Originally written by stsfred on 10/2/2008 8:25 PM
Decided to dig into the the set-up on the tow in tonight instead of waiting, I ended up around 11/16 tow-in and about 1 deg. of lean out for starters. I just got back from a 15 mile test on two lane county, interstate pavement and 4 lane state road, riding solo and 80lbs of ballast in the car. My first impression is wow, I am able to bring it up to 65-70 mph and back off to a 65+ mph cruise and have the handling be as close to neutral as I have ever felt the rig. I am looking forward to a longer ride over some familiar terrain so I can fully gauge the impact of the changes.
Thanks again for the pointers.
Fred
Those are good settings. Just the smallest adjustment sometimes can make a big difference.
I'd prefer that your spouse would get into the car for a safer ride. I expect to be attacked for saying it but Harley-Davidson does not recommend riding two up on the bike when a sidecar is fitted.
I'll go hide now. LOL
Originally written by stsfred on 10/2/2008 8:21 AM
Sidecarmike,
If I may ask how do you approach the tow in setting on your motorvation car. It would seem to me very little movement will impact that measurement quite a bit. I'm inclined to go after the forward mounts, my wife would tell you that I'm an engineer and I spend way to much time analyzing things so I will get to the end result, I guess it just takes longer.
Thanks
Fred
Sorry, I just saw this. You are correct, a 1/2 turn of the upper mount can change the toe by as much as an eigth of an inch. Don't get too hung up on numbers. You need a starting point, but beyond that adjust until it feels right, then record what works. As far as how I measure, I've recently started using magnetic lasers. one on the rear rotor of the bike and one on the sidecar rotor, both shining on a wall 15 feet in front of the bike.
This is one reason why I don't get excited about measurements. Some people measure each end of an 8 foot rod, some measure a specified distance ahead of the sidecar wheel. I know one old timer who uses one rod clamped to the sidecar tire. He measures from the rear tire to the rod and from the front tire to the rod. I find it too easy to have the front tire turned a fraction giving a false measurement.
gnm,
The wife feels a bit vulnerable sitting low in the car and thinks she misses alot by not sitting higher. I can understand those feelings, but yes I do think the rig has a better balance with someone in the car, so it would be safer from a handling standpoint. I know that the right handers become fliers far more often riding two on the bike. I think the statement regarding the Harley not liking the two up on the bike is accurate based on our experience, what I find is I have added air to the rear shocks to keep the sagging minimal when we ride this way. We throw our gear and any extras in the car to keep that weight out of the trunk. We are fortunate to have a couple open parking lots not far from the house which have provided may hours of continuing education at "flying the chair" to gain some insight into how to handle to rig with the chair in the air.
Thanks for the feedback
Fred
sidecarmike,
I like your suggestion of using lasers, this would be a simple way to gather the setup information as it is at this point and track any variation with future adjustments. The Ultra has an advantage of equal tire width so clamping a straight edge to the front and rear forces straight alignment so I used a straight edge against the wheels and made reference marks with a sheet rock square to be sure to measure perpendicular and in the same spots center line of wheels. At this point I think we're at least in the ballpark with everything based on the significant change in handling from the original set-up.
Thanks again for the help
Fred
Originally written by stsfred on 10/10/2008 7:37 AM
gnm,
The wife feels a bit vulnerable sitting low in the car and thinks she misses alot by not sitting higher. I can understand those feelings, but yes I do think the rig has a better balance with someone in the car, so it would be safer from a handling standpoint. I know that the right handers become fliers far more often riding two on the bike. I think the statement regarding the Harley not liking the two up on the bike is accurate based on our experience, what I find is I have added air to the rear shocks to keep the sagging minimal when we ride this way. We throw our gear and any extras in the car to keep that weight out of the trunk. We are fortunate to have a couple open parking lots not far from the house which have provided may hours of continuing education at "flying the chair" to gain some insight into how to handle to rig with the chair in the air.Thanks for the feedback
Fred
I think that having the passenger on the bike would be OK with enough weight in the car. Also due care in cornering is always important anyway.
I'm glad you got your unit dialed in. They are a lot of fun when properly set up.
Happy Trails. (smile)
