Steering damper

[Maca71]

My steering damper rod on my Mototrans 125ts has the thread stripped at the bottom end.
My plan was to replace the rod, and also the head nut for a new one at the same time.
I cannot for the life of me work out how to remove either knob, spring and small nut, or head nut?

Any Help on this one out there?

Max

[Duccout]

Will clamping the rod in the vice and unscrewing the nut not work?

[blethermaskite]

Do you mean you can't get the steering damper assembly off the fork yokes because the threads are damaged at the bottom, and bottom cross bar won't allow the rod to unscrew? I had that problem once on another small Italian bike.....solved by the careful use of an angle grinder to remove the protruding end of the rod and then punched the rod upwards through the cross bar, once off the bike as said above clamp the rod in a vice and unscrew the knob.
Cheers,
George

[Maca71]

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[attachment=1]A5C2DADB-3A91-490C-BACA-AB410D55C960.

The damper is off bike.

The small nut turns, both clockwise or counterclockwise, but nothing happens to loosen.

The knob cannot be rotated without the rod turning. Vice or otherwise.

Basically does not appear to want to come apart so that I can replace head nut, or replace rod.

[blethermaskite]

Ok, thats clear, I can see your problem now, so just cut the small nut off down the side with a hack saw or better with a dremel die grinder so you can split it away, the knob should screw off the rod, however it can be a problem when it has been on there for so long and you do run the risk of it breaking (I have broken them ) I heat the boss of the knob CAREFULLY with a hot air gun (not too much) and with the rod really well tightened in a vice it should come loose. A genuine knob has a brass insert in the boss and if you try too hard on this to shift it the bakelite breaks at the boss, worth soaking it in penetrating oil overnight before heating.
Cheers,
George

[Maca71]

Thanks George

After cutting off small nut, does this and spring become superfluous, or do I need to find a relplacement.

Although none currently available, the kits I have seen out there do not seem to have the spring or small nut in them?

Max.

[blethermaskite]

Max, I don't remember seeing a steering damper rod with that nut and spring arrangement on before, but I assume it is an anti rattle design so when the steering damper is fully slack the knob won't jiggle about as it does on most Ducati singles, frankly I don't see that you need the nut and spring for any other reason, and as such you could certainly live without it. I would suggest in the absence of the spring and nut to insure there is a little hole drilled in the bottom of the damper rod to accept a small split pin (after everything else is assembled), this will stop it all falling to bits as you ride along with the damper in the slack position.
Cheers,
George

[Maca71]

Thanks George

Update. Followed your advice and the knob is off in one piece.

This is a Mototrans version I guess. Bottom plate appears to be completely different as well, as photo below.

My plan now is to weld the nut to the bottom plate, so that the nut grabs the good thread higher up the stem, allowing the bottom plate to remain in the lowest position when loose. Nut will disappear up the yoke!

Hope it works!

Max

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556DC82F-6CC3-4903-A019-C8CB3BAFCFE4.jpeg

[Dazoelry]

A quick note for anyone else reading this thread.
The nut has a recess machined in it which allows it to sit over/around a spring ring (tangless circlip).
To remove this you need to compress the nut against the spring to expose the spring clip, remove the spring clip, then the compressing device and you can slide the nut spring and top nut off the damper shaft.
If you look closely at the parts catalogue you can see the detail - screenshot attached
780 is the circlip Part no 0460.37.780 described as a stop ring.
Personally I wouldn't delete this spring as it is providing friction between the damper knob and the top nut which will help stop it turning from vibration.
Hope this helps someone.

[Bevel bob]

I do suggest that you are carefull to make sure that the knob and rod are firmly locked together as if they are not the knob can vibrate loose and jump off allowing the Damper assembly to drop down and jam the steering to one side . Really helpfull if you need to develop off road skills !!.