at 30 to 40 MPH sidecar does not pull right at all, but when I get up to 60+ it starts pulling right.
not much just little.
Is this normal, should it not pull at any speed?
Thanks
David
As your speed increases so does wind resistance. You have to find a compromise lean-out angle that will work for you at the speeds you normally travel.
You might try just a tad more than you have now and see how that works for you.
Lonnie
does that mean I have too much lean out if I have decreasing pull with increasing speed?
Without a tilt system on the sidecar the best way to affect trim adjustment to eliminate right hand pull is with the lean-out angle. Changing the toe-in angle will only cause more tire wear. On most rigs when the lean-out is changed the toe-it measurement must be checked and adjusted if it has also changed. This is the case when both lower sidecar mounts are at different heights fron the ground or different lengths from the centerline of the bike. If both mounts are equal there will be no change in toe-in if the lean-out is increased or decreased.
An exception would if you have a leaner car. Then your toe-in may have to be changed to adjust pull from wind resistance.
Lonnie
Lonnie, In your first reply you talked about adjusting lean in/out in response to a specific question. In your second response you started talking about toe in changes. In the case stated in the original post which should be looked at first? Lean out or toe in. And in the case of the second question (decreasing pull with increasing speed) which is what my rig is doing which should I look at.
Look at the wear pattern on your sidecar tire. If it doesn't show signs of scrubbing either way and is wearing evenly your alignment is OK and the problem lies in the lean-out angle. If your tire shows signs of scrubbing toward the left side it's a toe-in problem (too much).
Excessive lean-out or toe-in will push the rig to the left but only excessive toe-in will show up in an uneven wear pattern, sometimes within just a few miles.
Lonnie
Thanks for clearing that up. I and my rig are new and neither of us has enough miles on to have seen a wear pattern so I'll ride it awhile before I make any more adjustments. Your last post cleared things up quite well. Thanks again
try the outfit on roads with different degrees of camber. High crowned roads may cause a right pull.
Sometimes new sidecarists think a pull either way is a bad thing and it can be but you will never get any vehicle to track perfectly striaight under all conditions. Try driving a car down a straight road will no steering input at all and you will probably end up in the ditch. With that being said a sidecar outfit should track well enough that a pull is not a constant thing in either direction. A seemingly small constant pull on a 10 mile trip to the store can turn into an agonzing thing during a 5 or 600 mile day.
you right. Now that I have few hundred miles on it, i get it. two lane roads around here got right camber on both lanes,
But four lane roads, left two lanes camber left and right two lanes right. you don't pay any atention to those kind of things on two wheels i guess.
David
