Hello,
First, the background. I have a 1978 CB550 with a Spirit of America Eagle sidecar.
I have a slight shimmy upon deceleration and @10mph and turns are of the 'two handed' variety due to the effort.
I would like to change my trail and have 2 options:
1. A set of 5 degree (or any degree I need) rake triple trees custom made
2. A set of offset triple trees custom made
The guy making the offset triple trees can make them in any offset needed, but I would need to tell him how much.
Questions to the content experts:
1. Which modality is better, safer; raking or offsetting the trees?
2. How do I measure the amount of offset needed to equal a 5 degree rake?
BTW, the raked trees are almost double the cost of the offset trees and I don't want to put leading-link forks on the bike because they're not easy to look at and too expensive
thank you for your help
Sounds like you are comparing apples to apples. "raked" trees are offset X amount of degrees and can either be machined from billet, or reworked from stock trees to achieve the desired trail.
Lonnie
As I understand, raked trees change the angle of the forks (think of choppers) and offset changes the distance of the forks from the head tube midline. These are two independent measurements. You can have a zero offset (although your turning radius will be affected along with your forks hitting the tank) and raked trees to shorten the trail; or, you can increase the offset without rake. Both will decrease the trail for sidecar use. Just wondering if one is better than the other
