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Pic - Chris Power, resplendent in his sponsors gear:
Words - Chris Power:
Now I always thought that steering dampeners were for ladies who couldn’t “handle the jandal”… ladies being of course little boys/men, an jandal of course being their own bike. That was until the Easter Bunny visited me early in last week and lent me his to use… and since I now have one attached to my little RED SLED, they are now cool. Now I know what you're asking yourself, and unfortunately the answer is no, you won't become as cool as me if you get one too… Though surprisingly enough, not cool people can become cool all on their own, that shit comes in the colour RED ;-) and grows on trees in some parts of the country. Just look at Tuna! That man must of fallen out of the 'daddy coolness tree' and hit every branch on the way down, cause that man is as cool an a cucumber!!! (p.s. cucumbers are cool)
ANYWAY… the plan was try the Easter Bunnie's dampener out at the old boys Saturday Summer Scramble, held at Annandales farm in Taupaki, then take her to Round 2 of the Rodney Two Hour X country. (vasaline in toe)
To be honest I couldn’t really give it a good going over at the scramble on Saturday 'cause the track was in absolute mint condition. Dust was non-existent and grip was everywhere with berms to boot. I had the little 125 howling, it was capital O 4 orsome!!! So I rolled home, did the filter and oil and packed the van for Rodney.
First thing Tuna said was, “ohhhh you're gonna love this track”. Now does everyone get the same enthusiastic first impression? I hope so, cause it amps me for a wicked awesome ride. And his preaching was true to the tail. The second round of the Rodney Two Hour X Country Series was magic. I had some of the best racing ever on one of the best tracks ever… Super biggie up’s to Mr bulldozer man who put in the hard yards on the track… it was bad to the bone!
Now the reason it was one of my all time coolest rides is because it also felt like one of my safest rides. And I’m putting that down to the Easter Bunnie's dampener. I had my poor baby fully tapped everywhere I could and on those big bulldozed tracks, even reached top gear in some places. Not one single showing of unstableness, not a peep of head shake, and no way was the word tank-slapper ever coming into my vocabulary, and my Honda CR125 just tracked everywhere and anywhere. This was an extreme advantage in trying to keep up with Mac on the open stuff. Some of it was particularly rough in some spots as those there will know, but I felt I could just hold it open an she kept dead straight.
I reckon this was an integral part in being able to keep up with the in-form flying Mac. In the tight stuff it works great to, though I think if you're not used to it, it can tire your arms out a little 'cause you start using your arms instead of your body to turn your bike…
If you're not sure how the dampener works, I'll give ya a little run down. Mine has 8 settings, 1 being loose and 8 being hard. I’m able to change the settings on the fly which is a bonus. Now as you turn the handlebars it is stiff till about 2/3rds of your full lock, then comes free for the last third until you hit the stop. This is equal for both sides. So it's not stiff all through the movement.
Come have a look/play if you're interested at the next round. By the way – the little baby is a GPR brand damper distributed by Northern Accessories – just in case you want to get one.
I would rate one of these little thingies over an engine hot up any day, and only a fraction behind a good set of tires… shout outs go to the Easter bunnies at Northern Accessories, especially Steven Croad who got me onto thinking about getting one for me bike. I believe the smoother you ride, the faster you ride. And if you feel safe while doing it then you're only gonna get faster.
And of course, thanks Honda, Castrol, No Fear, Alpinestars, Spy Goggles, Power Adventures, Honda Riders Club OF NZ, and of course the good people at Rodney Motorcycle Club…
Be cool…
Chris Power #99/100
