Auto vs. Bike tire on Sidecar

The Escort will probably set up wider that the hitchhiker. Your mounting points should be about the same but you will have to start from scratch for ride heigth. The toe-in will be about the same. I would go with the measurement below the bike axles rather than from another length. Lean-out about 1 degree should be in the ballpark. Lead will be similar to the Hitchhiker.
Lead has more to do with dipping it's nose in the sand in a downhill left than flyin' the chair. More lead for high speed work and less for easier steering.
The 13" automotive tire will give a bit more drag in the turns than the rounded bike tire. It will last significantly longer.

Lonnie

Rider....

I have an escort attached to my '04 Montauk. We love it. The car tire has over 17K on it and it still looks like new. Probably same tire as your, 13" not very expensive tire. Just keep plenty of air in it, 40 or so lbs, and run on down the road. Did you get the disk brake option? I can lock up my hack disk without upsetting the ABS on the bike. A bit exciting, but don't do it very often. And never with a load in the hack.

Uber

With lower center of gravity using car wheel, car flying will be a bit less in right turns. In left turn, car wheel will make for more strenuous turn effort due to friction in width difference. Car wheel may be heavier giving extra ballast to reduce car lift. Car tire will reduce shimmy from toe in or suspension flex as when riding over gutters and parking lot dips. Car tire will reduce mileage. Car tire may last longer. Car tire will perform better on soft surfaces. Sudden deflation will cause more right drag and difficult stopping from high speed with car tire. Car tire offers more options to style and expense.

Thanks for the feedback.

I have been delayed in getting the sidecar mounted. When I went to do the oils on the Beemer while I had better access to the swingarm/final drive I found that the final drive input seal had been leaking, letting my swingarm oil drain back into the final drive. SO... now I am getting that seal replaced, and the bike is up on blocks with no rear end...

But it gives me time to do some other defered maintenance on the bike before the winter riding season...

Thanks again!

Your lead distance does affect the turning. Further forward reduces dive in left turns and reduces lift in right turns. Further forward also makes left turns more difficult and puts more weight on the front shocks. Front to rear balance is affected . Earl's type front suspension changes the reaction of the weight transfer when braking from diving to rising and the reverse action when accelerating. When the car 'flies' with earl's suspension, I would expect a bit of rise rather than dive. My setup has the car as far back as I could get it and still be able to change the oil filter without removing the car mount. I think about 8" lead. I have the rear Konis set on soft and the Velorex shock matches that pretty well. Braking and acceleration are also affected by lead distance. Further forward tends to push and drag more than further back. Wheel shimmy occurs when toe in gets out of line, and it does that when the front to rear balance balance shifts in braking and acceleration. Generally, higher speeds are better with further forward and town or 'enduro' turning is better further back. Either way, the front shocks should be fairly stiff which helps to reduce front-rear balance changes. Distance car frame is from bike frame relationships are similar except that the further apart they are the less chair flying you get. Manueverability is sacrificed for stability when further than the average 12" mean is set up. 78R100/Velorex700

Jon, the following is not for debate at all but just food for thought and discussion. I have put my replies within the <> marks below.

Your lead distance does affect the turning. Further forward reduces dive in left turns and reduces lift in right turns. Further forward also makes left turns more difficult and puts more weight on the front shocks.
>> Onew ay to think of how lead affects steering is by going to the extreme.
**If the sidecar wheel was even with the front wheel of the bike it would be like driving a car where only one front wheel turned. Not good. It woudl provide a ton of stbilty in left handers though 🙂
** If th esidecar wheel was even with the rear bike tire it would make steering very easy but th erig would be very unstable in left turns. Imagine drivin a car with th eright fron twheel missing.
<<<>>

Front to rear balance is affected . Earl's type front suspension changes the reaction of the weight transfer when braking from diving to rising and the reverse action when accelerating. When the car 'flies' with earl's suspension, I would expect a bit of rise rather than dive.
<<>>

My setup has the car as far back as I could get it and still be able to change the oil filter without removing the car mount. I think about 8" lead. I have the rear Konis set on soft and the Velorex shock matches that pretty well.
<<< Sounds like you ahve thought things out for your intended application Jon. Many feel that 8" is abou tthe minumum lead that works well inder noraml no agressive driving. It is funny that we all speak of lead in inchs but are really not saying a whle lot if we want to get specific about it. We probably shoudl be speaking in terms of percentage of bike wheelbase but noine of us do. Motor cycle wheel base lengths vary quite a bit and 8" to one person may not be the