PDX_Piggy
Junior Member
In my quest for some steering dampage I was thoroughly disappointed in the offerings for our FZ6. My last bike was a 07' SV650 and I loved it. I especially loved my GSXR steering damper. It was a simple linear/plunger style damper. They run somewhere in the ballpark of $25-40USD. A member over at SVRider.com, Nucular, made CNC machined aluminum mounts for the SV. They were bolt on and worked flawlessly.
So... I wanted the same great damping as I had on my SV. I started by tearing the front end off and seeing what the heck I was working with. The FZ differs greatly from the SV. The SV was minimal in the front end department and had a different frame. The FZ has a two-piece frame connected at the steering head as seen below. Forgive the hole on the left side, that was a mess up I'll explain in a bit...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630198/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
This is what I came up with using a late model OEM GSXR damper and about $8.00 worth of hardware store materials.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111702093/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965624948/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965626330/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111703579/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111705157/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630826/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111707727/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630826/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
And some measurements...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965632098/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965632098/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965633404/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
I had to shave off quite a bit of material on the lower triple to allow the damper to move freely left and right and still retain steering lock. Shaving off the material also allowed me to have full stop to stop motion. It was a lot of trial and error.
The fork mount is a simple piece of flat steel that I drilled two holes in. One of the holes was for the pinch bolt on the lower triple and the other for the mounting point on the damper. The damper mounted about 1.5" from the center of the pinch bolt hole.
I drilled a hole that was large enough to fit a bolt through for the mount on the GSXR damper. It was centered on the foremost portion of the steering stem as see below...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630198/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
It used the same size bolt as what holds the faring stay on. I used a simple M8 nylon locking bolt on the top and the same for the mount on the fork side. The pinch bolt on the fork is a M10x1.25. It is about 2x as long as the original pinch bolt. I used a simple nylon spacer to allow the extra room for the damper to be moved out. The pinch bolt loses no functionality in doing so. As seen below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7113009359/[/urll]
You lose the mounts on the bottom of the triple. The horn is mounted there along with the brake line mount. I moved the horn to where the go-thru is for the throttle cables. I bent the mount two 90 degree angles and it fits perfectly there. It doesn't interfere with any controls and still maintains it's functionality.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965629584/]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965629584/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
I haven't completed all the finishing touches yet. I plan on smoothing out all of my grind areas and repainting the lower triple. I need to color match the bolts and find some aluminum spacers for better rigidity. Overall, I am very pleased with the damper. It was very inexpensive and does what it's supposed to do. It clears all the front fairing plastics and doesn't rub on anything. Hopefully this helps someone!
- Z
So... I wanted the same great damping as I had on my SV. I started by tearing the front end off and seeing what the heck I was working with. The FZ differs greatly from the SV. The SV was minimal in the front end department and had a different frame. The FZ has a two-piece frame connected at the steering head as seen below. Forgive the hole on the left side, that was a mess up I'll explain in a bit...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630198/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
This is what I came up with using a late model OEM GSXR damper and about $8.00 worth of hardware store materials.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111702093/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965624948/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965626330/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111703579/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111705157/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630826/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7111707727/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630826/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
And some measurements...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965632098/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965632098/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965633404/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
I had to shave off quite a bit of material on the lower triple to allow the damper to move freely left and right and still retain steering lock. Shaving off the material also allowed me to have full stop to stop motion. It was a lot of trial and error.
The fork mount is a simple piece of flat steel that I drilled two holes in. One of the holes was for the pinch bolt on the lower triple and the other for the mounting point on the damper. The damper mounted about 1.5" from the center of the pinch bolt hole.
I drilled a hole that was large enough to fit a bolt through for the mount on the GSXR damper. It was centered on the foremost portion of the steering stem as see below...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965630198/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
It used the same size bolt as what holds the faring stay on. I used a simple M8 nylon locking bolt on the top and the same for the mount on the fork side. The pinch bolt on the fork is a M10x1.25. It is about 2x as long as the original pinch bolt. I used a simple nylon spacer to allow the extra room for the damper to be moved out. The pinch bolt loses no functionality in doing so. As seen below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/7113009359/[/urll]
You lose the mounts on the bottom of the triple. The horn is mounted there along with the brake line mount. I moved the horn to where the go-thru is for the throttle cables. I bent the mount two 90 degree angles and it fits perfectly there. It doesn't interfere with any controls and still maintains it's functionality.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965629584/]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61272837@N03/6965629584/http://www.flickr.com/people/61272837@N03/
I haven't completed all the finishing touches yet. I plan on smoothing out all of my grind areas and repainting the lower triple. I need to color match the bolts and find some aluminum spacers for better rigidity. Overall, I am very pleased with the damper. It was very inexpensive and does what it's supposed to do. It clears all the front fairing plastics and doesn't rub on anything. Hopefully this helps someone!
- Z