ridged ass bouncing hitting pot holes in the country while getting it !!! , keep it twisted !

[harley_cruiser]

Trikes steer differently than bikes simply because they do not lean. The longer the trail the more stable the bike/trike is and the more the bike wants to keep going the direction that it is going. The shorter the trail the easier it is to turn and the less stable the bike is at speed.
On a bike you can overcome the long tail simply because you can lean the bike and force it to follow into the curve. On a trike you cant do this so on a trike that has a lot of trail it is very hard to make it turn, so trike builders will shorten the trail and add a steering damper on them to make them more stable. You can do the same thing with the steering head bearings by tightening them up and adding a dampening affect, as a mater of fact a lot of the old side car bikes had a big knob on the steering head to tighten/loosen up the head depending on the circumstances.

[friday]

stock servicar steering angle is 23 degrees . there is pics on net of drummer buddy miles on his servicar chopper with long forks but it would be no where near hp of evo and probably never saw Hwy speed


model T era had 2 halved housing diff maybe theres a later ford parcel delivery vehicle of some sort with the same style diff ?
air port vehicle ?
air plane stair ladder vehicle ?



** it supposed to have ford diff .

https://selvedgeyard.com/2010/03/25/buddy-miles-the-band-of-gypsys-funky-badass-mother-drummer/

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=buddy+miles+star+spangled+chopper+image&qpvt=buddy+miles+star+spangled+chopper+image&FORM=IGRE

[harley_cruiser]

with 1 end of a steering damper mounted to the left side of frame should the other end be mounted to the right fork brace to work correctly thanks



Edit: added pic

Does that bike have raked trees on it?

[david lee]

with 1 end of a steering damper mounted to the left side of frame should the other end be mounted to the right fork brace to work correctly thanks



Edit: added pic

Does that bike have raked trees on it?

i believe no

[david lee]

Trikes steer differently than bikes simply because they do not lean. The longer the trail the more stable the bike/trike is and the more the bike wants to keep going the direction that it is going. The shorter the trail the easier it is to turn and the less stable the bike is at speed.
On a bike you can overcome the long tail simply because you can lean the bike and force it to follow into the curve. On a trike you cant do this so on a trike that has a lot of trail it is very hard to make it turn, so trike builders will shorten the trail and add a steering damper on them to make them more stable. You can do the same thing with the steering head bearings by tightening them up and adding a dampening affect, as a mater of fact a lot of the old side car bikes had a big knob on the steering head to tighten/loosen up the head depending on the circumstances.

makes perfect sense