New 07 600RR now comes with HESD like on 1000RR.

I'm personally NOT happy with that choice Honda made. I ride a 1000RR from time to time& I have to say that the steering feel is not nearly as direct & connected as on my 2006 600RR. Kind of like a Porsche 911 steering is to say a Camaro or Mustang. Worlds apart in directness & feedback & response. HESD feels overly boosted & artificial to me.

Just my opinion. I can understand the extreme conditions of track riding making all safety equipment a clear choice. But for 99.9% of what we do on the street, I think a dampner is not necessary nor desireable.

 

FRETLESS
HAHA I got asphalttires and with the rubber roads I never get flats.
Seriously though an Ohlins dampner is a nice piece of hardware and it doesn't hurt to have one but when it comes down to it the dampner will never replace the skill to handle the situation.

 

I will say that the reason the manufs are starting to add dampers to their bikes is to have that extra little gadget to advertise especially the HESD, its all about the ads they can run about it and the extra sales that it might help bring in, not necessarily because its needed.

HOWEVER...

Fret, it sounds to me like your assuming:
A) No new rider ever makes a mistake that could cause a tank slapper
B) Every rider not only knows how to handle a tank slapper but also has enough experience to do so without hesitation

unfortunately TANK SLAPPERS DO HAPPEN, its a fact of life as long as sportbikes are fast, people will be getting themselves into trouble before they have the experience to get themselves out of said trouble. Do those people deserve to crash? Not quite. You can buy a steering damper, you can't buy experience so I say its a good investment and in all honesty its easier to convince someone to get a steering damper than to have their suspension set-up or to do a school to learn how to ride properly. Sometimes with the squidly types or the newbies you just have to take what you can get to make sure they don't f' themselves up trying to keep up with the other squids

 

First time caller long time listener!

1. A long time track racer says that when you get a true "tank slapper", get your hands away from the bars and let the bike do its thing. If you try to grap hold of the bars YOU WILL CRASH!!!!!!

2. If you like to ride your bike hard, the bars will shake when your front tire lands/barely off the ground. This is definitely not fun!!!!! Just relax!

So my answer is YES! Steering dampners are a safety thing and it makes sense that all manufacturers are now including these on new bikes. It is a liability thing!!!!!!

 

ARKANSASHOG
Do me a favor and elaborate on this for me cause I don't understand the logic here.But if it works for you go for it.[sm=icon_rofl.gif]

 

Trying to fight the slapper could injure or break your wrists, because your efforts to stop the tank slapper will actually make it worse...these are the "Survival Reactions" that Keith Code talks about...things that your body instinctively does to protect it's self, but can be dangerous on a sport bike...the trick is to stop it when it's head shake, or a little wobble and like I mentioned you, keep on the gas, stay loose on the grips and ride it out...essentially if you constantly remind yourself to be relaxed on the bars it will become second nature, so in effect you'll always be ready for head shake.

I saw a video of a guy who took has hands completely off the bars during a slapper, but he crashed because he hit a wall...it wasn't pretty.

Woody, I'm not assuming every rider knows how to handle a tank slapper, but if my words "stay on the gas, relax on the bars and ride it out" pop into someones head who doesn't have a damper...in my opinionthey'll be better off than the dude who felt is front end wobble once and ran out to buy a damper because all his buddies told him to get one. Most of us learn from our mistakes, and want to find ways to prevent them and I think rider education is the best...then get the gadgets.

 

thats great for the riders on this board, but what about the other 10 million that buy a new 600 and never hear that advice???

as I said, I completely agree that rider education is most important but the reality of it is, most riders don't get that education and no matter how many internet boards you post it on, not everybody will hear the advice they need to.
Last time I went to an MSF course nothing at all was mentioned about tank slappers, because they all focus on cruiser riders (even though more than half the class were wanting sportbikes).

 

LOL...there's no hope for them and I bet they don't know a damn thing about steering dampers either...they're all going tocrash a horrible crashas they go down from tank slappers You'll hear about it in the news...

 

Good debate!! I personally have never ridden with a dampner so I cant argue.

Fret, no snow?? West michigan is hammered and cold. Car said -20 f and abou 16' of snow!!!!

 

In the Detroit area, we have around 2 inches, the roads are clear, but like you mentioned the temperatures have been zero and below and that's what has stopped me from riding in the last few weeks...up until then (even down to 15 degrees) I've been riding.

Right now it's just bad for your health to get on and ride...even with the best gear!