I was interested in installing one on the '91. Anyone have one? Custom?

 

I'm not aware of anyavailable off-the-shelf steering damperto the CBR 1000 F.It is a verystable bike that will not wobble at speed as long as tires and chassi bearings are OK. In case you modify the bike (high power or a low gearing) so the front becomes unstable, the situation is different and a steering damper will be useful to stabilize the bike at touch-downs. The option will then be to fabricate a custom solution; e.g. to buy a steering damper with sufficient stroke (e.g. 125 mm) and secure it by uniballs to a fork tube and a fixed point inthe frame.



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I went three teeth up on the rear sprocket and ever since then when I accelerate hard the front starts to come up.

 

What is your rpm at 100k . Mine gets head shake at hard braking ataround 200k but if i let the brakes off than on again its OK.

 

I forgot your speedo drives off your front sprocket so it wont change mine is off the front wheel

 

I don't think I've ever checked. That's about 60 something mph? I'm getting ready to ride shortly I'll check and let you know.

 

Here are some pics that shows the steering damper solution on my bird.



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One of the issues is also the stabilizers aren't really effective on 550 pound bikes, like the CBR.
Going down three sprokets means you also need to add more rear spring preload, and a stiffer rear shock. It's chassis induced so there isn't much a stabilizer is going to do. Cure the chassis flex and work on the suspension to stiffen it up, or get a GSXR, or a CBR RR instead.

 

Good point.

If the chassi components have a lot of flex a steering damper can even make the wholebike more prone to weave if the frame-to-fork joint is to stiff. The situation is also the same on sport bikes, i.e. it is important to not adjust the steering damper to hard.

The fork was stiffened and the rear shock replaced to a fresh and modern unit on my bird before the steering damper was added. The steering damper then effectively suppressed the light wobbles that occurred at touchdowns and hard out of corner accelerations. The steering damper is adjusted on the light side and it definitely has a good effect in these situations. It will not beset harder, to avoid any chassi weave that would be very dangerous at high speeds.

The end result is also as you say. A modern and light sport bike will still have a sharper chassi. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t do a lot to improve the chassi on an old and heavy bike and stronger fork springs is usually action #1.

 

So in other words. update/rebuild the suspension before even remotely thinking of a dampener?