Lumpy, I thnk Lonnie was talking about reminding someone how to ride on two wheels again...
Is this your first rig? A lot of things, depending on make and model, could be affecting the steering; steering bearings or damper too stiff, low tire pressure, improper lean-out, making a right hander while going North in a Westbound hurricane, etc.
Something that kind of surprises people is that you really feel the extra weight of the sidecar, especially at slow speeds. However, even at highway speeds, steeing is heavier than on two wheels. Get into the mountains and when you get back you've had a real workout.
Dreamer- depending on your driving style and the SC itself, riding in a SC can be a lot like a county fair carnival ride. On some roads, Dramamine helps.
Erie, the car is damn close for the first go around, it's driving technique I'm talking about
Well, if it's only the right turns, try ballast and hang your butt off to the right while throwing your shoulder out also. More body language. Hate to say it, but maybe more practice in a parking lot? Get the SC wheel up on purpose and see what it really feels like instead of letting your imagination getting away.
Ok, thanks Ernie I appreciate that, and I already had the wheel of to se if I could tell when it left. Kinda panicked me but it came down real easy
eugene,
What sidecar and bike combination do you have? Som ebikes have more trail on them from the factory than others and are harder to steer. Does it track straight on the roads you normally run on ? Pull to the right? When riding are you relaxed? Don't forget you are using some muscles with a rig that are not normally called on to work together otherwise. Also, if you are new you may have more of a death grip on th ebars than you realize, I can say that was my 'problem' for a while and many others too.
Clude, ya it tracks real striaght, today we added a fith link to limit up and down,in the rear. I had er up to about 55 and it tracks straight. it was easier to turn to, I didn't do anything different
A 5th link? If you mean the mounting struts were moving, yes, that could surely make it a bear to ride. Flexing mounts can cause all kinds of problems that are sometimes hard to locate. Typically they will allow th erig to suffer from a possible toe out situation and dat ain't good.
What bike/sidecar combo do you have?
Believe me, Lumpy, when the rig is set up right with proper mounts, steering geometry,lean, toe-in,
the steering will feel like power steering. go around corners with one hand in town or at 70 on the highway.
Mine does.
Claude, it is a Kawasaki Nomad with a velorex 562, ya, a fifth link in back from the bag guard to the rear upper unproved things dramatically
Lumpy, if that Velorex has the original U-clamp mounts...toss 'em all and put on some decent , non-moving mounts.
You will be very happy with them.
>>Claude, it is a Kawasaki Nomad with a velorex 562, ya, a fifth link in back from the bag guard to the rear upper unproved things dramatically<<
The lower rear mount at the sidecar on the Velorex's is prone to rotating around the sidecar frame. It is a good idea to make some type of reference mark on it and the frame when you feel it is set up fairly well. This is so you will be able to tell if it has moved or not easily. Some have put a pin in the mount and some have welded them to the sidecar frame..not a bad idea.
If You have run a brace off of a saddle bag mount keep an eye on it closely. This would be a bad point to mount one of the regular struts but in your case as an extra brace it may be fine.
Velorex's 'universal' mounts have gotten a bad rap many times.Sometimes this was deserved and many times it was not. They are not what may be called 'top of the line' but if utilized preperly so all of them are working together and so they are installed in a way to discourage rotation and slippage they do a nice job. This is not always possible and an added brace may be the answer , similar to what you did. I once ran a brace just from strut to strut to dicorage movement and it worked great.
Probably the worst thing about the mounts is that the struts themselves have right hand threads on both ends. This translates to a pain in the butt to adjust compareed to struts that have left and right hand threaded ends. You may consider swapping these out someday.
Check it out Claude, the car is easier to dive every time I get on it. I have to pretty much lean my upper body into the car on a right hander to feel good about it at this point I'm taking a 90 degree corner at about 15, is that to fast?
i do the 90's turns at around 20 sitting straight up, so 15 aint bad at all. maybe a little more ballast?
I got 70lb now. Say I can not figure out how to post pictures and to add one to my signiture then you can see I got large bike with a small car
