Adjusting lean on Nomad+Legend rig

It's normal to have the bike lean away from the sidecar. This is done to improve tracking on crowned roads. If you live in a part of the country where crowns are low, you may be able to get by with less lean but "no lean" is not likely to work. If you had a "no lean" situation you'd probably be complaining about constantly having to pull on the left grip to go straight. Exactly how much lean out is required is a matter of trial and error.

Adjusting lean out is usually a matter of adjusting the two diagonal struts that connect to the motorcycle. CAUTION!!! When you change the lean, you will also change the toe-in. Too much toe-in feels OK but it will wear your tires VERY quickly. Too little toe-in will feel a little squirrelly. Most folks agree that the least amount to toe-in that gives good handling and decent tire wear is the best. BEWARE of anyone who says that you need "X amount" of toe-in and quotes a specific number. Even identical rigs may need different amounts of toe-in and lean out to handle well.

Change just one thing at a time. MARK YOUR STARTING POINT before each change so you can go back. If you need help, maybe there's someone near Albuquerque who can help. Good Luck!

The bike when on a level floor should lean away from the sidecar. It is done this way so that when you are out on the road which has a crown in it the bike should not be leaning. As every road is different you will never had it exactly where you want it, just close. Champion offers electric trim for the sidecar that you can adjust while riding. You say that it is leaning to much for you. Why? does it go down the road straight? If you want less lean out you will need to shorten the struts to the upper mounts. Of course this will lean the bike to the right and as such may cause a pull to the right. On your bike the lower mounts are about the same distance off of the ground so changing the lean out will have little effect on toe settings. If your front lower mount was lower to the ground then the lower rear mount then leaning the bike to the right would toe the sidecar out which would cause a pull to the right. On your bike this should not be an issue.
Start by putting the side stand down just in case some thing goes wrong which is should not at least the bike will not fall over to the left. Next break the jam nuts loose on the upper struts. These are the two 3/4 inch thin nuts that require a 1 1/8 inch wrench to loosen. If you have the chrome strut covers you will need to slide them down by pushing firmly on them in order to see this nut. Now remove a bolt from one end of each strut. The bolt is a 1/2 inch bolt and requires two 3/4 inch wrenches to remove. Normaly the uppers are removed but on some bikes the lowers may prove easier to do. Now adjust one end in, I would start with one turn. Put this srut back in place and tighten its bolts. Go to the other strut and adjust it until the bolt slides back into the hole, it may be 1/2 a turn a turn or 1 1/2 turns or more it does not matter. Now test ride the bike and fine tune as needed.
You can phone me if you have any further questions are are not clear on this.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

jaydmc - 7/31/2012 2:23 PM
... Champion offers electric trim for the sidecar that you can adjust while riding.
--I'll look into this...

You say that it is leaning to much for you. Why? does it go down the road straight?
--It currently pulls to the left and I have to pull on the throttle grip to have it go straight.

If you want less lean out you will need to shorten the struts to the upper mounts. Of course this will lean the bike to the right and as such may cause a pull to the right. On your bike the lower mounts are about the same distance off of the ground so changing the lean out will have little effect on toe settings. If your front lower mount was lower to the ground then the lower rear mount then leaning the bike to the right would toe the sidecar out which would cause a pull to the right. On your bike this should not be an issue.
Start by putting the side stand down just in case some thing goes wrong which is should not at least the bike will not fall over to the left. Next break the jam nuts loose on the upper struts. These are the two 3/4 inch thin nuts that require a 1 1/8 inch wrench to loosen. If you have the chrome strut covers you will need to slide them down by pushing firmly on them in order to see this nut. Now remove a bolt from one end of each strut. The bolt is a 1/2 inch bolt and requires two 3/4 inch wrenches to remove. Normaly the uppers are removed but on some bikes the lowers may prove easier to do. Now adjust one end in, I would start with one turn. Put this srut back in place and tighten its bolts. Go to the other strut and adjust it until the bolt slides back into the hole, it may be 1/2 a turn a turn or 1 1/2 turns or more it does not matter. Now test ride the bike and fine tune as needed.
--I'll give it a try sometime in the next couple of weeks.

You can phone me if you have any further questions are are not clear on this.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

--Thanks!
--RWHH.

 

Online it looks like the electric trim is called T.I.L.T. (Tracking Increment Lean-out Technology) which has a price tag of $750. This comes with a new sidecar. Not sure what installation costs would be to retrofit my 1999 model. Regardless, it's outside the budget for now...

I drive 22 miles one way from work to home. In that entire distance, there were no crowned roads. This is a combination of city streets, interstate highway, state highway, and rural paved roads. About the closest I came was a reverse crown, so to speak, where the median is actually lower than the sides. Maybe we just don't get enough rain in my area of NM for the road engineers to worry about it...

The adjustment instructions don't seem to match up with what I see on the rig. I'll see if I can get some pictures and post them before embarking on adjusting the lean. The two lower connections are indeed the same height from the ground.

Thanks again.
RWHH.

We can help you with the Champion parts if need be as we are a champion dealer. Why not just phone and I will try and explain how to adjust your lean out I am sure what I have described is correct for your bike unless some one made up a bunch of home made parts for your rig.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793

Just completed and rolled out an '01 Nomad rig this afternoon with 1 1/2 degrees of lean-out. It handled just fine on the road test (Normal crowned roads). No damper and no nose wiggle.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars