- Joined
- Mar 19, 2008
- Messages
- 2,383
- Reaction score
- 494
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure
Evening all
Just took my '06 950 on a quick two day one night blast to Groot Marico from Gauteng and back. Its my first run on this bike, I have previously done 4 days on my partners 950...all very much on dirt/gravel roads as far as humanly possible in todays world.
I don't recall having any issues on my partners 04/5 950 with head shake, but mine...oh my soul, did it shake its head...like a buffalo with a hornet in its nostril.
The previous owner had dropped the triple clamps down the forks a fair bit (8-10mm) and I had decided to leave it and just try that on the run into GM. Turns out that wasn't very clever. When running at about 90kph over rougher sections and deciding to open up a bit, well lets say somebody mucks with the focus button in your head as the shaking starts. My ride mate on this trip didn't have any issues, the occasional mild shake he reported.
Since that tends to sap/suck confidence out of you, this morning before we set off I returned the forks to flush with the clamps. It made things much better, but you still had to be quite gentle with throttle inputs at speed (above 90kph) over rougher stuff or corrugations.
Its classic head shake, under acceleration, front getting lighter and ....shake shake shake, shake your booty.
After a wash in the week, I will check the balance of my settings to see where things are at, but I must be honest, she rode well otherwise, absorbing hits ok, no pogoing or wallowing or anything. The usual rear traction issues these beast have and the tendency to run a bit wide in corners cos of the weight, all stuff I am sort of used to on these chunkier dirt bikes.
So, my question is, who runs a damper here and who not and why?
I know that a damper is for a symptom not the holy cure all, but for the interest of common knowledge, I am curious to hear inputs from other owners.
Cheers.
Just took my '06 950 on a quick two day one night blast to Groot Marico from Gauteng and back. Its my first run on this bike, I have previously done 4 days on my partners 950...all very much on dirt/gravel roads as far as humanly possible in todays world.
I don't recall having any issues on my partners 04/5 950 with head shake, but mine...oh my soul, did it shake its head...like a buffalo with a hornet in its nostril.
The previous owner had dropped the triple clamps down the forks a fair bit (8-10mm) and I had decided to leave it and just try that on the run into GM. Turns out that wasn't very clever. When running at about 90kph over rougher sections and deciding to open up a bit, well lets say somebody mucks with the focus button in your head as the shaking starts. My ride mate on this trip didn't have any issues, the occasional mild shake he reported.
Since that tends to sap/suck confidence out of you, this morning before we set off I returned the forks to flush with the clamps. It made things much better, but you still had to be quite gentle with throttle inputs at speed (above 90kph) over rougher stuff or corrugations.
Its classic head shake, under acceleration, front getting lighter and ....shake shake shake, shake your booty.
After a wash in the week, I will check the balance of my settings to see where things are at, but I must be honest, she rode well otherwise, absorbing hits ok, no pogoing or wallowing or anything. The usual rear traction issues these beast have and the tendency to run a bit wide in corners cos of the weight, all stuff I am sort of used to on these chunkier dirt bikes.
So, my question is, who runs a damper here and who not and why?
I know that a damper is for a symptom not the holy cure all, but for the interest of common knowledge, I am curious to hear inputs from other owners.
Cheers.
