Steering Dampener Options

Scotts has kinda been the gold standard of dampers for about 30 years now, there's a reason for that.  They are great.  That said they have some drawbacks, if you don't want it front and center on top of your clamps you gotta do an undermount which is gonna raise your bars, everyone has their own opinion on raising their bars.  Personally I don't like it.

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with a Scotts though.  Period.

The Precision one that Black Dog mentioned also seems to be great and is on a ton of Factory and Amateur bikes these days.  I haven't used one but I love that it easily retains stock bar height and is low profile so to speak.  I believe it'd bolt right onto your YZ without changing anything.

If I didn't already own like half a dozen Scotts I've collected over the years I'd be real real tempted to get the Precision one.

*Edited to add: There are others out there as well but the above are the only 2 I'd consider for what you're looking for.

I've been running GPR for years and have had excellent luck with them.  They are an under mount so you do have to raise the bars a bit but I compensate with a lower bar bend.  

I currently own a GPR and a Scotts. If I was buying new today it’d be a Precision. Cleaner mount and no change in bar height without a high mounted aluminum box to hit in a crash is the kicker for me. 
 

Of the two I’ve got, either one does the job, the Scotts is a slightly lighter steering feel. Adjusting between the two takes a couple minutes, no big deal. 

I've used this UNIC steering damper since 1988. The original damper that 'became' the Scotts Damper.

I've had it on nearly every bike I've had since then - from Dirt Bikes to Ducatis. Everything but my trials bikes - as it doesn't have enough  sweep to deal with their lock. It's the one thing I'd like more of - more potential lock, on any of my Dirt Bikes.

It's never needed Any parts (other than Tiller arms - see further on) - I just regularly re-oil it.

It's got High and Low Speed damping adjustment, Sweep degree adjustment, and, on / off for return damping. 

Only mods to it is when I machined part of the body at the mounts, down, to allow me to both finally have the damper axis in line with the steering pivot (this stopped wear on the tiller arms, from sliding on the post - I make my own tiller arms for whatever bike it's on) and for clearance for the PHDS clamps. I make my own clamp adaptors with multi Damper mount points, so as to retain that damper / steering axis concentricity, in Any of the 4 bar mount positions that are available.

I daresay a few of the other Steering Dampers are very, very good, but with all of my bikes set up for the UNIC / Scotts, If I ever get sick of the 5 / 10 minute removal and re-fit time for transferring this ancient damper, I'd probably buy another Scotts.

Though, many of the Dampers out there, use the same mounting point / geometry as the UNIC / Scotts, I think? So, it might be time to check some alternatives , Especially if they have more sweep / lock available than the UNIC / Scotts.

Bummer is, I recently 'lost' the low speed Adjuster and the nice little Castellated top cap I made for it, when I somehow knocked it off when trying different bar positions. The little blighter charged off, hiding somewhere underneath my Mill and Lathes. Buggered if I can find it - I think my workshop Spiders or Blue Tongue Lizards have claimed ownership of it, the little Bastards!

PS - that ugly little Alloy 'thing' above it is a housing for my Bicycle speedo I use - it used to be forward of the bars, so it was made to protect the Speedo. It gives me a mount point for my Radiator Fan switch, and my ES isolation switch. I should make something nicer, but, it's been with me for many years now.

I run steering stabilizers on all my bikes, motocross especially.

I run Scotts and GPR V1s. I think I actually like the GPR best overall, but both are nicely executed designs (but Scotts is higher quality and more compact). Simple, effective solutions to gnarly track and offroad conditions. You can't go wrong either way.

The Precision unit is evidently another step up, but it can't be run with MAKO 360 bar mounts, so I had to pass.

Precision for sure. I had a Scott’s and the Precision is just as good and much smaller and you don’t have to change bar height. Plus it’s easy to adjust from cockpit and you can zero it out to see how much it’s helping. A Steering Stabilizer is a game changer for moto, but they’ve saved my ass more than once when hitting pine cones etc while looking at squirrels while trail riding too

 90% of the steering stabilizers are used as a band aid for poor suspension.

Most riders don't even understand how to set up/use a stabilizer.

A stabilizer can hinder as much as it can help a rider.

Get the suspension correct before worrying about a stabilizer.

I have read this many times while first using stabilizers (Motosportz, Scotts, GPR), so I decided to invest heavily in my suspension set up and learning how to do suspension set up as correctly as possible. I've learned where I ride, they are two separate things. Simply put suspension dampens up and down, stabilizers dampen side to side. On my three bikes, we currently have PCR suspen sion, KREFT, and Corey's setup with Scotts and GPR stabilizers.

I agree that most people use them in far too stiff of a setting which kills the front end feel. I ususally keep mine on the lightest setting and maybe setting 2 for a really high speed course. I’m more offroad than Mx too. 

It's often task dependent. My buddy sets his Scotts up with the Low speed at Zero resistance and the High Speed setting at a high resistance. Why?

Because he is a woods rider and he is not concerned with low speed turning impacts to the front end. In fact many riders find themselves worn-out because they are unknowingly working against the stabilizer in low speed turn conditions. His concern is hitting a tree at speed but what he doesn't want are the handle bars getting slapped out of his hands when hitting a tree.  He would rather have the bars stay ridged and glance off and push him the opposite direction of the hit.  He feels it's EZ'r to deal with that than having the bars turn on him.

Use the top brace and cut out your bar pad

2013-2018 Honda CRF450s either have a steering damper installed (have one on my '13) or have the mounting holes still there (I put one on my '18, bolted right in since the mounting holes were still there in the triple clamp and steering head) and they're great. Not sure if that style would be adaptable to a YZ125 though. I like it hidden behind the number plate.

Then I’m in the 10% that use a stabilizer as a band aid for poor fitness…

Me, too. 

I am definitely of the opinion of "if it helps, it helps!"

I've also had AMAZING suspension setups that greatly benefitted from steering stabilizers. They are not mutually exclusive by any means.

I recently texted a friend about what Damper to get for a bike I’d just purchased from his race team…here’s his response…

“I have always used Scott’s and that’s what HRC runs on the rally bikes.”

He’s won quite a few Baja titles. So, I bought a Scott’s and won the Golden State 250 running a Scott’s a week later. 

How are the Scots stabilizers mounted these days? Last I saw a few years ago the only option was to mount it on top of the bar mounts which meant you couldn't run a bar with a crossbar, and that big dampener was sitting up high on top of the bars. My business partner had a high speed crash on his KTM with a Scots mounted that way and it severely broke his sternum, his chest smashed off the dampener. For that reason I've felt the Precision is the only way to go. I run Twinwalls with the Precision to ensure I have a lot of bar pad above the dampener. 

Maybe they've addressed this?

They make undermounts too, which is probably the most popular way to mount them but it raises your bars quite a bit I believe.

We have a lot of recipes for stabilizers. My recommendation depends on the type of riding or racing:

Desert/Baja- Scotts all day (and night). We modify the bar pad to fit.

Grand Prix/GNCC- Scotts or Precision 

FYI guys- that OEM Honda steering damper is not a stabilizer. It does not check the bars at high speed. It's intended to buffer low-speed steering action.

You’re right - I guess I wrote that off as an option though, no one wants to ride with ape hangers lol. 
 

IMO that’s the benefit to the Precision dampener. I like how it doesn’t affect your clamps/bar mounts/bars. 

Do you mind sharing a photo of how you guys set up the Scots? Thanks!

Agreed, I'm adamantly against raising your bars at all.

I'm not at the race shop, and I don't have a photo with the crossbar, so I will describe it:

The crossbar is cut in the middle, and piece of semi-rigid plastic tubing is slid in place to hold the two halves together (the ID of the tubing is slightly larger than the OD of the cross bar). Then the crossbar pad (and cover) is cut on its underside accommodate the Scotts. The crossbar ends up with a slightly bowed shape.

Or, you can remove the crossbar completely and use the Fatbar style pad with the center cut out to accommodate the Scotts.

Either way avoids the rigidity of a crossbar. I build a lot of offroad bikes and I never spec 1-1/8" bars with a crossbar.

Thanks for the description.

If you don't run the crossbar, how much does the dampener stick out above the fatbar style pad?

Xeno installed the damper on our bike. 

As mostly a track kid moving out west from the east coast a couple of years ago, the Scotts smashing into my face or chest was a worry of mine too. You end up getting used to it, and as some of the guys above have mentioned you can modify twin walls or a fat bar/pro taper pad to completely cover the Scotts if that is your concern. I personally stopped worrying about that and don’t run a pad anymore, so I can make adjustments quicker if in areas that terrain or speeds change frequently. 
 

Xeno has helped me out a ton over the past few years, so I would highly recommend going with whatever he uses, especially on Honda’s (but maybe he has a little more connection/insider knowledge to those than most 😉).

Ride Engineering also make a crossbar and pad setup to fit non crossbar handlebars, where their crossbar clamps on loosely to still provide flex, but is bumped up to accommodate a top mount Scotts. I’ve never tried one or have seen it in person, but maybe that would help the OP. 

Only one tics all the boxes, the install is fiddly but the performance & clean mount are second to none, sadly discontinued as too few were willing pay the nearly 800.00 price of admission.

If you ever see a used one & like to run a damper - grab it.

Cat's meow for a steering damper. Had this one since 2008 and have transferred it from bike to bike.

Usually just the knobs on a Scotts will stick through.

WER used to be great down on the front fender

Wonder what happened to that company 

The rtc was great