CBR650F AliExpress Steering Damper, installed!!

[Chemical650F]

but why though? ive taken my cb650 to 155mph and it felt perfectly fine, mine sees over 100mph on almost every ride. i like the idea of the dampener i just dont see a point on this bike at all and IF i was going to get one i wouldnt get a cheap knockoff one. but hey thats just me.

As far as I am aware, there are no name brand dampers being made for this bike. I put it on because I can.

 

[Impatient1]

I drove up a rural dirtroad driveway recently that had a tree root in it, i thought i hit it head on but didnt and it did try to yank handlebars and dump the bike, i caught it but it was close, a dampner would've helped. We put 1 of the can am ryker add on dampner kits on my wife's ryker and she hit same root, dampner did its job. Granted its got 2 front wheels but we installed the dampner kit on hers for that reason, it darted around on the highway and with 2 front wheels any road obstruction was immediately felt in your hands. It came with that same cheaper dampner, you can upgrade to the ohlin

 

[User34]

The bike feels much more stable above 100mph with the damper. I will be keeping it

Hi, I came in to get some information about steering dampers for my 22 cbr650r. Yesterday I was riding at +200kph and felt the handlebars slightly wobble at some point so I released the throttle to slow down and not make the wobble worse, I never had that feeling before so I had to be sure it's not coming from the road surface or something, so I picked up speed again and did about 230kph to feel the same (-slight- you can feel it but cannot actually see it at the handlebars) wobble.

The road I used is extremely good, it connects both Asian and European parts of Istanbul and passes by the new airport (it's good!). So, it had to be the bike acting like that or something else affecting it. I have seen how terrifying those death wobbles could be and wish not to experience a sever one ever. There is one thing I have to mention which is high cross wind, I forgot to check the wind speed in the weather app but I believe it was no less than 20kph, today it's calm and shows 15kph.

My questions are:
1. Do high cross winds cause that wobble?
2. Do you trust chines products? I use AliExpress for all of my bike's accessories, but this item is not an accessory, it's a safety feature.

 

[Chemical650F]

In my experience wobble occurs when the front tire becomes unsettled from front wheel lift, a bump in the road, too much turning angle over imperfections, things like that. When the wobble comes on look far a head and try and keep your balance with your lower body as best you can and let the bars do what they’re going to do. Very high Crosswinds might be a factor in starting a wobble if you are not correcting against the wind perfectly. As far as I am concerned there has been only one steering dampener produced for the CBR 650 F. It does not matter to me what country developed the product if it is the only one around for my machine. As you said this is a safety feature and it should be on the motorcycle in my opinion. Maybe you can reach out to the company that makes the damper and check if it will fit the R.
I have about 800 miles with damper now, I Could not think of a reason why I would ever take it off. 👍

 

[User34]

In my experience wobble occurs when the front tire becomes unsettled from front wheel lift, a bump in the road, too much turning angle over imperfections, things like that. When the wobble comes on look far a head and try and keep your balance with your lower body as best you can and let the bars do what they’re going to do. Very high Crosswinds might be a factor in starting a wobble if you are not correcting against the wind perfectly. As far as I am concerned there has been only one steering dampener produced for the CBR 650 F. It does not matter to me what country developed the product if it is the only one around for my machine. As you said this is a safety feature and it should be on the motorcycle in my opinion. Maybe you can reach out to the company that makes the damper and check if it will fit the R.
I have about 800 miles with damper now, I Could not think of a reason why I would ever take it off. 👍

Tried going fast again yesterday on the same road with different result, I did about 240 kph yesterday morning when the weather was extremely calm (less than 10kph wind speed according to the weather app), and the ride was so smooth.

I am not sure if the added wind speed affected the bike stability or not last time, but then I was doing about 230 kph in about 20 kph wind hitting the bike from 10-11 o'clock (both cross and head wind maybe?), does that mean the bike cannot handle 250kph wind??? It might be why more powerful bikes have standard dampener installed from the factory.

It seems that you have made the right call by installing that dampener because like any other vehicle, the steering feels so light especially when accelerating or moving at high-speed. This felt quite uncomfortable with the 650R in the previous ride and rather dangerous that a wind blow could send you wobbling (not considering that doing 240kph in the first place is undoubtably dangerous in any bike, don't do that it's really dangerous and illegal).

Now that I have answered my first question, the second question is still there, can we trust the dampeners sold on AliExpress? I have looked at nearly all of the models there and they all seem to be from the same manufacturer with slight design change and all below 100$. I believe that adding some stiffness to the handlebars before hitting the throttle will make a difference.

 

[Chemical650F]

Tried going fast again yesterday on the same road with different result, I did about 240 kph yesterday morning when the weather was extremely calm (less than 10kph wind speed according to the weather app), and the ride was so smooth.

I am not sure if the added wind speed affected the bike stability or not last time, but then I was doing about 230 kph in about 20 kph wind hitting the bike from 10-11 o'clock (both cross and head wind maybe?), does that mean the bike cannot handle 250kph wind??? It might be why more powerful bikes have standard dampener installed from the factory.

It seems that you have made the right call by installing that dampener because like any other vehicle, the steering feels so light especially when accelerating or moving at high-speed. This felt quite uncomfortable with the 650R in the previous ride and rather dangerous that a wind blow could send you wobbling (not considering that doing 240kph in the first place is undoubtably dangerous in any bike, don't do that it's really dangerous and illegal).
d on
Now that I have answered my first question, the second question is still there, can we trust the dampeners sold on AliExpress? I have looked at nearly all of the models there and they all seem to be from the same manufacturer with slight design change and all below 100$. I believe that adding some stiffness to the handlebars before hitting the throttle will make a difference.

I would say that a 11-5 mph wind at 140mph might blow you around a little bit. Sounds normal to me. Once the wind gets over 25mph it does change how you need to maneuver the bike. You will need to fight against the wind to keep going straight at times. At the end of the day, it is your motorcycle, and no one can tell you for sure what is safe or not if they have no experience with the product. In my very personal and subjective experience I trust the dampener that I purchased on Ali Express. If you buy your own, it will not set you back a few hundred dollars or hours of time. Install is easy and even if you do not like the way it affects your motorcycle you can take it off and only be out 100$~ I say give it a try ! If you are frequently going over 130mph I think it will make a world of difference for you.

 

[User34]

I would say that a 11-5 mph wind at 140mph might blow you around a little bit. Sounds normal to me. Once the wind gets over 25mph it does change how you need to maneuver the bike. You will need to fight against the wind to keep going straight at times. At the end of the day, it is your motorcycle, and no one can tell you for sure what is safe or not if they have no experience with the product. In my very personal and subjective experience I trust the dampener that I purchased on Ali Express. If you buy your own, it will not set you back a few hundred dollars or hours of time. Install is easy and even if you do not like the way it affects your motorcycle you can take it off and only be out 100$~ I say give it a try ! If you are frequently going over 130mph I think it will make a world of difference for you.

Thanks, I might just give it a try and see.