bearair

[prairiemonster]

I'm glad that you like the results,I sure would like for you to make another report on the steering damper after you use it more.Is this a tube type and any kind of adjustments?
I have been thinking about one far awhile now but have a D/J widening kit, it looks real crowded in that area.
I think you may be the first one to try a damper on the 250 so give us some feedback about it,please.:)

[bearair]

Really? I thought someone else would have tried it by now. I found out from a Honda dealer that the steering stems are the same diameter, so just bought the same part number as the one for a 400ex. Had a Honda dealer back East that listed a 250ex damper, and it's the same number for both on their site.

The only problem I had mounting it, is that it can't be mounted in the upper location that's recommended for the stick type dampers. No matter what, you can't make it not hit the front brake line. Of course you could have a braided line and run it differently, but I'm still using the stock lines on her bike.

I ended up running it lower on the steering shaft and mounting the damper bracket on the frame tube just like the installation higher up would have called for. It works fine, but the stick protrudes past the bumper when the steering is deflected all the way to the left. Couldn't figure out a way to get around that without mounting the whole thing in a slightly different location and running the damper more sideways. If I'd done that, it would end up sticking out towards a control arm. I've seen pictures of people running them that way, but that's lower to the ground and seems more likely to get hit. My wife's pretty good about not stuffing the front end into trees, so I think we're okay!

One other issue. The steering travel lock to lock on the 250 is a bit more than the larger bikes for some reason. This makes it difficult to adjust the damper to get a small bit of leftover travel at both limits. You have to have a small amount of travel at the end stops or you'll end up blowing out the damper if you bottom it long enough. I ended up mounting the steering shaft bracket so that it's directly in line with the stick on the damper at the left steering stop. This makes it so that the arc of the circle moves the damper slightly less and allows for a small amount of travel remaining on both ends. The only thing it will affect is the amount of damping at the extreme left portion of steering travel. I ended up setting it to the fourth setting from soft. That's the center of the adjustment. I'm going to leave it there until she starts riding faster.

My wife raved about the damper this weekend. She's a small person and the front end liked to yank her around in ruts and when hitting bumps at an angle. She's convinced she's on a different machine after the damper. I'd highly recommend one of these.

[bearair]

Pics

[bearair]

Another

[bearair]

Last one.