let me try again.

Ok my last question was where can I get a steering damper for my 06' R6? I'll assume due to the lack of response on it, that "nowhere" would be the obvious answer to that. Well I have been thinking about it and I'd like to rephrase the question.

Would it even matter if I put a steering damper on my bike? Is it a good thing to have? Is it worth the money? Do I even run the risk of needing one on an R6?

Thoughts or opions?  

I would guess it depends on where you ride, how often, what the roads are like, and how hard you want to push it on a shady road...  

Have you ever experienced head shake? I mean the bike is brand new, how many miles have you put on it?
I guess my point is, why worry about something that maybe isn't even a problem.  

I almost have the break in done and have not really experienced it at it's full potential. And to be honest I'm a little scared of it. It is far more powerful than the bike I learned to ride on that had like 50HP. So I'm just thinking preventatively. I like to do mostly corner and twisty riding but I do like to open it up in a good long straight. I guess if Yamaha thought it needed one they would have put one on there but I don't know. My roommate has an 04' R1 and has told me about times when he got little tank slappers and the damper on it made it less violent. Again thinking preventativly I just wondered if it was worth my time.  

A shimy shock, aka. steering damper will not do any harm to your bike. It's one of those things, 99% of the time you won't need it,but when you do.....

cheers  

Yeah I haven't needed one thus far and your right I may never need one. I guess since I've never had a tank slapper I am more concerned about how to handle one if and when I do. This is my second season on a sport bike so I'm still learning a lot about my new bike and really not pushing it to do anything I'm uncomfortable with. Heck even taking a corner I'm still learning what the bike can do and the feel of the bike in general. I am having issues trusting the tires. The majority of the corners I take are right hand corners and I still have room to get it over a little further, not much but I haven't gotten "that" comfortable on it. So I guess my main concern is taking my time and taking as much precaution as possible to avoid jacking up my shiny new bike. You know what I mean?  

I hear you man, better safe than sorry.
The few times that I have ever experienced head shake I just moved my weight rearward and gave her more throttle, worked so far. The main thing is not to panic and try to make it stop with your handle bars.  

Thanks for your help guys it's greatly appreciated.  

rember it only takes one tank slapper to make you wreak your new bike, I would think of a damper as an insurce investment aginst that 1% chance that you get one and mess up your bike and yourself.  I had a tank slapper on my 03 636 and lucky made it with out a scrach, took me no time to get one after that.  I wouldn't bet on the chances that I could control the forces created in a tank slapper, although grickard gave good advise of what to do if caught in a tank slapper.  In the end i think dampers are well worth the money, for my peace of mind if nothing else.  

i have learned to control tank slappers riding a YZ450F on a very bumpy country road it doesn't get much worse than that, full throttle at 4th gear & i managed to control 2 tank slappers that happened moments after the other & it was a real heartpounding experience, i just exercised what most sport riding books are telling try not to hold the bars too firmly & let your arm act as a steering damper & put your weight forward, i find it works on both dirt & sportbike.

there's no replacement for skill.  

I read in SR magazine when Trevitt did a review on the R6 that the Yamaha engineers created a sort of damper for high speeds. Hey Trevitt!!! Can you elaborate on that for me here? I had it up to 147 MPH last weekend and it felt rock solid so I don't know. I guess I'll stick with my theory of "if they thought it would need one they'd put one on there".