Re: Steve's Sidecar Build

[steptoe]

I was going to say the same type of thing the other night Steve, lengthening the front shocks will lift the front head angle pushing the headstem line further forward bringing the centreline of the front wheel back towards the bike decreasing the amount of negative trail, this would be the easiest quickest fix

it will also change the length of your brake arm parralellagram so that will have to be adjusted also to work properly

moving the bottom shock mounts back so the shocks run in a straight line the the link legs will make the ride better too

[excess.11]

Steve....here is a link that will "tickle your fancy".
Read and re read this info..and before you know it...... hey presto...sim sala bim...walla walla bing bang...
You ll become a "tech spurt".
It encompasses comments on here regarding trail and rake and as Maksy said.....the relationship between the rear wheel ... as well as telling you "how to suck eggs"...even "how to suck some New eggs".
All in all.............its "Good Sucking Fun".
http://bikearama.com/theory/motorcycle-rake-trail-explained/

[excess.11]

Steve...you only have ONE electrical gremlin ?
It looks like Pro Hart designed the electrical !
The good thing about interacting with issues on the forum....is you...yourself.... gets a better understanding of your bike and how to deal with issues. Out at Williams Creek or anywhere along those tracks  there won t be an auto elec. (Geez i envy you taking on that adventure though).
What is the electrical issue you have?

[makzy]

Ideally as with any swing arm it should be pointing downward from it's pivot point at about 1/3 rd of it's full travel. IE. if it has 100mm travel loaded it should have about 30-35mm downward angle, this is to allow the wheel to go through it's up and down movement without moving backward or forward too much, looking at the pics again I see that the swing arm pivot is probably too low' you could fix that with some longer shocks, that would fix the swing arm angle and lift the front of the bike a bit more to where it should be, pity you don't live close I could fix it in a day...

[Tim]

Hi Steve
with pics I agree with excess and makzy    that front right shocky  is over stretched  i guess if you got the center rod out it wouldn't be straight.  how low long is the front leg from the rear bearing center to the front axle center,
 it may be an optical illusion but is the rear lg axle center sitting level with the front or below it ?

[excess.11]

Even visually with out any measuring .....it appears the front wheel would want to lead from the rear......like a shopping trolleys wheel swung around and wanting to be pushed forward in a straight line

[makzy]

Steve that front wheel is too far forward, and a bit too low, if you can't do it yourself find an engineering shop and i would suggest putting 2 new mounts under the swing arm, 2 as in 2 different positions for the front wheel then you will have something to play with as far as setup goes, the caliper mount shouldn't need to be moded, maby shorten the radius arm if the caliper comes too far forward, the way the setup is now the wheel will be trying to sweep the floor when you turn the bars, would also be very hard and heavy, that setup would be good on a speedway or short circuit outfit but not too sure how it would go even on dirt road riding. See what the others think. 

[Stevexs]

yes i think so hence the scary handling after i get it on the road and set it up for more dirt orientation with a load and the new tyres I Will know what sort of adjustment is needed to correct it  (with a bit of sound engineering advice ) it will be used mainly for off road touring hence im not after high speed on the tar 90 to 100 kmh comfortably between dirt stages is fine ,planning a ride across Aust Perth to Birdsville  William creek etc dirt and sand  nearly all the way in August with a group of guys mainly on GSX 1400 outfits, the rest of the bike is great motor is tough even after months of the road and the gears under cut a couple of twists of the throttle it fired up pulls really well i have plenty of confidence in it, dont know if you can see it in the pics but the swing arm has a truss system welded along it strengthening it up , I had the middle and final drives apart they are like brand new ,new headstem bearings swingarm bearings are new ,the only gremlin in it is a electrical one thats why its of to a auto sparky next week to sort it out

[Jonesy :-)]

I know diddly about side cars, but is that front wheel too far forward?

[excess.11]

Steve s XS Outfit in all her glory....I ll post them into the forums photobucket account when I get a little more time.

[Christian Raith]

Xtian......i m trying as hard as I can to get some pics of Steve s bike on here. As we all know....a picture is worth a thousand words.
Steve....click on my name and you ll see my email address.
Attach some photos to an email and send them to me and I ll post them up.
You may need to reduce the resolution of the pics as email only has a limited /minor allowance for attachments size wise.
Alternatively......you can send them one at a time on separate emails.
Here s a great explanation ass well as line drawings regarding rake and trail.

Always good to get permission if you want to post someone elses blog

[excess.11]

Xtian......i m trying as hard as I can to get some pics of Steve s bike on here. As we all know....a picture is worth a thousand words.
Steve....click on my name and you ll see my email address.
Attach some photos to an email and send them to me and I ll post them up.
You may need to reduce the resolution of the pics as email only has a limited /minor allowance for attachments size wise.
Alternatively......you can send them one at a time on separate emails.

[excess.11]

Xtian...can we reconfigure the "How to post" tab so it references what you just explained.
I think it needs more step by step detail.
Would help "Newbies" like myself immensly.

[Christian Raith]

Steve....have you read through....how to post pics.....
The tab is on the front page of the forum.
You ll need to set up an account on a photo sharing website....such as imageshack.
Then upload photos you want to share that are on your computer.
There is an image code you click on to copy the link ....then open another page  on your pc with the dialoge box of a reply or new topic ...and right click then paste the copied code.
Once you post that reply or new topic...the pic should appear.
I m concerned that you have old...hard tyres...albeit with plenty of tread as you describe.
You really ....really....really need to ditch them as fast as you can....and fit fresh new rubber .
The difference in handling ...not to mention safety...will astound you.
The side wall of Hard tyres will bounce you off the road rather than flex and give better grip to the road.
I m sure this will be adding to your handling problems.

You don't have to go through all that anymore.
If you put an album on OUR photobucket account that I set up

http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/XS1100Aus/library/RUZVEEKGBF?sort=2&page=1

the links to post photo's are already there to be copy and pasted onto the forum.
Easy as

[excess.11]

Steve....have you read through....how to post pics.....
The tab is on the front page of the forum.
You ll need to set up an account on a photo sharing website....such as imageshack.
Then upload photos you want to share that are on your computer.
There is an image code you click on to copy the link ....then open another page  on your pc with the dialoge box of a reply or new topic ...and right click then paste the copied code.
Once you post that reply or new topic...the pic should appear.
I m concerned that you have old...hard tyres...albeit with plenty of tread as you describe.
You really ....really....really need to ditch them as fast as you can....and fit fresh new rubber .
The difference in handling ...not to mention safety...will astound you.
The side wall of Hard tyres will bounce you off the road rather than flex .
I m sure this will be adding to your handling problems.