WER report and Q

I'm not familiar with the WER, I have the GPR. I wouldnl't run it "full tight". You don't want to notice that it is there at first. If you can feel it, it's too tight. After riding a while, you'll see the difference in the lines that you are able to take without having problems. I very gradually started to trust mine. I had an oil leak that caused it to all of a sudden have no resistance. Over the course of two rides, I crashed twice and didn't even know why. Then going over a section of roots at high speed, I experienced head shake. That's when I knew my GPR was busted. Again, you should't feel it when your riding. It is just there to absorb the shock when you go over the rough stuff. After a while you trust it and not grip the bars so tight in those rocky downhills, root crossings, ruts etc. Just set it and forget it. After a while, you'll grow to appreciate it and you'll love it.
Put your bike on a stand and make sure you do have some resistance in the damper. I run mine at about " half tight".

I've had my WER for about 3 months and am running it about 1/2-3/4 turn off of full hard. I agree with bcVulcan that you shouldn't really notice it's there. If you want to see what effect it's having, unhook it and take it over the same nasties you just rode with it hooked up. You'll discover quickly how much it is helping.

To your point about the oil viscosity. Some guys do run heavier oils for certain applications and you'd certainly learn something by experimenting. I don't think the WER is supposed to have the dampening power of the Scotts or GPR. That's one reason I chose it - I ride mostly slow tight woods with quite a few rocks and logs. The higher speed, desert-type conditions, probably are are more suited to the Scotts or GPR.

If you had it set to "full tight" in the slow tight stuff, and didn't notice it, I'm thinking that it was actually set between zero and low damping. If it was set to full damping in the slow twisty stuff, you would be exhausted after a couple miles from turning the bars.

I don't own a WER anymore, and can't remember which way the setting dial works, but I'd double check your setting with the manual.

I just installed my WER last week and had my second ride with it today. I was not impressed with it at all. I guess I was expecting to see a dramatic difference. After talking to another kdx rider with the wer, he suggested that I ride a section of tight twisty root and rock filled single track with the unit dilaed in. Then ride it without the damper. I guess time will tell.
I also installed a flywheel weight last night and wasn't overly impressed with that either! :|
I guess i'm a picky person :think:

The WER instructions say specifically that you will NOT notice it on a stand. It reacts to quick, sharp motions, not slow ones. You're not going to notice it when riding but just wait until you smack a nice square edged rock with the side of the tire and you.....don't......crash!!! I'd done just that and had the whole bike jump sideways instead of just the tire deflecting- that's the damper in action. As the other rider suggested, try a rocky section with the damper on and then off. I ride 2-4 times a week and I see a big difference with the damper in rocks and sand.

If it were more noticeable, you'd just be fighting the bike and probably get arm pump....

I guess I should have added that I did notice it on straight high speed runs and on sandy areas.

Put your bike on a stand, and whap one side of the handlebars as fast/hard as you can.... simulate hitting a rock or root. You should be able to notice the damper when doing this.

It all depends........

On what you like.

Yes, WER says if you can feel it, it's too tight. Take the time to find that out for yourself. Personally, I don't give a rip what WER says if my personal experience is otherwise.....

...and it is.

I run mine 'full tight' all the time.

re: 'If it was set to full damping in the slow twisty stuff, you would be exhausted after a couple miles from turning the bars.'

Nope. Not on a WER. On a Scotts? You bet.

re: 7w oil.

Here's another 'fact' that is BS (imo): 'Everyone uses 5w oil.'

That's nice. I'll keep my 15W, thank you. I've tried both, I know how they work...and if 'everyone' else wants to run 5W, that's just great (for them)!!

Keep in mind that surely one of the reasons there is such a big price difference between the WER and the Scotts is the adjustability and features of the Scotts. The Scotts has both hi and lo speed circuits and you can adjust the damping angle. Yeah...those bells and whistles maybe not a huge deal, but it's nice to be able to adjust stuff, isn't it?


Wouldn't you like rebound adjustment on your forks? ;)

I've ridden with a Scotts AND a WER. The Scotts is a superior unit. IMO and all that disclaimer stuff. If you <insert name here> prefer a WER....that is peachy!!


re: not impressed with a FWW

Sorry...that does not make you picky. It makes you unable to discern differences in the operation of your bike. Well, I'm assuming 'not impressed' means you didn't take particular note of its presence. That may well be an incorrect assumption. If you could feel it just fine, but didn't like it, that's another matter. A FWW has an important impact in particular situations. If you don't ride in those situations it would have little effect and therefore be not particularly noticeable.

IF you can put 10 oz. on the end of your flywheel and not notice a significant difference in the operation of the bike (again, where it has impact), then you are not paying attention.

Just the facts, M'am.

Hard to argue with that CC

Seriously, don't take opinions from myself or anyone else with a whole lot more than a grain of salt. DO consider that there are differences of opinion...and the opinion that matters the most is yours!!.

Now...if you are tuning a bike for someone else to ride, maybe you should listen to what the rider says, but if it's YOUR bike...tune it to suit you!!

If you like IRC tires w/20psi in 'em...you just ride the heck out of 'em!!!

If you like your WER with 5W and one-turn out....you have a blast ridin' the wheels off your scooter!!

I'll wait for you at the top of the trail. ;)

canyncarvr said:

... I run mine 'full tight' all the time.

re: 'If it was set to full damping in the slow twisty stuff, you would be exhausted after a couple miles from turning the bars.'

Nope. Not on a WER. On a Scotts? You bet.

Click to expand...

I ran a WER on my KDX. New, stock oil. Full-tight in the slow twisty stuff, and you'd grow Popeye arms in no time. Unnecessary damping force for those types of conditions, resulting in unnecessary human force/effort to overcome.

With the WER, I didn't like the fact that I couldn't easily adjust the damping rate while riding. What would be fine for running the 2nd-3rd-4th rooted single track (80% of the time), made the bike a bear to handle in the 10% of the bar-stop to bar-stop tight stuff.

I now have a GPR 2.0 underbar damper waiting to be installed this winter. It has a big fat dial, front and center.

YMMV...

Well, 'thar 'ya go! I already have popeye arms...so I wouldn't notice! ;)

canyncarvr said:

Well, 'thar 'ya go! I already have popeye arms...so I wouldn't notice! ;)

Click to expand...

Me too!! How'd you get yours? :laugh:

I guess I say I'm not overly impressed because of the comments I've from other riders about how much of a difference the damper makes. I felt a little but not alot. Not as much as I thought i would. Just my $.02