My Doris and I had our Spalding sidecar installed yesterday. Learning to drive it. Pulls the right most of the time worse under acceleration and then to the left when braking. Getting alittle better driving it. Practiced in the cemetery, lost of right and left turns and no traffic. It seems like it is a lot of work to drive the rig.
Sideshow - 10/19/2014 10:07 PM
My Doris and I had our Spalding sidecar installed yesterday. Learning to drive it. Pulls the right most of the time worse under acceleration and then to the left when braking. Getting a little better driving it. Practiced in the cemetery, lots of right and left turns and no traffic. It seems like it is a lot of work to drive the rig.
The Spalding should be a comfortable sidecar for Doris. The offset dynamics of all rigs results in pulls right under acceleration and then to the left when braking - it's something you become accustomed to with experience. However, you should be able to minimize the pulls right most of the time by "tweaking" the alignment. It can take several adjustments to find the optimum alignment.
Yes, rigs do take more physical (and mental) effort to ride/drive than a 2-wheeler. A little extra air pressure in the front tire can help. "Raked trees" -that is, modified triple trees to reduce trail for 3-wheelers- make the steering much easier, as well as minimize the effect of changing load/road conditions and handlebar "bucking" on bumpy roads. I'm a proponent of such modifications - after installing on my Sportster rig, I went from riding 1/2 day breakfast/lunch rides to comfortably riding all-day on back-to-back days.
Lee
MB5+TW200+CRF250L+GTV300+INT650
XL883R w/Texas Ranger Sidecar
Zuma 50F + Burgman w/Texas Sidecar<Mrs. SwampFox
Welcome to the slightly off-center world of sidecars SideShow!
As you gain experience, you'll learn to anticipate and even use the yaw introduced by the non-symmetrical nature of the beast. And I agree with SwampFox, modified steering makes a world of difference and is the way to go if you plan to dedicate the bike to sidecaring. Some pilots like to keep factory steering geometry for those times that they want to dismount the car and ride solo. Something I would NOT recommend once steering trail is removed.
HD Hank--- Just my two cents- but Harley had the best? most practical ? idea with adjustable trees. All you have to do is loosen one bolt and go from 2 to3 wheel configuration- takes about ten minutes. Unfortunately HD stopped making these back in the late 60s or 70s. I run a set of these on my FXR/Sputnik rig. I had to rehash the fork stops to work with my FXR-but worth the effort.
A bit more bike lean out should take care of the tendency to pull to the right if you have 3/4" toe-in.
You must compromise if you don't have the ability to raise or lower the suspension on the fly.
Freeway riding will add wind resistance. The faster you go, the more pull to the right.
Passenger or other ballast weight will also add to the right pull, as will crowned roads.
Pick your most used scenario to tweak the lean out for your best neutral steering (usually 1 to 3 degrees with 3/4" toe in). I use a magnetic protractor for this placed on a brake rotor.
Lonnie
Hi Sideshow, welcome to the world of sidecars. I find that you can get rid of the left pull when braking by using only the front brake.
Both front and rear brakes should be used for safest stopping.
You know the rig will pull to the left if you have a sidecar brake without a compensating valve, so hold a bit to the right when stopping. You soon will have an automatic reflex action by doing this.
Lonnie
Hack'n - 10/21/2014 4:12 PM
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You know the rig will pull to the left if you have a sidecar brake without a compensating valve, so hold a bit to the right when stopping. You soon will have an automatic reflex action by doing this.Lonnie
Lonnie, Are we dealing with a left mounted sidecar? My experience is pretty much the opposite.
We have had the sidecar about a week now. We get a lot of looks and thumbs up. I think I will be adjusting the lean. I also think I will install raked triple trees. I have found that Liberty Sidecar sells them. Are there any other manufacturers that would work with sidecars
I have no direct experience with these makers of raked triple trees since I haven't decided to go with them on my Harley yet. Three others are www.customtripletrees.com, Champion E-Z steer, and DMC sidecars. There are probably some others too, they all seem to be about $1000.
Practicing in a cemetery is a nice touch, works for a lot of reasons, really good and weird idea at the same time. Thanks.
LOL! Very practical.
Cuts transportation costs if you take a right turn too hot, and if any of the tenents complain, then you know that you really should put some baffles in the pipes.
When I was young One of the bikes I had was a Kawasaki A7SS. In the wee hours of the morning, ( I figured no one would be awake ) I was playing road racer in the dark in the local cemetery.
I was having a ball and risking no ones life but my own. After about 20 minutes of fun I left only to find a police car waiting for me at the only entrance exit point. He knew I had to come out some time so why chase?
I must have been hard of thinkin' when I wrote that one Al.
I meant to say: the pull (from the sidecar side) would be hard without a compensating valve.
Mea Culpa
