I just installed an Aaen adjustable steering dampener after installing the HPD lower steering bearing and Hotset Steering Post. Awsome !!!!! I was ridding in Chester, NY this weekend which has a lot of woodsy, rocky, twisted long trails with tons of technical obsticals with two guys. One was riding a 2000 Honda 400ex ( no mods ) and the other was riding a 1999 Yamaha blaster with tons of mods. Considering the bikes involved ( Blaster and 400ex : light, fast and very manueverable vs. my Scrambler : Heavy, a little wide in the tight stuff but very fast ) and the skill of the riders ( Both of my friends have been riding for 15 years and i have only riden less than 100 times my whole life ) i did not even think i was going to keep up at all. The first time i did it ( Before putting the steering dampener on ) the handle bars were all over the place, it was tough to hold on to and made me tired fast. With better ground clearance, power, and traction in harmony with this steering dampener i was flying over everything with much less effort and was able to finish 2nd of 3 in a 35 minute full throttle trail race. Both of my friends were amazed that my old looking stove could be such competition. Downfalls : I was like a pinball going through some of the trails ( almost bitting it a dozen times ), suffered some dents on my new douglas .190's and burned through at least 1/3 of a tank of gas. Plus i am sore as hell today

 

How 'bout more info on the damper itself? I'm considering one now, but haven't decided yet on either AAEN's or HPD's. Aaen's is about $20- more.

Why did you choose one over the other?Both are adjustable so is AAEN's worth the xtra $$?

------------------
Jerry Goodman '99 400L, '98 TBlazer

 

I wasn't sure at first then i saw a couple of posts somewhere about the HPD steering dampener having only two settings and being a complete waste of money. I also spoke to Olav Aaen and he told me that his goal was to make a the strongest, lightest and most adjustable unit as possible with out hindering steering charactaristics and costing a fortune. There are i think 7 or 8 settings from soft to stiff and i had an opportunity to test them all. It's hard to notice a difference between let's say the first setting and the second setting but i'd rather have too many settings than not enough. In addition you can not shift on the fly but you can reach around while your moving and adjust the dampening easily. I also believe it is possible to adjust the dampening via flexible cable ( like a speedometer cable ) and **** mounted on the dash somewhere. This feature does not exist but with a little ingenuity and some matterials it might work. Mounting the unit it self is very simple but comes with instructions. Any more info let me know.

 

Read the Product Review from 3/4/99 again. Below is quoted from the HPD review.

"The thumbwheel allows the damping with seven "click" position settings".

 

Will this reduce the tedancy for the handlebars from being ripped out of my hands when one front wheel hits something? What position did you find to work best, heavy or light setting? Does the heavy setting make it harder to turn? Can you use a lighter grip now? Thanks

 

To Dave :

I did not read the product review and i usually never do. I read past threads from various owners who acually bought the unit and were not impressed. If the unit does have more than two settings than i was misinformed and appologize for posting misinformation to other polaris owners who might not chose the HPD unit now.

 

To Jim :

Yes !!!!!!!! This bolt on upgrade can greatly reduce this without hindering steering feel. Where we ride there are lots of rocks, tree roots and ruts. I almost broke my ribs once because the handlebars got ripped out of my hand and nailed me in the sternum. These obsticals slow us all down and make you physicaly exhausted faster. After adding the steering dampener i noticed right away that i could ride a lot longer without fatigue. In addition this the settings allow you to increase the dampening as needed. At full dampening you can hit amazing speeds without even worring about lossing your grip. Holding on the the bike itself is a different story. A scrambler with a good dampener is unpassable on the trails i ride ( as long as the other bikes don't have one ). With my current mods i passed a 400ex and a modified blaster with steel wheels like they were standing still on some of the rough trails.

 

Chris,

No problem. I usually don't reply in the forums unless I see some information that needs to be corrected. Thanks

 

Chris, I think HPD has two different models availble. One that the ATV Connection reivewed, and one that isn't adjustable. If I am correct, the 7-way adjustable is new.

I might buy a steering dampener over the next couple months, really depends on what type of trail rides come up I guess. I haven't ridden a machine with one yet, so I don't know what I am missing, but it doesn't seem like much of a necessity to me. But after reading your review of the Aaen, and ATVC of the HPD, I am starting wonder.

Adam Dowden

 

Where did you buy the Aaen damper from ###'s please!!