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When I bought my bike a couple years ago, it had a GPR steering stabilizer on it. It was old, blown-out, no effect at all, and being a newbie, I appreciated it's shade of orange but wondered what the hell this thing was for?

I took it down to GPR near the border and asked if it could be fixed. 20 minutes later, they had rebuilt it for free. Cool!

A year later, I took it back, same thing, 20 minutes, no charge.

I took it back again today (about a year later) and thanked them repeatedly for helping our the previous two times, and could they please help again?

"Sure, no problem."

Uh- not to be picky or anything, but is there anything that can be done so I don't have to keep bugging you every year?

"Sure, I think I can do that".

20 mins later, the problem was indeed fixed:

They gave me an entirely new unit.

Nice.

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Hearing things like this means they will be getting my business sometime soon.

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When I bought my bike a couple years ago, it had a GPR steering stabilizer on it. It was old, blown-out, no effect at all, and being a newbie, I appreciated it's shade of orange but wondered what the hell this thing was for?

I took it down to GPR near the border and asked if it could be fixed. 20 minutes later, they had rebuilt it for free. Cool!

A year later, I took it back, same thing, 20 minutes, no charge.

I took it back again today (about a year later) and thanked them repeatedly for helping our the previous two times, and could they please help again?

"Sure, no problem."

Uh- not to be picky or anything, but is there anything that can be done so I don't have to keep bugging you every year?

"Sure, I think I can do that".

20 mins later, the problem was indeed fixed:

They gave me an entirely new unit.

Nice.

Good to hear that. I've had my 2 year old unit in three times for service - every time, rebuild, free of charge. Well it's leaking again. Last two times it started leaking after the first ride. I guess I'll have to make another drive all the way down there and see if they'll hook me up like they did with you! I'm getting tired of driving down there every couple months...

I'm currently looking at a stabilizer for the 950, the GPR is a top contender, but my experience with the one of the 450 (and hearing your story among others) is starting to sway me away. Being in the military, I won't live in San Diego forever and can only imagine what a pain it's going to be to have to mail it in for service every time!

Was yours a version 2?

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It is nice when a company is as interested in their product performance and keeping their customers happy, as they are in getting your check to the bank.

That also may help explain why you were so gingerly coming down white mountain :ph34r: .

I have been thinking about looking at a GPR for my husky. I have a nice new Motosportz damper sitting here on my desk that I only got to use for a few months, because the post wont work with my bigger fuel tank.

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That is great that they have been so helpful. Kudos to them for that. It surprises me.

But, why do they keep needing to be rebuilt? I for one use the Scott's stabilizer and have never had a problem with either one of mine. One of those is ten years old now. They still work great too. I am not sure if Scotts would charge for a rebuild but then again I rarely see any problems with them.

Another plus for Scott's is the sweep adjustment and two dampening adjustments (low and high speed) unlike GPR which is either on or off to some degree.

Just my .02

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I had a GPR on my YZ 400 and a Scott's on my EXC 400.......GPR all the way......the GPR is comparable in performance if not superior, much more user friendly, and the shop is local (they rebuilt my YZ400 unit once too......free of charge).....nice folks.........my Scotts blew out on me twice......rebuild wasn't free or local......

I think these things just blow out once in a while.....fact of life........especially if you crank'em up for sand as we all do......

I picked up another GPR for my 520.......love it......

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I took my WR450 down a few months ago. They installed the unit, bent my crossbar to clear it and sent me out the door happy.

During my time there, they explained the seals used in the leaking units are being replaced with wax impregnated seals. 3 cents per (old) vs 30 cents per (wax) but tests showed good results and should reduce the rebuilds.

They're local, and like locals. Pricing for locals is very good.....

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Nice endorsement.

My problem is what do you need a steerig stabilizer for? I have been riding motorcycles for over 50 years and have never ridden a bike with one. Enlighten me.

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Nice endorsement.

My problem is what do you need a steerig stabilizer for? I have been riding motorcycles for over 50 years and have never ridden a bike with one. Enlighten me.

Don't know that I'd have one unless the bike came with it. And now that I do, I want it to work.

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All I can say is doin' 50+ down a sand wash without the front twitchin' is a good thing. It's not necessary, but nice. Some of the moderate to higher speed (for me) rocky road/trail runs seem a little tamer as it stops the rocks from grabbing the front tire and yankin' the handlebars out of your hands.

During the Dash, I set it on 5 and just leaned on the pegs for directional changes in the washes. The front end was not following previous tracks or ruts, etc....

Just remember to turn it down when you need faster response.....ask me how I know....

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I had mine leak too, papaalex enlightened me that the cut outs\full circle part on the post can't come in contact with the bottom of the arm. You gotta make sure the top of the post is flush with the top of the arm. The post is a slip fit in the ring\post holder part.

Not saying this is the reason any of yours are leaking, but its possible. I was too lazy to read that part of the instructions when I bought it. They fixed mine no questions asked also and haven't had a problem since adjusting the post height. I'd definetly get another one from them if I needed it.

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I had mine leak too, papaalex enlightened me that the cut outs\full circle part on the post can't come in contact with the bottom of the arm. You gotta make sure the top of the post is flush with the top of the arm. The post is a slip fit in the ring\post holder part.

Not saying this is the reason any of yours are leaking, but its possible. I was too lazy to read that part of the instructions when I bought it. They fixed mine no questions asked also and haven't had a problem since adjusting the post height. I'd definetly get another one from them if I needed it.

Checked that every time I re-installed it. Still leaks after one or two rides. I think it might be a version-2 problem. I'll see what they say next time I bring it in.

With all the gas and time I've spent, I could have bought a Scotts... just saying... but then it wouldn't be orange... :unsure:

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I have had scotts for about 10 yrs and you should change the oil about once a year easily done there a 2 bleed screws remove them both and with a small plastic bottle with the proper fluid that they provide you just push the oil through until it comes out clean about a 5 min job. My son tried GPR brand new it leaked sent it back they replaced it with new and within a month it leaked (junk) just my 2 cents.

The sandwash and head shake are 2 of the problems you could encounter here back in the woods things hide under leaf cover or high grass that will take complete control away from you the damper stops a lot of that similar to a deflection from and unseen rock once you ride with one back in the woods you won't ride without one.

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All I can say is doin' 50+ down a sand wash without the front twitchin' is a good thing.

I don't see why this would be true Ken. I would want to feel as much of the ground the tire is contacting as possible. I use a very light grip on the handlebars allowing the front wheel to flow with the terrain-ruts or rocks. There is no need to try to muscle the front end through soft or rough stuff. It would seem like you would have less not more control with the contact dampened because I could imagine a time lag and a lessening of the feeling of the ground.

Why have these things become popular? Am I missing something here?

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All I can say is doin' 50+ down a sand wash without the front twitchin' is a good thing.

I don't see why this would be true Ken. I would want to feel as much of the ground the tire is contacting as possible. I use a very light grip on the handlebars allowing the front wheel to flow with the terrain-ruts or rocks. There is no need to try to muscle the front end through soft or rough stuff. It would seem like you would have less not more control with the contact dampened because I could imagine a time lag and a lessening of the feeling of the ground.

Why have these things become popular? Am I missing something here?

Don why not buy a used one to fit one of your bikes, take it out and ride a loop in rocks and sand and then ride it again without and give us a ride report. If you don't want to keep it, sell it for the same price you bought it for. I would be interested to hear your take on it. You could call it Flinstones vs Jetsons :unsure: . Just riding someones else's bike with one will not tell you much, as all bikes handle differently. Just a thought. :angry: Ken

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Don why not buy a used one to fit one of your bikes

Take it easy on him Ken, he's still struggling with the transition of wooden wheels to rubber tires :huh::unsure::angry:

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Why have these things become popular? Am I missing something here?

The simple answer is not all bikes and not all riders have the same geometry.

With that understood it is perfectly reasonable to have a bike/rider/suspension set-up to handle their desired terrain without one. The steering damper is supposed to be the last piece in the suspension set-up. However the more varying terrain one tries to tackle on the same set-up, the more aggressive a ride is, and lastly the longer a ride is (where even experienced riders will have their guard down)... the damper is an added piece of safety equipment.

Another thing I'm not sure you picked up about them (from your comments), is that they are a valved piece of suspension and are on the fly adjustable. That means you can turn the effect off, as well as have different effects at low and high speed compression damping (at least you can on the Scotts/Ohlins). For some riders using only to activate at high speed compression would be like a streetbike with ABS that hopefully never gets activated... oops... bad example... let's not start an ABS debate. :lol:

On an aside, I have a damper on my DRZ and immediately noticed a change in the front end not being to susceptible to wobble on the freeway, but in that case it was masking the fact that the bike was not set up for that kind of riding.

To best understand the effects, after a long day of riding get on a bike similar to your set-up that has a damper -- go back and forth over a tough section, alternately turning the damper on and off for each run (much in the way a suspension should be set up, only it's even quicker to do on a steering damper).

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All I can say is doin' 50+ down a sand wash without the front twitchin' is a good thing.

I don't see why this would be true Ken. I would want to feel as much of the ground the tire is contacting as possible. I use a very light grip on the handlebars allowing the front wheel to flow with the terrain-ruts or rocks. There is no need to try to muscle the front end through soft or rough stuff. It would seem like you would have less not more control with the contact dampened because I could imagine a time lag and a lessening of the feeling of the ground.

Why have these things become popular? Am I missing something here?

Don why not buy a used one to fit one of your bikes, take it out and ride a loop in rocks and sand and then ride it again without and give us a ride report. If you don't want to keep it, sell it for the same price you bought it for. I would be interested to hear your take on it. You could call it Flinstones vs Jetsons :lol: . Just riding someones else's bike with one will not tell you much, as all bikes handle differently. Just a thought. :) Ken

Some people will argue that a well sorted bike does not need a dampner... I'll bet most of us have never had one, and don't see the need. I accept that most people, once they have used one, use them from then on... THAT is enough of an endorsement for me...

I won't say I don't have the need, but I will say it is NOT my priority... I can find better things to spend my money on. Good spoingers... another set of rims... new plastic...FRCMX...etc.

When people start blowing by me in rocky sections or sand washes and I think it's my bikes fault, I may reconsider...

Flintstones vs. Jetsons... that's cold! B)

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Why have these things become popular? Am I missing something here?

The simple answer is not all bikes and not all riders have the same geometry.

With that understood it is perfectly reasonable to have a bike/rider/suspension set-up to handle their desired terrain without one. The steering damper is supposed to be the last piece in the suspension set-up. However the more varying terrain one tries to tackle on the same set-up, the more aggressive a ride is, and lastly the longer a ride is (where even experienced riders will have their guard down)... the damper is an added piece of safety equipment.

Another thing I'm not sure you picked up about them (from your comments), is that they are a valved piece of suspension and are on the fly adjustable. That means you can turn the effect off, as well as have different effects at low and high speed compression damping (at least you can on the Scotts/Ohlins). For some riders using only to activate at high speed compression would be like a streetbike with ABS that hopefully never gets activated... oops... bad example... let's not start an ABS debate. :lol:

On an aside, I have a damper on my DRZ and immediately noticed a change in the front end not being to susceptible to wobble on the freeway, but in that case it was masking the fact that the bike was not set up for that kind of riding.

To best understand the effects, after a long day of riding get on a bike similar to your set-up that has a damper -- go back and forth over a tough section, alternately turning the damper on and off for each run (much in the way a suspension should be set up, only it's even quicker to do on a steering damper).

Cool-clear and articulate explanation.

That said, I can say that I don't think I have ever needed one. On my Huskys the critical variable in handling was the Rake Angle! We regularly moved the tubes up or down in the tripple clamps to suit the terrain. Up and shorter rake for tight hilly terrain or down and longer rake for flatter and more high speed open terrain. The bike handling characteristics vary dramatically when they are moved. I even have alternate sets of tripple clamps for longer and thicker 40mm shocks for my WR390. This bike which would be set up and used for flat open high speed riding was then lousy in a tight sand wash. I don't see that a steering damper could have made much of a difference.

What would be a worthwhile gadget would be an on the fly power rake adjustment. Push a button and you could move the forks up or down in the tripple clamps to change your rake angle while riding. Something similar to the power tilt on an outdrive on a boat. The Husqvarna factory race manuals that came with the bikes detailed the principles involved in rake adjustments in detail. When someone invents one of these let me know.

Thanks Sandiegoland for the intelligent explanation.

Don

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All I can say is doin' 50+ down a sand wash without the front twitchin' is a good thing.

I don't see why this would be true Ken. I would want to feel as much of the ground the tire is contacting as possible.

I can still feel the ground. It's more like riding a missile. I use it in high speed sand mostly. It may be I'm a poor rider in sand or need to loosen my grip a bit. I just like it.

It was more of a "I'd like to try that" than "I need one of those before I die in a sand wash".....

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The Normans and their whole GPR operation are one the best customer service oriented moto aftermarket shops in the world (yes I said the world). Local for us is also a benefit as stated above, that is why I use Maxima (local access)products as well. GPR have also found themselves in the world stage as a supplier to some top line roadrace teams as well. As for function it really is about preference and feeling. My V4 rarely is set above 1, I used 3 in some sections of both H&Hs this year. In tight rocky single track, to be honest I could disconnect it and my very well suspended TXC450 works fantastically and drops into corners quicker. We can all go on and on, all the top offroad guys use them (stabilizers) but they go 100 mph+ where most of us are white knuckle at 60.

Note that when in tight mode you can really steer the back around the front in hard countersteering, its kind of a fun feeling when railing down a wash.

Disclaimer: my opinion about GPR is very positively biased, they used both my 06TE450 and my 08TXC450(IMS Tank) for prototype layout, so my last 2 bikes had full GPR sponsored stabilizers. R

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...Up and shorter rake for tight hilly terrain or down and longer rake for flatter and more high speed open terrain. The bike handling characteristics vary dramatically when they are moved...

Same reason many use them on sport-bikes too. Their sorter rake designed (along with shorter wheelbase) makes them susceptible to wobble or worse at higher speed.

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I found the stabilizer adds stability in soft soils. It kept the bike "wanting to go in a straight line" effortlessly without firmly holding the handlebars. A straight line required no effort. You could save your energy for other things. The bike seemed safer. The bi-product may be that you ride a little faster to reach your edge.

Beezzz

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Disclaimer: my opinion about GPR is very positively biased, they used both my 06TE450 and my 08TXC450(IMS Tank) for prototype layout, so my last 2 bikes had full GPR sponsored stabilizers. R

Hey do you think they need a Beta 525 for a proto type? :rolleyes:

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