What is a Harmonic Damper?

The function of a Harmonic Damper is to absorb and dampen the vibrations created by the engine from the firing pulses of the combustion process. A damper is used in conjunction with the crankshaft and flywheel to balance the rotating assembly of the motor.

While all Harmonic Balancers are Dampers in a technical sense, the correct use of the word would only be technically correct for those used on externally balanced motors that have an external bolted on weight. Regardless of the technical wording, since many racers call them “balancers” most use the terms interchangeably.