Active Control Design

Most dampers give you a fixed level of damping across the entire range, i.e. if you want increased damping on a very rough race section of race course, you will sacrafice low speed and smooth sections with very stiff damping. The Hyperpro design features active control such that the damping effect increases as the steering force increases. Thus you get smooth easy-handling in smooth sections or low speed turns and still get heavy damping during extreme situations.

How does it work?

The Hyperpro Damper has 4 adjustable holes that are open during normal conditions. When steering force starts to grow, two of these holes start to close. The more force, the more they close. The Hyperpo Damper has an adjusting knob with 10 steps that controls how soon and how quickly the two holes start closing.

All the parts ready for assembly.

Your new damper should look like this when ready for install.

Construction

The HyperPro Damper is constructed with high-grade aircraft aluminum with special coatings to reduce friction. The damper is completely rebuildable. The damper has a special expansion reservoir that captures oil as the temperature increases within the unit. A spring loaded one-way valve keeps the level of fluid at a constant level.

Installation

The installation is very simple, although it is somewhat difficult to determine the orientation of the damper from the instruction sheet. One end bolts to the steering stem, the other to the frame tube. *Make sure the stem and frame tube are clean before beginning the installation, and use locktight on all the bolts.

One end connected to frame tube.

The other end is connected to the steering stem.

A view of damper with front fender removed.

This is how it will look with front fender installed.

Adjustment

Put the front of your quad on a stand and make sure you have full steering movement and that the range of motion is not limited. When the damper is properly adjusted, your steering at normal movement should be free. Fast movement should be controlled. Turn the adjustment knob one step at a time until this is reached. Lower your quad and you are ready to go.

Summary

We have now had the Hyperpro damper on Project Raptor for about 3 months. We wanted plenty of time to test the HyperPro damper to see how it would hold up in a harsh desert environment as opposed to the environment the normal sport bike sees. Project Raptor has run three desert races in this period of time and we have experienced no problems with the Hyperpro damper. We see a slight amount of oil on the piston rod, but Hyperpro says this is normal and the oil film works with the special seal to reduce friction. The Hyperpro damper is a bit on the pricey side at $425, but after using it for several months, we believe the active control technology is superior to the standard adjustable damper.

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