Ducabike Steering Damper brackets with Ohlins

Noticed something about the Ducabike damper setup.


Watch the attached video of my installation on my 2019 Hypermotard 950SP.


I have the Ohlins damper set to max resistance. 20 clicks clockwise.

The bars are oddly still very easy to move, and at the end of the range, when the bar hits the stop, there is some creep in the damper rod which indicates some elasticity in the system not being taken up by the damper.

It indicates some flex/bend of other component(s), perhaps the ducabike attachment brackets.

Furthermore, I find it odd that at max resistance on the Ohlins damper the steering is still so relatively light. On a sportbike, 20 clicks of the Ohlins (max) pretty much locks the steering. Very hard to move. I guess the Hyper has a much great lever arm than the sportbikes. Off the bike, I confirmed the damper is nearly impossible to move at max resistance.


What say you?


[youtube]sT3qtf1oDVA[/youtube]

Further investigation, which I will catch on video when I get another set of hands, reveals that the center bracket actually flexes under load with max ohlins resistance.

Crappy damper bracket design seems to be the issue. Disappointing.

Got the below response. The damper function will be compromised by insecure mounting. The mount should not be designed to flex. That would make no sense.

Is a rear shock mounted to allow for the attachment points to flex under load?

Additionally, Ohlins does not restrict the settings to any other than less than 5. It does not say anywhere that max settings are contraindicated.

Unfortunate that Ducabike has no desire to address an obvious flaw.

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Dear customer,



As suggested by Ohlins, the steering damper musn’t be set to the maximum resistance because the bike should be very difficult to ride.

Anyway the problem about the design you’re talking about isn’t a real problem but a precise choice: the system is a damper of the road vibration and forces, so it has to be flexible!



We sold about 1.000 pieces, we tested it for a thousands kilometres and we’ve never had issues about. We hope you’ll try it and enjoy the ride.

Regards



Marco


OFFICINA GANDOLFI

Via M.Serenari 33/E, Castel Maggiore - Bologna (Italy)

Phone:+39 051.328462

Web: www.ducabike.com E-mail: [email protected]

The issue is more about the fixed mount location in relation to the axis of rotation. But there aren't a lot of location options with the Hyper. Because the fixed mount is so close to the center of rotation the damper stroke is much less than a sport bike. That's why it feels so easy to cycle when it is mounted vs cycling the damper by hand. The stroke is much shorter than a typical setup. To improve the damper effectiveness you would want to move the fixed mount (damper mount) further away from the stem (so towards the rider). That being said because the stroke is so short any flex in the system is going to have some effect on the stroke distance as well but not so much that you feel the difference.