rmoriss2 - 3/29/2010 1:56 PM
I have never required a dampener because I've not found a speed wobble anywhere at any speed. I do have heavey steering though. I have not done the triple trees yet
Champion's E-Z Steer works very well on my setup, I understand there are a couple of others out there, as well. I can set my Vista Cruise on the throttle and hold the left side of the handlebar with just enough pressure to keep the road abnormalities from throwing my steering off at 70 mph, or just with my right for a rest for my left hand. I've heard that is difficult at best with the stock triple tree setup. You will find steering almost effortless.
Doc
That encourages me a lot. I set my bike at 70 but it sucks gas like a river. I found that out the hard way. I will likely be adding an extra tank because of it. The bike is almost full throttle for me to maintain 70. I will likely stay more towards 60 on the highway. I will very likely do the steer rite. A new Idea of putting a car tire on the back has come to my attention but I'm not sure about that one!
There are several forums where car tires are either recommended or not recommended depending on which side of the fence you are on. Personally, when my rear tire needs replaced, there is going to be a car tire installed, a lot of the arguments are based on the rider being on 2 wheels and reducing the amount of sidewall on a steeper turn. I don't see their arguments having any weight with our type of setup. We steer our vehicles and have virtually no lean, unless of course it is a leaner setup, see some of the other forum headings.
To find out more about the car tire discussion, do a search for darksider on whichever motorcycle forum that is related to your motorcycle, it looks like yours is a Harley just looking at your avatar, I'm sure there are darksiders on the HD forums. Some of the problems I've heard with Harley is clearance for the belt drive, there are a few tires that will work from other folks posts, a more expensive initial option, however, is to get a wider swingarm, but with motorcycle tires wearing faster on bikes with hacks, and the prices of bike tires reaching all time highs, and the availability of run-flat car tires that can be bought for 1/2 the price, and miles per tire doubling, or tripling their motorcycle counterparts, I am considering car tires for both front and rear of my VTX, the sidecar is already equipped with a flat bottom tire, my billfold is much more oriented to saving a dime or a dollar whenever I can.
Doc
My bike is a 97 Honda Shadow VT1100 C2. I also agree that side wall issues don't apply to us because we have the same types of forces on our tires as a car would. I don't think I would be as sure about the front though. I would definitely feel safe with a rear. My friend has an 1800 Vtx and runs a rear all the time and swears by it. He is only on a 2 wheeler! I think I want to research this a little more before it's time to change my tires.
I found a couple of degrees in the alignment made a huge difference in my handelling and my free roll,..I tend to run solo a lot, or two up with a small child in the car, so I have set my rig up to run true at that without ballast,..I frequently run one handed up the highway at 70mph, with no effort and fuel economy shows little change with or without the car,..I found 1/2"-3/4" toe in too much for me,...yet recommended in most literature I read?????,....check with several sources, and adjust to suit your own needs,..what works for one, does not always work for all,.I also run a BFG Radial T/A car rubber on mine( bike), 155/60/15,..20 000kms, and looks like new....good luck, cheers crawf.
My wife rides a 650 Burgman scooter/Cozy sidecar. She cruises at 70MPH with no trouble. I am not real sure that I can out-run her with my K1200lt/Hannigan. Get the front end meodification and it will be a whole new world. Check with Hannigan and see what they have available. J.R.Lewis
Hi J.R. I remember looking over your wife's burgman rig on the ice cream run at the Y'll come rally last year and chatting with her about it. Very nice outfit.
Bob
I got the bike back and it's running better!. It was actually fun riding at 90 km /hour. The bike seems to like that as a cruising speed. I had it out for a couple hours. I noticed that leaning while in a turn helps alot. I also noticed that I do have a minor speed wobble sometimes at low speed. No Biggie. The mechanic did recommend the EZ steer though because he found it to be a handful on the test ride. He didn't know the adjustable camber was all the way down causing it to pull right. That would have made it worse .
Call Jean-Guy Ratcliffe in Maxville, Ontario...(613) 527-3183
http://www.csrsidecars.webs.com/
