Project CRF 450 - Scotts Performance Steering Stabilizer

Jan. 01, 2003 By Damon Adams

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Why Scotts?

Steering dampeners have been around for a while, and more and more companies are producing them. Scotts was the first damper and remains the best. Scotts has a truly unique dampener. Not only is it nice looking and extremely durable, it has a feature that no other damper has because Scotts holds the patent. Scotts has a high-speed damping adjustment which dampens high-speed hits, while still allowing you to turn the bars easily for normal riding. The high-speed circuit acts similar to the high-speed valving in your shock. The Scotts damper has nearly unlimited adjustability.

Impressions

The installation is very easy, it mounted up with no problems; the supplied instructions were very informative and easy to follow. After installing it, I took it out for a try, testing it both off-road and on an MX track. To say the least this product is phenomenal! The damper makes riding in ruts effortless, and riding in rocks was a breeze!

Where your front wheel gets knocked around and the bars get yanked from your hands is where the Scotts damper really shines. It even helps when your rear wheel slides out from under you, it keeps you from over-correcting - suddenly the bike just seems to straighten back up. I experienced this more than once, and it really puts into perspective how many situations this little damper can "save" you. At the MX track the damper was simply awesome. Have you ever come off of a jump sideways and landed only to have the front wheel swap real fast from side to side sometimes resulting in a get off? This is one thing that can get some people very rattled. I purposely tested this scenario many, many times. This is a thing of the past, the damper totally eliminates it.

You can roost through the deep ruts faster and with less effort and fatigue, which means faster lap times and less arm pump. The damper is especially a miracle in the whoops, front end swapping is eliminated. With the Scotts unit you can hammer the whoops in a straight line every time with ease. Ever knocked bars with someone else on the track down a fast straight? Or had someone hit your front tire resulting in a "head-shake"? Needless to say, if someone is knocking bars with you and your Scotts damper, if anyone is going down it's the competition. Riding a Honda on Saturday and a Yamaha on Sunday? You can swap the damper from bike to bike in minutes with the proper mounting brackets.

Last Corner

I cannot stress enough how awesome this damper is, it makes riding much more fun because you are able to ride faster with more confidence. This has to be my favorite product of all time. I extremely recommend you try this product, you will not be disappointed. I know there will be one of these units on my bikes from now on.

Scotts Performance Products
price as tested: