Hello all,
I just purchased a mint condition 2002 S4, in the Senna color scheme, with less than 7000 miles on it. Really enjoying the bike.
Thinking about adding a steering damper and looking for opinions/advice.
- Is a steering damper necessary/recommended?
- What unit was commonly used/recommended for this bike?
- Since the bike is more than ten years old now, are there any dampers/mounts still readily available that will fit my S4?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
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In my experience, as long as your suspension is set up correctly and you're not racing, a damper isn't exactly necessary. Arguably, less than stellar roads used for commuting/etc. could be cause to have one purely for peace of mind.
As far as actually finding dampers, I believe Ohlins and Matris are the big names, but top mount options are typically in the unobtanium range. Side mount are much easier to find, and if I recall correctly, are manufactured by a few other companies too.
Most, if not all vendors here should have units for the S4.
Also, this is all off the top of my head, late at night and I haven't actively researched steering dampers in a while. Please don't hesitate to take all this with a large grain of salt. Hopefully Lazylightning or Speeddog will chime in too with their greater knowledge.
I found an Ohlins side-mount damper on EBay back in '09 for my 695. I don't remember paying more the 150.00.
I like having it for occasional high speeds and for grooved slabs when I was in Ft. Worth (I-35 W).
Not essential, but looks good.
When I had an S4, I had an Ohlins Steering Damper Kit SD154.
I've gone 13k miles on my S4 without one. Earlier on, there were times I wish I had one but I've learned to ride out the shakes.
Loosen up and let the bike do what it does... If you are on the track with it, then that may be a different story.
That being said, with the stock set-up the options were limited. The purse-snatcher seemed to be the easiest way to go. I believe there were under the triple options as well but I've not much knowledge regarding the those options.
Check out http://www.bellissimoto.com/dampers.html (http://www.bellissimoto.com/dampers.html)
I'm not a fan of steering dampers for the street.
They're usually just used to mask issues.
I have one that came stock on my 996 and it works I guess.
I was gonna start practicing wheelies soon, but a biker friend told me that i needed a steering damper... is this true? I have a 2005 ducati monster 1000ds
Steering dampers do help with the landing if you do wheelies.
I do run a steering damper on the street. I do agree that using one to cover up a handling issue instead of fixing it is a bad idea though.
I've considered off and on getting damper. Have you read through this thread? Some good POVs:
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=62498.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=62498.0)