I just installed a GPR steering damper on my 04 525SX. Love it. I ride MX only. Everything seems better although turning in the air is not the same; I think. In the past, when turning the bike in the air, I would turn the front wheel in the opposite direction I wanted the back end to swing. This would basically cause a gyro effect which was very useful on jumps placed in turns; where the jump face and landing area are not parallel. Anyway, with the steering damper, I'm not able to get this same gyro effect going. The bike just stays perfectly straight, in terms of the attitude that it left the face. Is this normal for jumping with a steering damper? I'm thinking that maybe I now need to turn the front wheel in the same direction that I want the rear end to swing, and the resistance of the damper will pull the rear end around. Any comments would be appreciated.
Jumping with Steering Damper
- Thread starter MXTex
- Start date
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,788
- 35
The damper shouldn't make a difference with that. The swing is caused by the gyroscopic effect of the spinning front wheel and any forces you are putting on the bike while turning / pushing / pulling the bars and bike with your arms and legs.
I think the damper may be fighting the last second twitch of the bars you might be doing to start turning on the face of the jump.
Does the GPR have both high and low speed ajustments? Is the damper obious when trying to turn the bars while on the stand? You might want less low speed damping.
I would try turning the bars in the air over a longer jump to verify to yourself that GPR didn't change the laws of physics on you!
I think the damper may be fighting the last second twitch of the bars you might be doing to start turning on the face of the jump.
Does the GPR have both high and low speed ajustments? Is the damper obious when trying to turn the bars while on the stand? You might want less low speed damping.
I would try turning the bars in the air over a longer jump to verify to yourself that GPR didn't change the laws of physics on you!
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,788
- 35
Do you "flick" the bike as you hit the jump face?
A friend we ride with does that right as the front wheel hits the face of almost every jump and it keeps him consistently lower than me in the air, but it scares me too much to try to get the timing right for that.
A friend we ride with does that right as the front wheel hits the face of almost every jump and it keeps him consistently lower than me in the air, but it scares me too much to try to get the timing right for that.
