HP2 Steering damper

ovenpaa

ovenpaa

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I ride with road wheels on mostly bumpy B roads. Suspension is set to 7 clicks from bottom all round and back is set hard and very slightly high on the level and I have a small Puig screen fitted. I am starting to notice a fair amount of bar shake at speeds, not exactly tank slapping stuff but enough to get me to roll off sometimes. It could be I am getting closer to the limits on the bike than I did on the Adv or it could be my combination of height and weight (6'3" 14.5 stone) and suspension set up. Anyway has anyone else experianced this, and is it worth looking for a steering damper if indeed they exist?

Yes I know I could go slower but TBH it does not feel that fast.
 
Front suspension 7 clicks back from fully +,all 3 adjustments?That sounds way too hard.I would experiment with that.Whats your weight in Kilos?
 
addy3020 said:
Front suspension 7 clicks back from fully +,all 3 adjustments?That sounds way too hard.I would experiment with that.Whats your weight in Kilos?
Click to expand...
90 kgs - I was set to +12 all round but the rebound was far too loose and the front dived badly hence the change. I could do the standard 'bung wilbers springs and more oil in' but I am sure the front end should be capable of a fairly 'fast road' set up.

I could get WP forks on the Husaberg, Katoom etc right in 2 goes and without this front end flutter/weave thing
 
Steering Damper

Try softening the rear shock - a lower back end will have the effect of pushing the fork rake out a little - worked for me. The rear is way too stiff for me on the std setting anyway, have allways run the rear shock soft.

ps Also have a Scotts damper on the bars - excellent kit and a neat fit under the std bar mounts.

Cheers, Rick.
 
RickA said:
Try softening the rear shock - a lower back end will have the effect of pushing the fork rake out a little - worked for me. The rear is way too stiff for me on the std setting anyway, have allways run the rear shock soft.

ps Also have a Scotts damper on the bars - excellent kit and a neat fit under the std bar mounts.

Cheers, Rick.
Click to expand...
I always run the rear pre load high on my bikes to sharpen up the front end, maybe I have pushed it a tad far on this :) Does the Scotts damper make much difference, do you have a picture or model number?
 
ovenpaa said:
90 kgs - I was set to +12 all round but the rebound was far too loose and the front dived badly hence the change. I could do the standard 'bung wilbers springs and more oil in' but I am sure the front end should be capable of a fairly 'fast road' set up.

I could get WP forks on the Husaberg, Katoom etc right in 2 goes and without this front end flutter/weave thing
Click to expand...

The stock basic front settings are full srew clockwise and then back off -15 clicks.The clearance between fully screwed clockwise and fully unscrewed is 23-25 clicks if i m not wrong.You say you have them at +12 that is +4 clicks or more above the basic setting.Sounds too hard for your weight.I'm 100 kilos and i have the linear and progressive compression at stock basic setting (as per the manual) and the rebound softened 5 clicks,that is,first fully clockwise and then unscrewed 20 clicks.I did that only a couple weeks ago and it's softer but amazingly better.Me too i like to keep the rear shock harder and taller as far as the rebound is tolerable.In conclusion my sugestion is to try the basic settings in front,with the rebound softened a few clicks (- more than the basic).Also check the tires pressure.
 
ovenpaa said:
I ride with road wheels on mostly bumpy B roads. Suspension is set to 7 clicks from bottom all round and back is set hard and very slightly high on the level and I have a small Puig screen fitted. I am starting to notice a fair amount of bar shake at speeds, not exactly tank slapping stuff but enough to get me to roll off sometimes. It could be I am getting closer to the limits on the bike than I did on the Adv or it could be my combination of height and weight (6'3" 14.5 stone) and suspension set up. Anyway has anyone else experianced this, and is it worth looking for a steering damper if indeed they exist?

Yes I know I could go slower but TBH it does not feel that fast.
Click to expand...

I run the front setup as stock and the rear slightly soft as recommended by Simon Pavey (of Dakar fame). I also use a Puig screen and suffer none of the symptoms of high speed wobble. Even at speeds in excess of 120 MPH. :D

I tried setting up the rear suspension hard with street wheels fitted and the handling was terrible, just as you have found. :eek:

addy3020 said:
On second thought,it's most propably the screen that is causing you the trouble.
Click to expand...

Absolute rubbish. :rolleyes:
 
I'm 100kgs and have the front on standard factory settings and the back adjusted always level. I have been up to 200kph and have had no shake at all. I did get a little once at 100kph on the motor way (the front tire could have been soft). On gravel I can get some tiny shake at 160kph, but I run the tires at 25psi on gravel.

On my 650 Dakar I had bad steering shake. It was the front tire out of balance have you checked this.
 
steering damper

ovenpaa said:
I ride with road wheels on mostly bumpy B roads. Suspension is set to 7 clicks from bottom all round and back is set hard and very slightly high on the level and I have a small Puig screen fitted. I am starting to notice a fair amount of bar shake at speeds, not exactly tank slapping stuff but enough to get me to roll off sometimes. It could be I am getting closer to the limits on the bike than I did on the Adv or it could be my combination of height and weight (6'3" 14.5 stone) and suspension set up. Anyway has anyone else experianced this, and is it worth looking for a steering damper if indeed they exist?

Yes I know I could go slower but TBH it does not feel that fast.
Click to expand...

if you want one then try this guy in the states [onaxissports] [scotts /ohlins nice peice of bling ] log on to the us ebay and do a thorough search for hp2 stuff and they should appear ,im not promoting them but they are very reasonable what with the $/£ rate as it is , you will get clobbered with gordon browns pension fund but its still cheaper than anyone here , still to fit mine as im awaiting my new forks so don't want to do things twice , hope thats of help
 
Damper

Hi All,

Pic of the Scotts set-up in the HP.

The mount is the std for the HP2 from Scotts Performance in the US.

Exchange rates make it reasonable price but careful with the import tax/VAT!

Does make a difference, partic. on fast rocky going. Gives you confidence to press on without the worry of the bars being wrenched out of your grip by a big rock giving the front wheel a kick...

Cheers, Rick.
 

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Returning the rebound to +15 and softening the rear seems to have made a diffference. I am convinced it is not screen related and the benefit of the fly screen is too much to give up.

I will give it a proper test tomorrow :)

Edit - I run the road tyres at 37/36 - is this about right?
 
Hmmm...Did you say elsewhere that you've run out of rubber on the rear:idea?The bike is stable at 200Km/h with the SM set on.At least.Both me and a friend can't go faster because we have no screens fitted.What's the meaning of adding a stabilizer if you don't spot the cause first?
 
addy3020 said:
Hmmm...Did you say elsewhere that you've run out of rubber on the rear:idea?The bike is stable at 200Km/h with the SM set on.At least.Both me and a friend can't go faster because we have no screens fitted.What's the meaning of adding a stabilizer if you don't spot the cause first?
Click to expand...
The screen makes a big difference and means I can ride up to 200kmh (if needed) and not get blown off the back of the bike.

Thinking back the handling got worse when I moved from the standard +15 all round to +5 all round. I them moved to +7 but still had the weave, so I am now at +15 rebound and +7 compression. The changes were made to stiffen up the front as it was diving and clunking badly on rebound (topping out) Yes the back has run out of rubber and I could look at a bigger rim on the back but that would impact the speed of change of direction and anyway I am not a riding god, I just like to enjoy myself.

Normally I can get suspension right very quickly, I just seem to be struggling on this bike :nenau

Still think it bloody good though :D Just don't mention how often I have to fil it up....
 
ovenpaa said:
:D Just don't mention how often I have to fil it up....
Click to expand...
Same here:D
Anyway,though i can't understand your adjusting numbers i believe wrong adjustments is one thing and a severe instability is another.Yesterday,as we were looking over another HP2 of a friend,we fount out that all his front settings were full clockwise to the hard end.He weights 65 kilos.Still,for 20 days,since his last service,he was running it both with the dirt wheelset on the mountains and motard set with no problem.He told me with the motards the bike was perfectly stable with 200 Kms/h in the national road.Yes,if the settings are not fine you can't ride fast and enjoy but,that's about all of it.A problematic tire on the other hand...that could cause a real instability.And why you're talking about a new rear wheel?Just check the wheel and put a new tire on.
Also check the rear wheel screws.I had a same issue years ago and it was the nuts gone loose.:eek:
 
I ride my hp hard and have never touched the front suspension, other than lower the front forks down 25mm for adventure riding only. I have both sets of wheels and a sreen fitted. I don't seem to have the problems some are having after they adjust the front settings. :nenau
 
all the way in less five

We find wind all the way in and turn back 5 for both top screws. My frinds like -5 on the bottom screw but I go -8 as it gets rid of the little bumps on tar.
 
Thanks guys for all your inputs, I am sure the wobble is down to my suspension settings so I will take it back to standard and work from there. I came into work this morning on the 1150 Adventure and was amazed at how stable and smooth it was, turn in is a bit slower and it took a couple of minutes to remember the front end does not dive under braking but after that it was great, gone was the front and rear clunking, gone was the notchy gear change, gone was the constant vibration, it certainly lacks some grunt but with the Y Piece and remus it sure sounds better :)

What I am saying is the HP2 is a lot rawer and allowances need to be made, it has competition roots and should be accepted for what it is, I will use this tank of gas up and get back to the HP later this week.

Right, no more bitchin from me :)
 
ovenpaa said:
I came into work this morning on the 1150 Adventure and was amazed at how stable and smooth it was, turn in is a bit slower and it took a couple of minutes to remember the front end does not dive under braking but after that it was great, gone was the front and rear clunking, gone was the notchy gear change, gone was the constant vibration, it certainly lacks some grunt but with the Y Piece and remus it sure sounds better :)
Click to expand...

:blast
:eek
:mmmm ,,,What are you drinking?
 
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