Wow, I've never seen so many, or anyone, get so worked up over a steering damper, Maybe they could have used something better but Like its been said with the ohlins "implants on a grandmother" Its all relative I think every(almost every) part on this V11 is a vast improvement over the crome painted plastic, cheap alum, REALLY bumpy ride of my last bike The damper is very nice to me better than any I've ridden, the shocks are better than any I've had and the power is nice and lowend the way it should be. I can see how its hard once smoking Good Cigars to go back to the cheaper ones. I'll just not try and ride a V11 with ohlins so I'm not tempted to empty my bank account.