No I do not want it. It would cause issues with sidecar and getting shut down in BCM and ECM may not be allowed by HD.
ABS and linked brakes work fine with the side car,. But the RDRS option would not.
Glad you are ok an able to ride again. Enjoy that new ride and keep us posted on the progress.
Quote from 2FLTC on November 30, 2020, 7:54 amWell that's one way to get a new bike. Does the new one come with RDRS ?
Fate often kicks in. New bike showed up today and it had the RDRS system. We did some quick research with HD and they said no conflict with the BCM and sidecar. The TC system can be turned off and on as you wish any time. Even though HD policy does not recommend sidecars. So I wrote the check.
Smitty901,
thanks for sharing this story with us. And it's good, those scratches are on the outside of your old helmet only. That's what helmets are ultimately for.
While I understand, that it's more enjoyable to focus on your new bike, it puzzles me how little attention you seem to put on what happened, and why. By looking at the pictures on your flickr stream, the crash seems to have happened on a level and perfectly straight piece of road, which asks for some explanation, imo.
I think, really understanding this would truly help yourself to "get over it" and others, to learn something from it.
From your pictures, there was no apparent modification to the front suspension, like leading link and/or trail reduction. Even the steering damper was in place. The only thing which struck me is, that you were riding the tug machine as a solo machine, with a car tire mounted to the rear wheel.
Could that be the root cause?
The bike had trike front end well test and done right. LEO cited road conditions. I had a friend right behind me on his sidecar rig. He said the back end jumped right then left and the bike was gone. When back end jumped the front went into a stop to stop wobble in a second I was down.
I had rode the Tug with and without sidecar. As i often do my other one. Made a long trip with it in TN and NC never any issues. As for dark side it is nothing new. While on a bear bike I don't recommended it many do with no issue. I rode one of my other bike through the same spot and felt the back end get lose . That bike was smaller and lighter. Dealer felt there may have been a failure in the back end when bike made the first jump but the damage was so bad it was hard to tell. In the end I am left with going with the person following me and LEO take on the crash. After all I was rather busy while it was going on. The road had a lot of the tar snake patches in it. LEO cited the ruts , lose asphalt and bumps . What seems strange to me was until I went back and really looked at it I did not realize the road condition was as bad as it was. I am not new to this and by no means the best rider in the world . 50 years and more miles than many would believe . It bothers me and I will be returning to the spot and looking it over more. It is only 3 miles from my house.
Few years back I had an entrance ramp that when I came on aggressive the bike got real loose sometimes . Made no sense. Almost new road and looked great. I kept going back riding it, thinking something was wrong with my bike. After a while I found a line in that curved ramp that was like riding over a wet steel open grate bridge. It was just one line the size of bike tire and it got you every time. turns out the groves they grind in the concrete for traction were acting like a rail and moving the tire. After a while I could recreate it every time.
We will miss the Gold bike. I had already made up my mind it was another bike staying here for life. I have one other bike that is now 25 years old We will never part with. So totaling it was a sad day. Insurance settled quickly and IMO it was a very fair settlement. Now we must focus on getting the sidecar repainted and adjustments made to mount it to the new bike by spring. taking the sidecar to Hannigan for repaint to match and a full rehab . They will work it in over winter with other work. Ride down in Spring and have them mount it. Nice thing is they are only 530 miles away and it is a good ride there and back.
I have pretty much always been a helmet and riding gear type rider. This is proved it works Without the gear I would have been a mess. With it I walked away from it.
Wow that bike is gorgeous, that is going to be a beautiful set up once it's done. can't wait to see it
I would check to see if the can program it for a trike mode after you install the sidecar as the bike won't be leaning any more. The RDRS works different on a trike compare to a solo bike. As far as the wreck goes, must being going to fast for the road conditions. Had someone that had the same problems, the bike back in would start going back and forth out of the blue. He decided before it went back to the dealer to get check out to go for one ride, the next day it was going to the dealer. Long story short he didn't have your luck and he don't have to worry about his bike any more. Good luck with your new bike.
Smitty, thanks for elaborating.
The bike had trike front end well test and done right. LEO cited road conditions. I had a friend right behind me on his sidecar rig. He said the back end jumped right then left and the bike was gone. When back end jumped the front went into a stop to stop wobble in a second I was down.
Thinking about it, I do believe that the road-tire's flat surface is the cause, irrespective of it having been ridden before without serious issues. Why do I believe that?
I come from solo riding, for forty years or so. In addition to my Ural rig, I currently own and ride a Ducati Monster 1200S, which is a seriously fast and powerful bike. Remember, I live in Switzerland and can ride Germany's autobahns, right across the border. And by "fast" I mean: up to 150 mph. Bikes of this speed and hp-class react very sensitively to changes of tire brand, thread depth, air pressure and you name it. It's a very delicate thing. So, if you survive for long enough, out of necessity you develop a sensitivity for tire-related issues.
That said: on a solo machine, due to its stock(!) tire shape (cross section), there always is a point of contact with the road surface for each tire. Which results in a line of contact from the front wheel's point of contact to the rear wheel's point of contact. As long as this line of contact supports the combined center of gravity of machine plus rider, the ride is going to be stable.
If you have a car tire on the rear wheel, with a flat surface, said point of contact morphs into a line of contact, transverse to the direction of travel. The direction of the supporting line of contact from front to rear wheel becomes undefined, at least becomes less precise. I would expect a seriously "soft" feeling from the rear end, which indicates a lack of lateral guidance. This may still work well enough, as long as road conditions are perfect.
If, however, by some random variation of the road condition like tar patches and/or grooves, the flat tire surface only has contact on - say - its right edge, the previously undefined direction of the line of contact suddenly does become defined, in an unexpected way. As a rider, you find yourself sitting to the left of the now defined line of contact, unsupported if you will. The bike reacts by leaning left, with the handlebar swinging left.
But, since patches of tar are typically short in nature, the left-leaning influence soon disappears, maybe even reverses into a right-leaning influence (if a left patch of tar follows).
And it reminds me of typical situations in riding a snowboard down a slope with only a shallow gradient, where you try to avoid doing turns, because those would involve lateral slip, which means: energy loss, and the possible risk of a long walk with your snowboard unstrapped. So, as you're sliding along, trying to avoid any lateral grip, suddenly one edge of the board does grip. And it feels like the rug being pulled laterally from underneath, and typically results in a crash as well.
Anyhow, my take on this is:
Never, ever, ride a tug machine with one or more car tires mounted as a solo machine. Having done so before without a crash is no proof of this being safe.
If my verbal explanation is incomprehensible, I'll gladly supply a sketch or two to support my thesis. Just ask.
P.S.:
on a very related note: if the handlebar could swing between right and left stops, the steering damper was either inoperational or too weak. Because its very purpose is to prevent just that.
I take no issue with your points. Over the years I have ridden a lot of customize bikes . Some great some bad. Just because some thing never caused an issue in the past does not mean it won't happen . Seem county got out there did some more road patching real quick.
Shame on the county. good to see the taxpayers money at work. Did the person behind you have any problems.
No he was on his sidecar rig and riding toward the inside of the lane. He stores his sidecar rig at my house for the winter. Came over that day and it was so nice out rolled it out to ride a bit. Like many once bitten by the love for riding he has 3 bikes and no where to store them. I have plenty of room.
We are closing the book on the crashed bike. We will miss that Gold one but it is over. Now we need to focus on the new one and getting the sidecar painted and on. That should all be done by late Spring . The new bike is home .
Are you going to install a Trike front end on it?
I am not sure . it work good but then again I have not compared it to one without. I have talked with a couple that have bikes like mine and did not do it and claim it works fine. I can always just have Hannigan put one of their raked trees on.
The different tries/wheels on the bike seem to make it feel a bit more nibble if that makes sense.
The new tug is sitting in bike room. Only managed to get 490 miles on it before first real snow. Working on getting things I want done to it. The red lights in the back had to go so replacing every thing with Smoked LED's.
