I don't believe any of the r1 dampers are adjustable. People will put thicker oil in to make them a little better. But best bet is aftermarket.

 

I just wanted to know what oil everybody is replacing the stock oil with to make stiffer?

 

yea I was thinking it's not adjustable. It's way too stiff, even a high speeds. I let it go for a while because I figured it would "wear in" after a while as most piston types do but it didnt happen. I have a GRP damper on my other bikes...never had a piston type damper before. I'm probably going to remove the OEM one and put a GPR damper on instead.

 

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I got this one from hardracing.com wow what a difference

 

The 2007-8 R1 damper does have a large aluminum Allen screw on the smaller reservoir side of the main piston body of the damper which looks like it might be for adjusting the pressure to the overflow of oil which could affect the stiffness. It is an odd size that appears to be a 7mm Allen if metric but problem is most average Allen wrench sets come in either 6mm or 8mm only (I even tried my standard size set and the Allen bolt is still in between its 2 largest sizes also) so being such a fragile aluminum bolt and not having the correct tool I was unable to adjust the screw and test for any changes in the dampers stiffness. It does appear to be more than just a set screw or drain plug since the body of the damper changes in proportions under this aluminum Allen screw as if there might be a spring or some sort of tensioning components underneath the base of this screw. I would like to hear from an actual trained R1 tech though who could say for sure in stead of us DYI's just playing the guessing game.

 

I did this mod some weeks ago on my 07. Removed the big Allen bolt 7mm drained the old oil, flushed it, and fill it with 7,5w motul fork oil. Work the piston slowly to let all air bubbles out
It will take 20ml of oil.
It's night and day before and after I recommend it to everyone that don't want to spend 300$ on an aftermarket one

 

I bought a Toby damper kit made for my R6 that had an extremely cheap threaded insert that was meant to attach the damper body to the very thin metal of the fairing stay much like a pop rivet. Where there is noway that fairing stay is going to function as a suspension piece during a violent tank slap and not just break the stay right off the frame while destroying everything that was attached to the stay as it all began to slap back and forth. So instead I picked up a stock 2008 R1 damper and the fork bracket of eBay for $15 each, then I fabricated a simple bracket the attach the body of the damper to a much more secure portion of the frame itself where the upper fairing stay is attached instead of to the stay itself. Converting this stock R1 damper to work on my R6 turned out to be much more safe and secure especially under duress when it will be needed as compared to the Toby kit I purchased that was made specifically for my R6 not to mention using the R1 damper only cost me about $30 in total for parts s compared to the $275+ that other kits cost.

I did notice that while working the damper back and forth by hand it does feel like there are air bubbles inside, while not being very stiff either just by hand let alone during a violent tank slap. But before I tried to open the 7mm aluminum allen screw I would like to make sure I have the correct oil product I need to refill it. I have some left over Yamalube 01 fork oil do you know what weight that is compared to the 7.5w fork oil you used or compared to what weight is the stock oil is in the 2007-08 R1 damper? I am hoping to remove the air bubbles while stiffening up the stock R1 damper for use on my R6 if Ian be sure f the oil weights. Thanks,

 

The oem one is ment to move freely at low speeds of handlebar movement and stiffen up with violent side to side motion, there is no way to adjust it, but as previously mentionned it looks like some have had luck with thicker oils and have made it stiffer across the range.

I am very curious and will try it myself on my oem damper, see on what level of adjustment it compares to my ohlins in stiffness

 

Resurrecting this old thread, but whatever...

I picked up a new-to-me R1 in September, knowing that it would need some TLC. During a ride I noticed some head shake and figured I'd check out the damper along with making sure the bike's suspension was set up correctly.

When I removed the steering damper, besides a slight bend in the rod (which didn't affect anything) I noticed that it felt rather sloppy and there was some hysteresis (no resistance) when the piston started to move from a stationary position. I changed the oil to 10 wt fork oil, then 15wt. It felt better than factory, but wasn't quite where it needed to be. I changed the oil by removing the 7mm screw and slowly pumping the piston rod. To purge the factory oil that was pretty nasty looking, I drained and filled the damper 4 times and slowly moved the piston while watching that no more bubbles came out. I then topped-off the damper and installed the 7mm screw. It's fine that the damper is completely full - any excess oil will be pushed out as the screw is turned shut.

With 15wt oil, the damper still didn't stop the headshake (it was slight, yet noticeable on decel), but it was much better. After refilling with 30wt fork oil, there was no more fluid hysteresis in the damper and the headshake was gone. However, I noticed a clicking feeling when starting to turn the bike in either direction. As it turn out, the damper piston was working so well, that it was putting more pressure on the heim joint on the rod end. It wasn't unsafe, but definitely a distraction. So, it's either time for a replacement (take another shot with a used OEM damper maybe) or just bite the bullet and replace it with an Ohlins. (I realize there are other choices, but at about the same price, Ohlins makes the best sense to me, and no, I don't know how to type the umlauts over the O...)

My takeaway: If an OEM damper is in good shape, properly purging and replacing the factory oil, even if you have to try different weights, is a cheap way to improve the steering damping without having to fork out the big bucks for an adjustable racing damper.

Thanks to all who posted about this previously. It was a big help in getting to this point with my bike.
-Dave

 

Resurrecting this old thread, but whatever...

When I removed the steering damper, besides a slight bend in the rod (which didn't affect anything)
-Dave

My concern right off the bat is how the hell did that rod get bent like that? That is a decent diameter stainless rod that would have to had taken a serious hit to the front end or tank slap. I would be concerned that the front forks or wheel was bent. Those rims are about as soft as warm butter and easily bend just popping wheelies or hitting potholes let alone taking any sort of an impact from a front end collision or violent tank slap session. I'd recommend putting both forks and wheel on truing stand to check for straightness and balance. I'd check fork oil as well, if that bike was ridden hard enough to blow out the damper oil all the rest is toast as well if not recently replaced. Don't expect much performance from your forks if the oil is shot. You may have just beefed up the damper with heavy enough oil to mask the real causing the front end vibration. I have never heard of anyone requiring 30w damper oil to eliminate vibrations. I bet there is other underlying issues or maintenance needing attention still.