Mystery doohicky

[NYSingh]

Anyone know what this grey thingy on the bottom of the triple tree is? Thinking it might be a steering damper but haven't seen one like that before.  Funny how years after owning this bike I've never noticed it before.

[Jspooner]

That's exactly what it is.

[NYSingh]

That was easy :)  Hmm..so looks like it was stock on RD350s but they ditched it for the RD400? Wonder why. How do these dampers compare with the arm-style ones you see nowadays?

[Striker1423]

That was easy :)  Hmm..so looks like it was stock on RD350s but they ditched it for the RD400? Wonder why. How do these dampers compare with the arm-style ones you see nowadays?

That damper moves fairly easily. It is oil filled I do believe. The arm ones are more modern has shocks.

[m in sc]

its a paddle in there, with a drilled orifice, that the oil passes through. and yes, its serviceable.

theres a few issues.

1: the rate is? anyone guess. you can play with oil thickness to get it where you want.

2: the 2 tangs on the damper body that go tot the tang on the frame get loose. you can shim this, or as i once did, drill and tap a setscrew.

do they work? yes. is a linear adjustable one better? yes.

not sure why the 400s didn't use them. maybe the longer swingarm ?

they are serviceable. you can split them, clean, and refill. thats what the 2 screws at the top are for. ;)

[RDryan]

Ha,ha. Good question I asked myself then forgot about. It's on the RD250 as well. Not that it needs it.