to the SPORTBIKE install instruction PDF for the GPR

Steering Stem Nut (SSN) Chart
If your bike is listed below, make sure you use the supplied GPR SSN that came with
your kit. DO NOT use either the stock SSN or the stock washer w/ your kit if you
have one of these bikes:
Nut A 954/929/CBR600rr/CBR1k/00-04RC51?/F4/F4i
Nut B 99-01 R6
Nut C 99-02 SV650, 99-02 SV650S
Nut D 03-04 SV1000S/650/650S
Nut E 00-01ZX9R
Nut F 96-03 ZX7R
WARNING: Steering your motorcycle is as essential to safe riding as
wearing the proper safety equipment, frequent maintenance and
additional safety procedure practices before, during and after riding.
Improper installation, service and/or maintenance of this product may
cause injury or property damage. Read through these installation
instructions thoroughly before installing this product on your bike.
Only someone who has an extensive and thorough knowledge of
motorcycle mechanics should install this kit. For assistance or
additional installation information please contact your friendly GPR
Technician
GPR Stabilizer 290 Trousdale Drive, #A Chula Vista CA 91910
619.422.5771p 619.422.5768f [email protected]
www.GPRStabilizer.com
Installation Instructions &
Owners Manual
Sport Bike
Dec 2004
Sport Bike Damper Kit
Installation Instructions
DISCLAIMER: All GPR Sport Bike damper kits are manufactured to be used ONLY
w/ the stock top triple clamp and frame. If either is modded, aftermarket or crash
damaged, the kit will not install properly and GPR will not be held responsible for
the consequences of improper installation due to this or any other improper
mounting or modifying. The provided instructions must be followed precisely, as
failure to do so can result in the GPR damper kit being installed incorrectly. An
improper installation may lead to a variety of undesirable steering problems. Please
take your time and carefully follow the installation instructions. As always, give us a
call if you have any questions, we’re more than happy to assist you in getting the
damper kit mounted on your bike properly
1. Remove the stock Steering Stem Nut (SSN) and washer from the stock top triple
clamp steering stem. Carefully set the stock nut aside, as you may be using it later.
Bikes requiring a specific GPR SSN to replace the stock SSN are listed at the end of
this installation sheet. If your bike is on the chart, throw you stock SSN in the
toolbox along w/ the washer, as you may need it at a later date if for any reason you
need to remove the GPR kit from your bike. Stock SSN’s that are either ‘domed’ at
the top or ‘flanged’ at the bottom will definitely NOT work, may lead to problems
and should NOT be reinstalled during the baseplate installation. See #2 below for
further instructions about both SSN/Steering stem and arm clearance issues
2. With the stock SSN and washer removed, place the GPR Baseplate over the
steering stem on the top triple clamp and reinstall either the stock SSN or the GPR
SSN provided. Torque SSN down to the recommended specs as per the owner’s
manual for your particular bikes make and model. NEVER reinstall the stock washer
that came on the bike! The baseplate is now your new washer. If you do accidentally
use the stock washer, the arm on the stabilizer will most likely ‘rub’ on the nut. It will
be too high, potentially locking the steering and handlebars, thus making your bike
unsteerable and unridable. DO NOT ride your bike until all installation steps have
been completed and you can visually verify that there is clearance between the arm of
the stabilizer and the steering stem and/or SSN. Once the installation is complete, at
the #1 setting you
Service, Maintenance & Warranty
Your GPR Stabilizer is guaranteed free of manufacturing defects for life. If we
manufactured it poorly and there is some quality of craftsmanship other than
cosmetic defects that adversely affects either the damper, rider and/or bike, at our
discretion only will we either replace or repair the damper. This limited warranty
does not apply to crash damaged bikes or dampers. If you have a crash damaged unit,
just let us know what happened and if we can we’ll repair any damaged non-warranty
damper for as close to our manufacturing cost as possible. We want the dampers back
on your bikes ASAP in full working order, w/o a lot of out of pocket expense to
either of us. The damper is the only part of the kit that has a limited lifetime
warranty. Any baseplate, postmount, arm or hw only has a 90 day warranty from date
of purchase, no matter how much or how little product usage there was in that time
frame. Seals are warranteed for only 30 days after purchase, no matter how much or
how little product usage there was in that time frame. You will need to furnish us w/
a copy of the original receipt of purchase for any warranty/repair action to be taken
Maintenance? There really is none. Wipe the outside down occasionally w/ a solvent
free cloth. Remove, clean, re-grease and reinstall the pin every few hundred miles or
every few months. Remove the damper and clean any debris off the
baseplate/postmount area and re-install. You may need to add a small amount of fluid
and re-bleed the unit as well, but it’s very easy and we can get you instructions on
that. You will get used to the damper very quickly and at some point between 18-24
months either the fluid and/or seals may fade or wear out. Sometimes they do,
sometimes they don’t, it is all dependent on how much you ride. If you ride every
weekend versus once a month there will obviously be different wearing effects on the
damper. As seals/fluids deteriorate, the damper may feel sluggish, might appear to
dampen more on one side or the other, may have no noticeable damping from 1-3 or
4-6 and/or exhibit an equally even wider variety of abnormal handling characteristics.
This is very normal; as the seals and fluids do fade and age just like your shock seals
and fluids and do need to be replaced with age and usage. For the most part, as this
happens, we all just slightly turn the damper up to a higher number as needed per the
age and usage of the damper. If you ride hard and punish your equipment, you’ll
need a little more frequency in replacing your seals and fluids, either on your own w/
our seal kits or fill out the service form, send it in and we’ll put in new seals and fluid
for you for a reasonable fee. Virtually every damper we rebuild is back to the same
functionality as it was when brand new, just w/ a few new seals and fresh fluid
If your bike is going to be sitting for a while or in storage, it is a good idea to twist
the dial both clockwise and counter clockwise a dozen times or so once per week.
Long time frames of inactivity and storage have a tendency to dry out the seals and
they sometimes stick to the dial or body. When you do decide to go riding or adjust
the dial after a long time of inactivity and a seal has stuck to the dial or body you do
run the risk of tearing or nicking the seal, resulting in both fluid loss and poor damper
performance. Starting your bike and letting it idle for a few minutes keeps the seals in
the engine lubricated w/ fluid, so turn the dial periodically and that will keep the
damper seals lubricated as well.
Getting Started
If you have never ridden w/ a steering stabilizer, you need to give yourself some time
to adjust to how the damper affects your steering. It may feel weird, different, stiff,
etc, right when you first get on your bike after installation. The purpose of the
stabilizer is to decrease, minimize, or eliminate any/all headshake that occurs for a
variety of reasons, mostly speed related, so a small amount of time needs to be spent
adjusting your riding style and damper settings at low speeds. Potholes, wet/oily
roads, road debris and/or aggressive braking/accelerating can all cause a little
‘twitch’ in the front end that is now either gone or so manageable that a potentially
dangerous and expensive crash has now been avoided, sometimes several times per
day or per ride
What settings should I use? Tough question, as it’s different for everyone. Some
riders like very light damping while others want super stiff steering. Obviously you
want different damping on the frwy at legal speeds versus track days that you’re
pushing 140-180 mph. With over 120 degrees of settings, you should definitely find
several settings that work w/ your riding style and the road/track conditions you
encounter. A good rule of thumb is to always start at the #1 setting until you get used
to the damper. At #1, the fluid flowing through the stabilizer’s ports are unrestricted.
There is no off position, the damper is always active, but most riders find that the #1
setting is ‘virtually off’, as there isn’t too much of a noticeable difference in stock
steering vs dampened steering at either low or high speeds. Even if the stabilizer is
set to the #1 setting, there is still enough resistance and high speed circuitry active
that if you do forget to dial up the stabilizer and crank the throttle and your front end
does get that ‘twitch’, the fluid in the stabilizer will absorb enough of the violence of
the headshake to allow you to throttle down and safely adjust the setting to a higher
number before continuing down the road. Very cool feature should you get on the gas
hard w/o remembering to adjust the damper to a higher setting first.
Now that you’ve mastered getting around town on the #1 setting you’re ready to start
experimenting w/ how different settings work at varied speeds and road conditions.
Most riders find that as the rate of speed increases so does the need to dial the
stabilizer up to a higher number and stiffer setting. The higher the number on the
damper the more you are restricting the fluid that flows through the port holes, thus
making the steering of your bike harder and stiffer. There is a ‘sweet spot’ or several
sweet spots you will find the longer you use the damper and the more you get used to
it. As stated before, it may be different for every rider, but it should be fairly easy
and shouldn’t take all that long for you to find settings that allow you to both
maneuver the bike very well at all speeds, neither too stiff nor too soft, while
properly damping the front end to manage your headshake at higher speeds.
If for any reason, you find yourself riding at only the far end of the spectrum, #1 or
#6, and you feel you need more or less damping, just let us know and we can walk
you through a fluid change or you can send the damper to us and we’ll swap out the
fluid for you. With either a 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30wt fluid to choose from, we have fluids
that can be used to achieve whatever result you are looking for
should be able to sit on the bike w/ the engine off and freely move the handlebars
back and forth smoothly from lock to lock, without any binding or noises coming
from the damper area. If not, check everything again or give us a call. Select bike
model baseplates have set screws that help to keep the baseplate centered and prevent
side to side rotational movement. It is critical that you NOT over tighten these set
screws and equally important that you use permanent loctite to keep the set screws
from vibrating loose. They are ‘set’ screws; they just sit there and aren’t designed to
be super torqued down. Loctite is also critical, as repetitious aggressive high speed
riding and high speed front end vibration may cause the baseplate to rotate and
become loose if the set screws are both overtightened and/or non loctited
3. With the baseplate in place and torqued down properly, remove the stock gas tank
bolt(s) from the threaded gas tank bracket inserts in the frame. Toss ‘em in the
toolbox for now w/ the other stock components you don’t need. Place the GPR
Postmount directly over the gas tank bracket threaded inserts in the frame and reinstall w/ the longer M6x30MM Socket Head Cap Screws supplied w/ the kit. Hand
tight is fine for now, as you may need to remove the postmount so you can remove
the pin from the postmount to set the pin height. Once the postmount is secured hand
tight, lightly grease the pin and place it into the postmount opening located between
the two gas tank bolts. Make sure the slotted side of the pin is facing up and that the
flat sides of the pin are running front to back, not side to side. The pin may be very
tight in the postmount and you may have to use a punch to punch it out or punch it
back in if you need to remove it to set the pin height. If the pin and/or arm is not
super tight in the postmount and arm slot, that degree of looseness is magnified 10x
when you get any high or low speed tank slappers or headshake. In addition to the
pin being tight inside the postmount, the flat sides of the pin should also be very tight
in the arm slot as well. You may need to work the pin back and forth inside the arm
slot w/ the damper and pin off the bike, as it may be too tight to be pounding on it
while the stabilizer is mounted loosely on the bike. Both of these situations are
normal, the pin/postmount fit and pin/arm slot fit is extremely tight and you may have
to do a little work or ‘massaging’ to get the components lined up properly. Only after
the pin height is properly set should you torque the tank bolts down to the
recommended torque specs per the owner’s manual for your bike’s make and model.
4. Once the baseplate and postmount are installed and torqued down properly, mount
the damper to the baseplate and correctly setting the pin height. Simply place the
damper on top of the baseplate and hand tighten the two M6-1.0X25MM Socket
Head Cap Screws that secure the damper to the baseplate. Hand tight is fine, as you
may have to remove the damper to set the pin height. Once the damper is secure, you
should check to see that the pin is relatively close to the center of the slot on the arm.
If your pin is very close to either end of the slot on the damper arm, give us a call,
your damper kit may not be lining up the damper on center of the steering stem or
you may have other issues. If your pin is centered, you’re almost done. Once the pin
is centered in the slot, you need to set the pin height, if necessary. The top of the pin
should rest flush w/ the top of the arm, not higher nor sitting lower than flush w/ the
top of the arm. If either of the above scenarios are present during installation and you
do not correct the problem, you could irreparably damage the damper. The internal
damping mechanism over time will essentially proceed to dig into the body or lid and
destroy your damper. In most cases, by impeding the natural
sweeping motion of the damper vane you may also cause the bike to become
unsteerable and it will seem like the steering is locked, it might be, similar to how the
#2 Installation Instructions specify what may happen if your arm/SSN/steering stem
are contacting each other
5. Setting the pin height is incredibly simple, as the collar on the pin is 'press fit' and
designed to move up or down, but only w/ a little bit of effort. To lower the pin
height, just place the pin into the postmount and slowly tap it with a punch and/or
hammer, slowly moving it down until it is flush w/ the top of the arm. This is most
easily accomplished while the postmount, baseplate and damper is on the bike. .
Your postmount, baseplate and damper should be securely fastened hand tight in
order to see if the pin needs to be moved up or down. If it's too low, you may need to
remove the postmount to take the pin out, but only if it’s too tight to remove by hand.
Once removed, punch it out of the rear of the postmount w/ a hammer and punch.
Once the pin is removed, flip it upside down, put it back into the postmount and once
again, give it a few taps with a hammer. Remove the pin, flip it again, check the
height and repeat each procedure if necessary, it's just that easy. Once the pin height
is correct, double-check that all bolts are torqued down to the proper setting and set
your GPR stabilizer on the #1 setting
Correct Pin Height
INCORRECT Pin Height
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PIN OR SLOTTED ARM in your kit, You most likely
have our new patent pending 'pinless' style sport bike damper kit, an exclusive design
only being offered by GPR and currently available on the 04-05 Honda CBR1000,
2004 Yamaha R1 and Kawasaki 2005 ZX6R as of late 2004. This new design is
exclusive for street bikes only. The slotless arm is secured in the postmount via a
pinchbolt and offers the rider the most precise steering control available as any and
all movement of the handlebars is positively transferred to the damper and not
through or to any of the mounting hardware. This new mounting method was
developed specifically for our international racers on tracks where speeds were in
excess of 200 mph. We are in the process of integrating this design to all of our
streetbike kits, of which select kits will be released monthly until all of our streetbike
bike kits are updated and pinless.
As there is no pin height to set, you can skip that step. As explained earlier that
improper pin height can lead to problems down the road, so can improper installation
of the pinless arm in the pinchbolt slot. It is CRITICAL that before you tighten down
the pinch bolt to secure the arm that you properly ‘seat’ the arm in the slot. Please
read through and follow the mounting instructions exactly as stated. Give us a call if
you have any questions, we’re more than happy to help you out over the phone. If the
arm is seated improperly and than tightened down, the stroke of the vane in the
damper may be affected negatively. Pressure being applied to either the upper or
lower vane mechanism will result in the vane either binding and/or digging into the
body or lid and causing irreparable damage to your damper, essentially destroying
your damper and voiding the warranty due to improper installation. The arm in the
slot may be very tight, this is normal. Just as you may have had to ‘massage’ the pin
into the slot of the arm in the past the same method of working the arm into the
pinchbolt slot is recommended if the fit is very tight. If necessary, prior to installation
on the bike and before final tightening, work the pinless arm into the pinchbolt slot
w/ the damper and postmount off the bike until it goes into the slot w/ minimal effort.
Install the postmount w/ the supplied bolts first and than install the damper on the
bike w/ the arm off to the side, not in the slot yet. Visually look at the slot and arm
and when you do bolt the damper to the baseplate make sure that the arm is seated in
the slot w/ a similar amount of distance and clearance as you saw w/ the arm off to
the side. For example, before you tighten the pinchbolt w/ the arm in the slot you
don’t want 2mm of distance from the top of the arm to the top of the pinchbolt in the
front of the postmount and 5mm in the rear of the postmount. The above incorrect
scenario indicates the arm may not be seated properly. The easiest way to properly
seat the arm is to first tighten down both the baseplate, postmount and damper except
for the pinchbolt and than place the pinless arm into the slot and before you tighten
down the pinchbolt move the bars from lock to lock about a dozen times. If the front
or rear of the arm was too tall or low this side to side movement of the bars should
seat the arm into the slot properly, placing the arm, damper and vane into proper
alignment so the stroke of the vane is smooth and no adverse pressure is being
applied to the vane. Simply tighten the pinchbolt down and move the bars back and
forth again several times. There should be no binding and the action throughout the
stroke should be smooth.
That’s it, you’re done. Now that the installation is complete, at the #1 setting you
should be able to sit on the bike w/ the engine off and freely move the handlebars
back and forth smoothly from lock to lock, without any binding or weird noises
coming from the damper area. If not, check everything again or give us a call.
2004 R1 w/ Pinless Postmount
98-05 Hayabusa