Andre Steering damper

[John Bennett]

Needed for 1931 TT rep. I have nothing – not even the strap that connects to the tank. Any assistance appreciated.

Cheers
John

[dave bushell]

Contact Barry Jackson – address on back page of Yowl. He makes replica Andre steering dampers.
Dave

[Jeff Reed]

Hello John, the steering damper on this bike was located underneath the steering head and anchored to the two front down tubes with a bracket, you should have these fittings among your bits and pieces. I think I have a drawing of this somewhere if it would be of use to you. Best wishes, Jeff Reed.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

1931 was a rather random, haphazard year for Scott production. Before throwing in my thoughts, what forks has the bike got ? Scott ‘kite’ type, Webb girders, or Brampton Monarch ?
Brian

[Jeff Reed]

Hello, the forks are Scott, the beefed up variety with taper tubes. Jeff Reed

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Hi, in that case your entire damper mechanism sits on top of the fork stem, not just the control knob, and so there is no rod through the fork stem, and nothing clamped to the frame down-tubes. There should be an anchor-strap back to a lug on top of the petrol/oil tank.
Brian

[Jeff Reed]

Hello, so the set up I have described was a modification someone devised. Perhaps it was one of my Dad’s mods, I know he made up some oil impregnated wooden bushes for the Scott fork legs that lasted years. One of his less successful mods. was to pack the gearbox with powdered graphite in place of oil, he said it ran really quietly until the gearbox case blew up!

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Hmmm… Graphite is a good lubricant, and my dad used to use it on his pushbike racing chains, BUT it is pretty useless at absorbing heat away from hot areas, and doesn’t get into plain bush bearings very well, unless suspended in oil. In modern lubricants it has usually been replaced by PTFE.
Brian

[John Bennett]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the input – that explains what those brackets are. If this was one of my BSA’s, the brackets would make sense (so friction discs etc all under the bottom yoke), but as Brian notes, there’s no hole though the head stem, just a blind hole with a thread at the bottom. If the damper is something different to normal then would be great to have a drawing, otherwise I’ve had a chat with Barry as recommended and he’ll sort me out with an Andre as and when – he’s not making them currently, but we had a nice chat and agreed it’s not urgent. Otherwise, the bike is progressing nicely, albeit slower than I’d hoped,and with luck should be on the road this summer – will upload pics when that glorious day arrives!. All the best, John

[Roy Fisher]

John,

Attached is a drawing of an Andre steering damper arrangement. I’m not sure if this would suite your machine but it does give a general idea.

Roy.F

[John Bennett]

Thanks Roy, very useful. Makes sense, though the expander bolt is a bit of a surprise.
Jeff, would be fascinated to know how your Dad’s damper went on – don’t see how it could work without a hollow head stem.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

That Andre’s own drawing does NOT depict how they fit to Scott Kite forks, and there is certainly no expander bolt used. The body of the damper is held in place by a 1/2″ bolt, into a thread in the top of the fork stem, and the body itself is much bigger than the one shown in the drawing. An expander bolt IS used to hold them to Webb girder forks however…
Brian

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Hi John, I have just tried to send you a load of photos of dismantled and assembled, and fitted Andre dampers, to your hotmail address that is shown in my membership list, but the delivery failed. Please send me a PM to confirm the email address and I will try again. Perhaps it is a file size problem…
Brian

[John Bennett]

Hi Brian,
I think I’ve just PM’d you, but I can’t work out if it’s actually gone or not….
Thanks
John

[John Bennett]

Oh, and you are correct – I can feel a thread down in the stem hole, so definitely something screws into it.
J

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