The Yamaha Tenere 700 is an agile machine in stock form but one upgrade the bike responds well to is a steering damper. It works like a shock absorber for your steering, keeping the front wheel from suddenly jerking or floating around over ruts, rocks and roots. They also help eliminate the dreaded head shake at faster speeds. After looking at the options, we decided to give MSC Moto’s RM3 damper a try. The CNC-machined unit is made in Australia and bolts on easily to the Tenere 700 in about 30 minutes without any drilling or welding. We really liked that it keeps the 'already-high' handlebars in the stock position and it offers a simple dial control to adjust both high- and low-speed damping with 20 settings. Best of all, it offers variable damping that gives it the ability to subdue normal trail inputs or big jolts, yet it's smart enough to detect when the rider is trying to quickly counter steer and opens up a circuit to immediately ease the steering effort. So far we’ve noticed the biggest difference in deep sand and whoops where it no longer requires constant steering adjustments to keep it pointed straight. This not only reduces the energy you expend, but makes the T7 a whole lot more fun to ride wide open. For more details go to: bit.ly/mscdamp
