Steering Dampers and Fitting Kit Eliminate Steering Weave and Wobble
Reactive Suspension offer steering dampers and fitting kits from Ohlins and Sprint along with fork clamps and spare parts, we also offer an upgrade for stock Ohlins dampers fitted to Aprilia's and Kawasaki's.
The steering dampers we supply have readily available spare parts, should your damper be damaged, leak or require a service, the work is carried out here, in house, a lot of manufactucturers insist that the damper is sent to Europe for service or repair.
About Steering Dampers
Anybody who has experienced a serious headshake or tankslapper will know what a frightening experience it is, especially if it's vicious enough to knock the pads back in the calipers.
More and more bikes are being built with steeper head angles to speed up the steering, the quicker the steering the more likely it is that these problems occur which is why many bikes are now fitted with a steering damper as standard.
Like all suspension stock suspension components standard steering dampers are massed produced, poorly performing items with no adjustment. The result is a damper that may feel OK at low speeds but is useless at high speed or makes manoeuvring at low speed hard work but feels OK at high speed.
Stock steering dampers usually have no method of temperature compensation so the damping fades with heat and often have air in the fluid giving a dead spot at mid stroke, the damper then has to move a certain distance before enough force is generated to create damping, once that distance is magnified at the bars it can be possible to have a serious headshake or tankslapper before the damper starts working.
Öhlins Steering Dampers
Öhlins steering dampers are pressurised to give instantaneous damping even on small movements preventing any headshake before it can develop. The design also allows for temperature compensation ensuring the damping characteristics remain constant at all working temperatures.
The Öhlins dampers have a wide range of adjustment and are available in different five lengths/strokes. Öhlins also have a range of fitting kits complete with a damper and mounting brackets, for bikes not within that range we can also supply Ohlins dampers with fitting kits from other manufacturers.
Fork Clamps
The steering damper fork clamps are CNC machined from aluminium and anodised for protection, they are secured with bolts either side of the clamp so that the fork doesn't have to be moved to allow fitting. Usually used to attach the steering damper to the fork for side mounted dampers they can also be used for bikes such as GSXR 1000's where the stock mounting lug on the yoke has been damaged or broken off in an accident, saving on the expense of yoke replacement.
Available in sizes from 41mm - 55mm.
Sprint Steering Dampers
Sprint offer 2 dampers, the Pro Race and the SXC, the Pro Race is the original Sprint Damper with a wide range of adjustment, designed to allow for temperature variations and fitted with low friction seals and bushes, it's an excellent light weight damper. Available as either a damper by itself in different length and stroke options or with a mounting kit, it's an extremely versatile damper.
The Sprint SXC Damper is a further development of the Pro Race damper used specifically for mounting across the frame using the fitting kit supplied with it. Featuring the usual high standard Sprint build quality with low friction operation it offers a superior performance to many more expensive brands.