28-08-24, 10:51 PM
As everyone has said the Gen1 doesn't need a steering damper, if you are having issues with the suspension / handling it is because it is either because it's old and needs refreshing, has been set up incorrectly or for someone either lighter or heavier than yourself.
Your 2005 bike is nearly 20 years old, if it hasn't had a replacement / refurbished shock and front fork service then it is bound to have problems. It's up to you whether to take it to a suspension specialist and get it checked out or buy another bike and end up with similar or new problems. If you post a photo of the rear shock we can advise if it's OEM which would be a start. If you want to start cheap a 25mm jack up kit and dropping the yokes down the bars by ~12mm may help. The adjustments on the OEM kit arn't great but go riding with a friend and stop every couple of miles and get them to make a change to the forks or shocks compression settings without you knowing what they've done, ride for a bit more and see if that's made things better or worse, rinse and repeat and you'll get the best setup for what you have.
Your 2005 bike is nearly 20 years old, if it hasn't had a replacement / refurbished shock and front fork service then it is bound to have problems. It's up to you whether to take it to a suspension specialist and get it checked out or buy another bike and end up with similar or new problems. If you post a photo of the rear shock we can advise if it's OEM which would be a start. If you want to start cheap a 25mm jack up kit and dropping the yokes down the bars by ~12mm may help. The adjustments on the OEM kit arn't great but go riding with a friend and stop every couple of miles and get them to make a change to the forks or shocks compression settings without you knowing what they've done, ride for a bit more and see if that's made things better or worse, rinse and repeat and you'll get the best setup for what you have.