By: Harlen Foley

Interview: George Athanasiou - Precision Racing Products

Precision Racing Product's ATV Steering Stablizer

In less than one years time, Precision Racing Products has become the become the premiere ATV steering stabilizer producer, and now has nearly half the pro riders running their steering dampener in both the GNCC and ATVA Motocross Nationals, and 11 of the 12 GNC MX were won with dampener installed in 2005. Also, more recently, Wayne Matlock utilized the Precision Stabilizer/Impact Dampener to win the 2005 Baja 1000, which has been proclaimed as one of the roughest ever.

With all the hype and impressive track record, we had to find out more about this phenomenal new steering dampener, which is produced exclusively for ATVs instead of being a motorcycle dampener that is adapted to work on an ATV, so we contacted Precision Racing’s George Athanasiou, and he was happy to answer all of our questions.

ATVriders: How did you get started in producing your steering stabilizer?
Precision Racing Producuts: Our neighbors were Custom Axis and they informed us that lots of Pro racers were complaining that there wasn’t a good stabilizer out there. Being a machine shop that specializes in ultra high precision work, mostly in the aerospace field, but also long time ATVers, we were up to the challenge of building a product that could take the abuse and also perform.

How long did it take to develop?
We spent months in development. But I can tell you when our first prototype came off the machine we knew we were on to something.

How's that?
We tested that unit against an existing high end stabilizer and out performed it by 600%

So your first unit off the machine was that good?
It was, but we didn’t stop there. That was unit “A” but the unit we went to production with was “J5”.

How did you get all those top pros to run it?

George maintains a two finger grip on the bar even when a three pound hammer strikes the bar on the other end, which demonstrates the impact absorption of the dampener

It wasn’t as hard as you might think. I took a stabilizer and put a bar on it so racers could feel how smooth it is and that there is absolutely no play at all. Then I showed them the adjustments and how they could make the center area for going straight ahead more, or less, dampened than the sides. But what really sold them was the hammer test.

You mean the same hammer test you showed me?
Exactly; when you move the bars back and forth with 2 fingers, then you hand a guy a 3 pound hammer and tell him to hit the other side of the bars with it as hard as he can. And he can’t take the bar out of your 2 finger grip no matter how hard he swings that hammer. Well you don’t need to do a lot of talking after that.

And you did this at the races?

George introduces the Precision stabilizer to Tim Farr at Glen Helen, and he would go on to win both Motos

Yes, it was at the opening round of the 2005 GNC MX Series at Glen Helen. Tim Farr had never even seen the stabilizer before that weekend, but that demo in his trailer convinced him to take off what he had brought and bolt on this still experimental product. After Tim won round one then Keith Little Won round two and John Natalie took round three in Florida and the only product they all had in common was the Precision Stabilizer, then all the other pros started to call. By mid season 7 of the top 9 pros had already called to get a Precision Stabilizer.

What has happened since then?
Lots of GNCC guys and gals have started running it and doing real well with it. And also the dessert racers have taken to it winning just about every major event including The Best in Dessert Series, The SCORE and the BAJA 1000.

So can you tell us how it works?
What we are doing is taking an extremely high level of precision on extremely robust parts. This thing is by far the highest precision piece on a quad, much more precise then even the motor. With this and some good engineering we can absorb thousands of PSI on impacts that would otherwise go to your hands and wrests. Your rear shock would explode long before reaching these pressures.

What about the adjustments. I see you have one adjuster marked Center and the other marked Sides?

Two dials are used for adjusting the e dampning/impact resistance in the center and on the sides

We are the only stabilizer that has different settings-one for going straight ahead and a separate adjustment for your turning dampening.

What is the advantage?
For example a rider can set the dampening a little firmer for going straight and lighter for turning. For other riding areas that may have lots of tight turns the rider can set the sides even softer so he or she doesn’t tire out when turning so much but still have good stability when going fast straight ahead. And in slippery conditions; you can set the sides very light so you can turn into the slide quicker and firm up the middle slightly so when the back end of the quad corrects the stabilizer will catch it as it goes to center, greatly reducing the quad’s fishtailing.

That’s pretty impressive; does it work in the real world though?
Definitely, at that first Glen Helen race it rained in between the first and second motos for 3 hours straight. I went up to the racers running the Precision Stabilizer and made my suggestion for adjusting the settings. Tim Farr was hard to convince though, he had just won the first moto with the settings he had and was not eager to change a thing. It was just before he went up to the starting line when he agreed to make the adjustment. After the race I spoke with him and he was thrilled with the stabilizer and the adjustments we made.

How about maintenance and longevity of the unit, how long should it last?

George congratulates GNCC Pro, Chris Jenks on his Podium at "The General" after trying the stablizer for the first time, and he would go onto finish 4th Overall for 2005 with an Overall Win.

Even the top pro riders using the stabilizer haven’t been able to wear one out. We just changed the oil in Josh Frederick’s stabilizer after he won the best in dessert championship and the SCORE series championship on it, that’s thousands of miles of pro racing, and throw lots of practice time in too. The thing looked and felt great, the oil wasn’t even very dirty.

Let’s talk about the mounting; your unit mounts low, and that may be good for the center of gravity and protecting the unit, but some other stabilizers mount on the handlebars and are adjustable on the fly.
We mount ours low and directly to the frame for a few reasons. First off, we absorb so much energy that we need to deliver it directly to the frame, if we tried to deliver that energy to a small rod it would snap it like a twig. Secondly, as you mentioned there is the center of gravity advantage, but also you do not need to but a new steering stem. The unit will work with after market stems but you aren’t forced into buying one. Lastly, the unit doesn’t fade away while you are riding; most racers just set it and forget it, and only make changes if the conditions greatly change.

Do you have any other ATV products?
Not yet, but we are working on some real cool ideas.

Can you tell us what they are?
No, not yet but if they work as well as I think they will it could be a big deal.

Precision Racing Products
2499 S. Stockton St
Unit #3 Lodi, CA 95240
(209) 365-1850