hey- ya got me sold. will order that raked triple tree in time for spring. i ride an 02 flh/98 tle sidecar. i am also planning to buy a suzuki hayabusa this spring for my 2 wheeler. something different for me. always a harley, trumph, bsa rider although i did have a honda shawdow once.
Originally written by Jsolomito on 1/31/2007 8:08 PM
Appreciate all the feedback. Claude, you said handling and tire wear are the indicators of a good setup. From a handling standpoint I don't see any issues. Turns are soild and predictable and straight line performance at speed, acceleration and deceleration couldn't be better. That only leaves tire wear. What kinds of patterns should be expected and over what period of time? Also why does the rear tire always seem to be the issue instead of the front tire, which is, after all, the steering tire? I'm trying to picture the geometry here that puts the force on the rear tire preferentially.Joe
I hesitate to comment on how many miles a rear tire will or should get as it varies so much with brand or tire, riding style etc. I can say that a dunlop 491 on a well setup and balanced rig can get close to 10k if ridden sensably. That is not bad in my book for a motorcycle tire. 8k is not abnormal though and may be closer to what is more common. The idea is to try and get the rig working the best it can for you. If you understand how to make adjustments don't be afraid to do some adjusting. As far as why the rear tire? Geometry? Sometimes the sidecar tire takes the hit so to speak but it is typically the rear tire. Tire sizes man a lot in the overall picture and can cause wear that seems abnormal. We do a lot of rear tire conversions to car tires., Sometime this makes th esidecar tire wear more. Why? Probably because the larger rear tire with flat tread can 'take the heat' and it overpowers the sidecar tire? Not sure. Some of the reason for the typical rear tire wearing the quickest has to do with the additional weight there and some because it is the tire that provides the power to the ground. I think a lot of it is really due to the rear tire taking the brunt of any crabbing effect produced by the sidecar rig irself. Think of what toe in actually does when in motion. It tries to turn the rig to the left..can we agree on that? Well it is counter acted by the front tire steering against this force. It isn't something that may be really felt or detected in the bars but one is making up for the other to cancel it out. If leanout is working to cancel this out we may not feel anythingat all but still get tire wear. The tire that gets the wear will be the poor rear tire as it is just following the input from the others. The rig goes straight but it is trying to slip sideways all the time. Lead and leanout come into play as adjustments that affect this of course or can even come close to negating it when the setup is at it's best for the conditions. This is one reason why excessive toe in creates more tire wear and it is best to run as little as possible. How much is a little? It depends greatly on the outfit and it's weight distribution and even the track width. To see what the effect of a lot of toe in does and to see this crabbing efect you can do an experiment. Take some lime and spread it on the floor. Hold the bars straight and push the rig through it without letting the rig turn.You may see that the rear tire does not track directly with the front tire if you look closely. Push the rig with no steering input and it will turn right. Dial in a ton of toe in and the rig may go straigher when pushed with no steering input. The effects of toe in are usually seen at slow speeds and the effects of lean out are usually seen once underway. The result of toe in (tire wear) will come with higher speeds. True or false? You all can reach your own opinions and maybe post them for us to ponder.
Originally written by shortcut on 2/3/2007 6:22 PM
hey- ya got me sold. will order that raked triple tree in time for spring. i ride an 02 flh/98 tle sidecar. i am also planning to buy a suzuki hayabusa this spring for my 2 wheeler. something different for me. always a harley, trumph, bsa rider although i did have a honda shawdow once.
Hey Shortcut..hack the Busa my man they make excellent sidecar rigs...LOL.
my 5 degree raked triple tree from pete @ liberty is due this week. woohoo
new tires and tubes- screaming eagle carb kit and jets- oil & filter change.primary, & transmission. only thing lacking is a 95" kit and new paint for the rig. also shopping for a black 07 hayabusa. wow.
While we're on the subject of triple trees, I have an 81 Goldwing 1100 I and was wondering if the different rake configurations would be a problem with the stock Honda line full fairing? Or for that matter, a Leading Link fork?
Jim in Reno
Raked trees work with stock fairings and are not needed with LL's since the axle position on them is either adjustable for trail or they already have reduced trail.
Lonnie
Has anyone on this list had their Springer forks machined by Liberty Sidecars ??? I think it rakes them about 5 deg. I know it would handle better, would just like to get some feed back, thanks all, Doc. (hey claude, i'll be down for my hat soon, ha ha)
ive run a couple thousand miles with petes raked trees...
i dont think id ever ride one for 5 miles again with out them
im running a 15" 140/r15 michelin radial rear, a 16" twin tire on the hack and a factory tire on the front. i have 3/8" toe in on a 10' pair of edges, im running 0 lean when im on the bike. it runs straight down the road on both sides, im getting totally flat wear on all the wheels, my gas milage is up/better about 3mpg, i can ride one hand on either side of the road.
to
I had my Shadow raked also and like you say WOW, i had mine done at Side Effects, Pete (another Pete) not only added 5 deg's but also put a 1/4 deg of tilt to off set the lean, something else he told me was if I could get a cheaper tire on the rear that I could get better mileage out of it rather than the Dunlop 170/70R/16 that I'm stuck with, reason being is that the V and W rated tires are made of a duel compound, hard in the center and sticker on the edges and with the scrubbing of the tire heat builds up and softens the stickey compound which makes it wear faster, I don't need tires yet so I haven't looked around a lot, the looking i did showed that other tires that i could use are of a larger dia. which I DON'T need.
Can't wait for the weather to get better so I can really wring out my new front end.
Ride safe everybody,
Ted
Ted, at the risk of getting flamed, I have a Maxxis on the rear now. Only have about 1,000 miles so far on it. E3 Dunlaps in the past have only gone about 7,000 miles. At half the cost I am willing to give them a try.
Ralph
well- i have to echo everyones praise and comments on the 5 degree raked triple trees from pete at liberty. got mine installed and took my first ride. what a dramatic change in handling! big investment for me however. triple tree $875.00 delivered and my local shop charged me 8 hours labor at $50.00/hr so another $400.00 = $1275.00. SO-was it worth it? yes i'm very happy with the results.
Well I'm a convert. I completed installing Liberty's trees and am blown away by the improvement. Well worth the price! Since I had the forks off I exchanged the lowers for chrome units and now thinks it even looks better with the whole front including headlight nacel kicked out. Very nice!
make sure you adjust your headlight after the 5 degree triple tree install. i was hunting owls with my rig last night!
You're right!!!!! I am looking at the tree tops when I ride at night. Or I should say WAS looking at tree tops. I adjusted the lights, and have them where they're doing a real good job now. And if I couldn't have them adjusted as good as they are, then I'd have to ride with them up there. Just NO WAY I'd go back to the stock 3 tree. Man-- what a difference the Liberty 3 tree makes. By the way can anyone tell me if it is possible to make the spots come on with high beam, & off on low beam? If that last question is considered thread theft, answer on another thread.
All you have to do is take power from the HI beam side of the light bulb and use that to trigger the relay for the driving lights.
Ted
