Steering dampers are made for stabilizing a motorcycles front end when you are going around a bend, comming out of the corner smoothly, hitting a bump ect mid corner or to help if you should get into a tank slapper. Steering Dampers are generally a stock item on Sportbikes , but rarely are found on crusiers or touring mounts. Just because your riding a cruiser or touring bike doesnt mean it isnt benificial to have a steering damper installed.
In fact for people who have Corrected the .. Bagger wobble.... By installing a Bagger Brace ,True Trac , Touring Link ect have braced up one weak/flexable spot on the chassis, but the force travels to the next weakest spot which is the front Downtubes . A Steering Damper wont stop any flex but it will make any effect of flexing less abrupt.
Moreso a steering damper just makes the bikes handling smoother over midcorner bumps and twisty back roads .

http://www.bkrider.com sells steering dampers for touring bikes for 107$ and 99$ for cruisers . Thats cheap for handling improvment Installation is easy and only takes about 15 minets

 

Actually a steering damper has no benefit on a HD. Why - because cruisers use a relaxed steering geometry with lots of trail. The steering is self correcting. If you have wobble or head shake it is because the steering bearings are worn or loose. Fix them first.

A sport bike uses a steering damper because it has significantly quicker steering with much less fork rake and less trail. It also has a much more rigid frame to attach a steering damper to so occilation through the bike does not occur with a damper. Bottom line is if you have head shake fix your steering bearings and save the money on a steering damper.

 

I bought one from bk and noticed a diffrence but had to send it back because it leaked. Haven't got the replacement back so the jury is still out.

 

the differance between a Sportbikes and touring bike rake/trail is only a couple of degrees. It is self corecting if a person is riding at a slow pace but at normal highway speeds a steeering damper makes a smoother ride through sweepers . The tank slapper i was speaking of is if you would happen to hit gravel ect . AND THE .. BAGGER WOBBLE.. force definitly travels to th front end of the bike. Thats why GLIDE PRO added a stiff Polyurathane front engine mount in there swing arm stabilizer kits free of charge .

AV ULTRA I also had one leak, but that was after hitting an Overfilled (4 inches)Pot hole( pa roads are notoriously lousey) at 80mph and the damper hit the front fender . The replacement has been leak free for 3 years so far .

 

about time! i was in the process of fabricating a mount for the one off of a dyna to work on my road kings! i ride my bikes hard, and fast, so sweepers at 100 or so can get hairy on these big bastards. this means i can save the 150 bucks + fab time and get this one instead. very cool man, thanks for posting.

corb

 

just ordered one! 117 shipped! be there in a week. of course, i had it shipped to my mom's house. she will drop it off at my house, and when i get home from afghan land in march, i ll bolt her up, and see what she will do. if i like it, i ll order one for my other king as well.

thanks again JAKE318,
corbn

 

just ordered one! 117 shipped! be there in a week. of course, i had it shipped to my mom's house. she will drop it off at my house, and when i get home from afghan land in march, i ll bolt her up, and see what she will do. if i like it, i ll order one for my other king as well.

thanks again JAKE318,
corb

 

+1. "Bagger wobble" comes from the rear. It's not induced from the front unless the steering head is loose.
I'm saying this coming from a lifetime of sportbike riding. The steering geometry on cruisers pretty much eliminates any possibility of a "tank slapper".
In fact, I've never heard of happening on a Harley [touring bike];although, I know the Trike does have a damper on it which is interesting...

Cool topic. I'd like to see what you guys come up with.

lp

 

Front end wobble can be induced from the rear (unbalanced wheels, swing arm bearings/bushings), not just the neck bearings.

I see little need for one on the touring bikes. If you use the search feature, there are 8 pages or more on "steering damper"

That kit doesnt look like it would work with the front air baffle.

Trikes and sidecars have dampers for other reasons. In order to make the steering lighter on 3 wheelers, you use raked trees to reduce the trail, they have shake at lower speeds and a damper will eliminate this.

 

It does make a difference on the freeway, dosent follow large cracks like with no damper, imo very noticeable.