[fullmetal]

so i was in the dilema of needing a steering damper to get through tech. The sv doesnt really need one since its a pretty stable bike, but its required in the rules so i needed one. i had bought a 2005 or 2006 gsxr stock damper off ebay for like $20 when i was going to buy the 05 sv, and i also picked up a bracket off of Doug Z for the conversion.
unfortunately, the bracket doesnt work on the 1st gen SV, so I was kinda SOL, and looking at at least $220 for a used SV damper (scotts rotary)
Well being The Full Metal Doctor, I came up with a brilliant idea this morning after working on some foundation details. The basis wasnt my idea but solving the problems with the original idea came to me.
Wayne, my fiberglass and leather guy who also happened to race the SV a few years ago was over helping me with suspension. I told him about the damper and he suggested if i could find a way to hang it from the fairing stay i would be golden. Since its such a short stroke it wouldnt work attached to the frame.
This morning I came up with this

I removed one of the fork pinch bolts and inserted the slotted plate that I had made under the bottom bolt.
Then I attached the damper below where the pinch bolt went. re-torqued the pinch bolt just to be safe (but really there are 2 more bolts holding the fork in place)
I lined up the damper and drilled through the aftermarket fairing stay. I dont know what the stock stay looks like so it might not be feasible on the stock unit.
I then inserted a 5/16" diameter all-thread rod through the damper mount, and the fairing stay. Marked it to give me some leway and cut it down.
Put a locknut and a washer on the bottom side of the damper, a nut and washer on the top of the damper. a nut and washer under the fairing stay, and a washer and 2 nuts ontop of the fairing stay.

I had to also trim the bodywork back a little bit to allow for the atr to sit where it was. i originally intended for the rod to go through the front side of the fairing stay closer (the otherside of the tach housing) but there is a support rod below the mast.

results
pros:
Cheap damper to pass tech with
cons:
cuts down lock to lock steering by 1/4" to 1/2" each direction. and thats with the damper adjusted almost all the way out. this sucks moving the bike around the garage/pit but on my short test run, cornering inputs were not effected. I will have to test it out at the track before I declare it a full blown success

 

[steadyeddie]

That looks a little scary to me. The forces the damper will put on the fairing stay will more than likely be too much for it to handle. The bolt will bend back and forth and possible weaken the stay. There is a reason manufactures mount the dampers to the frame, rigidity. If you were to get a tank slapper, it will tear your stay to bits, imo.

 

[fullmetal]

That looks a little scary to me. The forces the damper will put on the fairing stay will more than likely be too much for it to handle. The bolt will bend back and forth and possible weaken the stay. There is a reason manufactures mount the dampers to the frame, rigidity. If you were to get a tank slapper, it will tear your stay to bits, imo.

nothing gets engineered and produced w/o constructive criticism.
i didnt take actually being in a tank slapper into consideration, my main dilema was solving how to get through tech.
ive also had suggestions of sleeving the atr to make it more rigid, but like you and another pointed out the weak point of this is still the fairing stay. the closer to the base of the fairingstay that i could get this would be better.
another idea was going to the top pinch bolt and making an angle bracket that would come off the fairing stay mounting bolt.
Im thinking worst case scenario this weekend is roll through tech, yes there is a damper there (if they even notice) and then remove it for the races til i can refine the design down

 

[steadyeddie]

A bracket off the steering head would be the way to go. Try flipping the ear of the damper vertical and bring a bracket down from the steering head ( where the stay mounts). Make the bracket as beefy as you can. The design you have now, with the long rod, provides too much leverage against the stay.

In order to regain your steering lock you have to move the mounting point at the fork tube inwards a little. This will shorten the damper stroke enough for full steering lock.

 

[Meekrob]

Yea. The lateral forces on that threaded rod will defeat the damper completely. It will snap it off from side to side force within 10 min i'd guess. Tops.

D

 

[GixerJockey]

BRG Racing dot com...

They make an $85 kit to mount just such a thing to an SV...

 

[fullmetal]

i revised it a bit
moved the slotted plate to the top pinch bolt and that shortened up the atr considerably.

the atr would be cut to size
its ugly but it will get through the weekend, if not just tech
the thing i am having trouble with is losing lock to lock steering. i know on the track i generally dont go to full lock but right now im out 7/16" each way...
thank you Gixer Jockey. That kit will be on order after this weekend.

 

[GeorgeZboy]

Every time you get to steering "lock" you're actually stressing that all-thread to stay connection. If you leave it like that for the weekend, be exceptionally gentle with "full lock" maneuvering. (And hope you don't go down and shear the tubing.)

 

[Meekrob]

I doubt you will be able to put a significant amount of energy to that threaded rod. I'd be glad to be wrong, but the amount of energy a damper creates (if its working that is) is pretty significant. Thus the rather beefy attachment techniques on most bikes.

 

[p2im0]

Wow, the pictures on that www.brgracing.com are terrible. I just sent them an email asking for a few larger pics as I'm not comfortable forking out $85 for something I can't even see in the pictures.

 

[DougZ]

sheet, $85 for that..I need to raise my prices. LOL

 

[christineedadrink]

dude, that will NOT pass tech.
buy yourself a 41mm fork clamp and attach the center mount of the damper to that huge chunk of triangular aluminum bolted to the side of your faring stay mount.