i got a suzuki dr350se with bad headshake at anything over 65 mph. i have full knobby tires front and rear. wld more street friendly tires help, or do i need a steering dampner?

You need to balance your tires. It makes a huge difference. If you have them done at a cycle shop, they may say it wont matter on knobbies, but it does.

that is definitely a possibility. my mechanic buddy and i did a guestimate balance job. it made it much worse,so we took the weight off. i dont care what tire you run off road/ on. at highr speeds its gonna matter! maybe its actually the rear tire. we didnt mess with that one. neither of the tires have any weights on them. the steering bearings dont seam to have excessive play either.

65 is pretty fast for knobbies. The DOT knobbies hold together better at that high speed, that's part of the test they have to go through to be dot certified, but I don't think they dont have to pass a balance test.

possibly head bearings ...

well i went for a ride today and when i scouched back on the seat(which put some weight on the back) it put some weight on my wrists/bars that quelled a lot of the shimmy. i think a steering dampner is in my future(scotts). anybody know if there are issues with a scotts dampner being bolted or welded to a dr frame(cause of the oil being run through it)? will i need bar risers so i can mount it under the bars?

Your spring rate can do it also, Are you the right weight for the springs? Check sag. If your rear is stiff & too high it will amplfy what you are experiencing. Extend your forks out (chopper like) and this will help but you may have harder time in tight stuff. Good luck!

i understand what you are saying. ive set this thing up every way possible-soft hard lowered raised. the only way it gets quelled is by putting pressure on the bars and a tight grip. im thinkin its either the full knobby tires, or a ballance issue/wheel not true. possibly a wheel bearing but i dont think so.

Have you asked question in the suzi drz section ? Maybe someone else has same experience? Good Luck !

Before throwing $$ at a steering damper, I'd rule out tire balance. It cost me $10 ea to have mine balanced. LOTS cheaper than a damper.

"anybody know if there are issues with a scotts dampner being bolted or welded to a dr frame(cause of the oil being run through it)?"


I welded my scotts dampner post to the frame of my XR650L and it has the oil in the frame also, I had no problem, it works great and cured my headshake problem. I also have a Superbrace fork brace, but with only that installed and without the dampner I still had too much headshake. After the dampner installed all the headshake is gone. I also just got back from Baja and rode with some guys with dampners and some without and the guys with the dampners rode very smooth on the rode while the guys without the dampners got lots of headshake above 65mph. Steering Stabilizers work great and Scotts are awesome.

I ride a KLR 250. I have Dunlop "10% street/ 90% dirt" DOT tires. I can cruise at 80 all day with no shimmy or vibration. The KLR has massive counterbalances in the engine which give it such a smooth ride (and sap all the power from it!). I have also ridden a DRZ 400 on the highway, which shakes and vibrates like a monster. So, I'm pretty sure it's more related to the bike than to the knobby tires. As far as balancing goes, I had a shop put on my tires and they refused my request to balance them because it would be "impossible". Whatever, it's probably not the tires.

I have experienced the same thing on my '06 DRZ400S with DOT knobbies. In my case it was caused by too much hand pressure on the handlebars. To stop it, I relax my hands and increase my foot pressure on the pegs. It doesn't take much foot pressure (maybe 5 or 10 lbs downward). The headshake stops within a second and does not return. So I believe the cause of your problem might be that you are making very subtle overcorrections to the steering rather than allowing the bike to stabilize itself -- and your solution is less, not more, pressure on the handlebars plus a little bit of pressure on the pegs. (You can make small steering corrections by your pressure on the pegs--without triggering headshake: press right peg go right, press left peg go left).

Don't know if this solution works for anyone else -- maybe it is just my bike. It won't cost you anything to try it.

I would try a different tire before buying a damper.... certain tires on certain bike will shimmy.... a damper is only going to cover up the symptom, not fix the problem.... you might even try remounting the tire or flipping it over on the rim and see if it changes. if one of your buddies has a front take off, try it before dumping $400 in a damper

thats a good idea about the tire. i have actually had bikes that were previously owned and the tire wasnt even seated on the bead completely. i dont know of another dr i can swap wheels with. i just purchased some avon gripster tires. ill get the rim checked for trueness/spokes tightened and tire ballanced.

Here are some pics of my Scotts stabilizer mounted to my 04 XR650L. I had to do some custom work to get it done but works great and doesn't get in the way of anything. Also, completely stops all headshake at speeds over 65(it was pretty bad at those speeds, I run Pirelli MT21). Check out the pics at the following links:

http://s82.photobuck...th_44c29299.jpg
http://i82.photobuck...23/44c29299.jpg
http://i82.photobuck...23/746f4737.jpg
http://i82.photobuck...23/1a84cdd8.jpg
http://i82.photobuck...23/c70d69e5.jpg
http://i82.photobuck...23/7b3d7c82.jpg

that damper looks like a sweet set up. i have also heard lots of people having issues with the drz-400. i guess its just a suspension geometry issue. if i pin the tank with my knees and scootch back on the seat it helps. i filled the tires with the proper air pressure and all it did was make for a harsher ride. unless the frnt forks are set super soft i get little jolts to the bars. i dont know if a fork brace might help that or not(probably not). i heard the damper will though. i know the damper will fix the high speed wobble. if i get the damper set properly for high speed does it affect low speed steering and lock to lock effort? thanks for all the great advise guys!

p.s. where did you get your superbrace? i know it didnt solve your headshake,but did it make the front end feel more planted. with my forks set so soft it makes them feel like a wet noodle.

stroker ace said:

Kind of hard to counterbalance the rim locks???

i heard you use 2, at opposite ends, they cancel each other out. i ride pretty hard on the street and the trails. at what pressures do you think rim locks wld be necessary?hey flboy,i bet that ktoom is a blast. i wld love to get one of those puppies registered for the street. maybe a 525 though. there just about the same size and weight,arnt they?was it difficult to get it registered in florida? hows it work in the dirt? whats it like on the street?