STORY LANCE RUSSELL
For those who use steering stabilisers/dampers would know how frustrating it is getting regular oil leaks. You quickly become an expert in bleeding stabilisers and replacing o-rings.
I was excited to hear about the MSC Moto brand because of their no leak – reliability. Turns out this is because of their CNC Machining quality, which smashes competitor brands. Instead of relying so much on o-rings, MSC Moto use the accuracy of their extremely precise machining to do the job.
I chose the VectorMX Damper because I didn’t want to change my stock triple clamp, and preferred a stabiliser that tucked under my handlebars.
For the install, MSC Moto offer handlebar clamps for all sized handlebars. These particular handlebar clamps are set to raise the height of your bars by just 10mm! Which was music to my ears.
The kit provided was really simple to put together, you can get it on the bike in 5 minutes. That was surprising as I expected it to be complex. The VectorMX is light weight and super thin, so I was looking forward to really putting it through it’s paces.
The adjustment dial spins clockwise to stiffen the steering. You can ease this on slowly to find your favourite setting, which will always change depending on the track/surface/situation.
I found it helped so much for stopping sudden handlebar shake, and as the name ‘stabiliser’ implies, it gave me a super stable ride. The VectorMX improved my handling instantly. After using the VectorMX, it’s hard to go back!
I had to put this to the ultimate test and set the dial to max. One reason was to see how stiff the steering could be, and the other was to push it’s limits and try get it to leak.
Turning that dial clockwise until it could spin no more, It was holding the handle bars so stiff that I was turning with the weight on my footpegs, so this is great for FMX guys. In saying that, you could turn the bars with lots of strength, so you aren’t trapped when you come to a sudden sharp corner.
One crazy feature which blew my mind was the quick release feature. When you turn outward (on a stiff setting), you can turn back to the centre fast and easy again! Which makes sense. In a situation where you turned the handlebars during a jump, and you were struggling to get them back straight again, that could be pretty dangerous. So I’m really glad they overcome complex issues like that.
After turning the handlebars back and forth for a months, forcing the VectorMX into high stress movements, it never broke seals. I’ve used the VectorMX for a longtime now and I feel like my money is well spent, it hasn’t skipped a beat.
There is a huge range of dampers by MSC. Stabilisers are going to suit desert race riders, enduro, motocross, supercross, FMX, on-road, literally giving stability advantages in all situations.
MSC Moto VectorMX – $595.00